Andrea Taylor

Antarctica, Art, and Innovation

Posted by Andrea Taylor, May 01, 2015 0 comments


Andrea Taylor

In our 21st century digital world, the power of storytelling has become platinum currency that many corporations use to address intractable and large scale issues. Recent findings from the Animating Democracy program of Americans for the Arts suggest that arts organizations now have a chance to reinvent corporate partnerships and engage new audiences by fully engaging corporate marketing, communication, and evaluation resources.

Corporate layoffs, limited cash resources, and employees eager to volunteer are changing the models and metrics for support of the arts. This quest for greater social impact is leading to innovative, nontraditional arts programming everywhere. At the same time, the complex, cross-cutting challenges facing local and global communities are generating more interaction between disparate cultural, economic, and social groups.

The universal language of art is bridging a divide. These new strategies are leading to broader community outreach intended to foster dialogue, deepen understanding, and create lasting behavior or policy change.

Singular investments in arts-related projects such as the HBO documentary series, The Weight of the Nation, seen by millions of viewers from all sectors, can spawn new, permanent entities or partnerships devoted to improving communities. The Public Good Project - A Healthy America, founded by former HBO producer John Hoffman, builds on the success of The Weight of the Nation to create a permanent fund to advocate and promote quality public health in the U.S.

In this changing CSR landscape, the arts are likely to be a catalytic “win-win” for communities and corporations far beyond the benefits of traditional sponsorships. It’s widely recognized, for instance, that many CSR programs seek to improve K – 12 education outcomes and promote high school graduation rates. Research shows that underperforming students who participate in the arts are more likely to stay in school and have higher achievement rates that contribute to program completion and the ability to earn the diploma that will lead to greater post-secondary and workforce opportunities.

The annual Digital Arts Festival, sponsored by the Boys and Girls Clubs of America with significant corporate support, is an excellent example of the societal value of arts education that is aligned with the broader BGCA program goal of 100% graduation rates for the 4 million youth served.

The need for more science education in the nation’s classrooms is also widely known as overall student performance in the U.S. “fails to crack the global top 20 in reading, math and science.” Perhaps more corporate investment in innovative arts-related programming related to real world solutions would help.

This year’s 45th Earth Day celebration marked a “first of its kind” artistic reminder about our stewardship of the planet. The rap song, "Sorry" by St. Louis spoken-word artist Prince Ea went viral and has drawn nearly 25 million visitors to the video, which begins as a hypothetical apology to future generations but mutates into a call to action, inspired by visits to forest carbon projects in Africa: Kenya's Kasigau Wildlife Corridor Project and the Democratic Republic of Congo's Mai Ndombe Forest Conservation Project.

From Prince Ea's Facebook Page From Prince Ea's Facebook Page

Last year’s art show about climate change exhibited at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) entitled “Voyage of Discovery: Art and the Arctic,” drew enthusiastic audiences to an experience that “sounds depressing at best and preachy at worst. But it’s not,” noted one critic. As authors of the new book, Climate Shock, suggest when dealing with an issue such as this that is global, long-term, irreversible, and uncertain we must “reach and communicate the human and emotional dimensions of issues in ways that conventional strategies do not.” Storytelling to increase understanding and action through arts and culture will be a game changer.

Reflecting on my own recent transformative New Year’s Eve journey through the Antarctic Peninsula, I have been drawn to the arts in subsequent efforts to learn more about the environment and responsible planetary stewardship. Indeed, I was delighted to discover "On the Nature of Things," a new work choreographed by Karole Armitage for the American Museum of Natural History in collaboration with Stanford biologist Paul R. Ehrlich, about climate change and its cultural context.

And yes, I’m convinced by the mounting evidence that private sector support to link the arts and storytelling is a new beginning toward advancing the common good about a range of complex issues for audiences in all our communities.

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