A Response to the CAN Report

Lee Ann Norman recently received a Master's degree in youth in arts and community development. She sent us a brief in response to "The CAN Report: The State of the Field of Community Cultural Development: Something New Emerges." Here is what she said in a note accompanying the brief: "I had the pleasure of reading through the report on the forum that gathered leaders in our field of community cultural development together to talk about what our next steps could and should be in order to maximize sustainable impact in communities for years to come. When I read the transcript, I was struck by the knowledge that everyone sees a need for improvements and changes in the leadership model and the need to draw from other fields and capitalize on the interdisciplinary nature of our work, but no one really has any concrete answers. Unfortunately, my response does not either, but perhaps as I continue in this work and through my career, I will learn more, and discover more that will help me contribute more to the conversation as well as the viability of our field. I would appreciate it if you would provide me the opportunity to open this discussion by posting my response on CAN."

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Lee Ann Norman

Perhaps because of the hybridization and interdisciplinary approach used in community-based cultural activity, a new focus has been placed on training adequate leaders for such multifaceted organizations. Strong leaders for community-based arts and cultural activity need to have excellent managerial skills, social skills, negotiation skills, as well as be skilled organizers, activists, and often have the ability to act as social service agents. The kind of training needed involves an increased focus on interpersonal and social skills so that administrators can work effectively with communities, but what kind of leader is appropriate for such a task? The 2004 CAN gathering raised many questions and reflections about the direction of leadership in the community cultural development field, but it failed to adequately address this key issue.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation released a summary report in 2005 focusing on leadership in nonprofit social change organizations as part of the Executive Transitions Monograph Series. The report noted most of the current leadership is part of the Baby Boom generation, so the next pool of candidates for the new generation of leaders would be much smaller.[1] A 2004 survey of 2,200 nonprofit organizations found that 65% expected to go through a leadership transition by 2009, and that 57% had already endured a transition within the last 10 years.[2] This presents a great opportunity for the community cultural-development field to cultivate a new generation of leaders that is more diverse and more representative of the communities in which organizations reside. In order to do this, leadership training should involve identifying and nurturing more leaders of color, reevaluating infrastructure and leadership expectations and fostering intergenerational dialogue among older leaders, younger leaders and their constituencies.

As things stand, it seems reasonable to suggest that the solution is to cultivate stronger managerial skills in the next generation of leaders. Many executives produced from the boom in cultural activity and activism during the 1960s and '70s have managed to sustain organizations by trial and error and learning from other business executives in parallel fields. Learning business skills specific to nonprofit management has been helpful, but most of the organizing, social-change and community-building work (which is often most of the work of leaders in the community cultural-development field) has come through experience. Much community organizing and cultural activity is a grassroots effort that requires a great deal of person-to-person communication and negotiation. An effective leader in this field must be able to work with multiple personality types, cultures and agendas in order to have an impact in a community.

As our society becomes increasingly global, it becomes more important to nurture and cultivate leaders that are able to relate to the communities in which they serve. Most community-based activity comes out of a need draw out the value in people or an underserved community that is typically viewed by mainstream society with contempt. These communities are often comprise poor people with substandard educational access or attainment, and are more than likely people of color. Often, people in underserved communities do not know that their communities and its members have assets. Society generally teaches that to be poor is to be flawed or lacking in motivation, drive or moral character, and to be a person of color implies inferior culture that contains little in the way of valuable contributions. Even the messages and programs that community cultural workers bring to people in the communities are based on lack, and not exploring the assets the community already brings. It is important to train leaders in ways that in turn help them empower communities to see the value in their culture, their neighborhoods and even themselves.

Arts organizations that are community-based wish to engage people in the art-making process to provide outlets for creative expression and equip people with different ways to interpret the world. Numerous studies have shown that participation in the arts provides intrinsic and instrumental benefits. Many show correlations between arts activity and improved academic performance and test scores, an increase in basic skills knowledge in reading and math, and an increased capacity for creative thinking as well as self efficacy and regulation.[3] No studies have shown causality in this phenomenon, so we cannot be certain that the arts contribute to these increased learning capacities or if young people who engage in arts activities for sustained periods are simply just high-achieving students. Gardner states that an important case for the arts can be made because “…the likelihood that skill and craft gained in the arts help students to understand that they can improve in other consequential activities and that their heightened skill can give pleasure to themselves and others.”[4]

The arts engage people in a way that allows them to examine their world critically. Art education has the ability to help people evaluate structures that are meant to oppress and marginalize. Leaders who are more representative of their communities bring a complete cultural index with them that can help their constituency develop and implement programs and strategies that are meaningful and relevant to them. Many leaders of the Baby Boom generation tend to be white males, while many of the younger leaders are not. It is important to carefully address issues of race, gender, culture, class and ethnicity when cultivating new leaders so that the viewpoints of all people are represented.

Community cultural development is hard work. The field must compete for funding that encourages social-service agendas, environmental expectations and all other activity that is for “the greater good.” Leaders in the older generation come from a work ethic that stated organizational loyalty. Many watched their parents work for one company their entire lives and spend long hours completing the tasks of the job. Younger leaders have a different approach, though they might share the same commitment and loyalty to the organization. Many desire time to nurture relationships outside of work like family and friends. It may be difficult for older leaders to understand this since many are at a stage in life where this issue has been resolved. Their families are more mature, for example, or they merged the personal and professional long ago.[5] Here is where managerial skills become increasingly important. Though it may seem cost effective to have limited staff, it is not always best for effectiveness. Leaders who have multiple responsibilities in which they are not always highly skilled may suffer “burn-out” and become disillusioned with the field even though it gives tremendous pleasure to help people. If leadership is something that should be sustained, organizational structures in nonprofit cultural organizations should be reevaluated. Perhaps different models like co-directorships, collectives and other types of shared power structures would be appropriate.

Perhaps more important to cultivating dynamic leaders in this field is creating cross-generational dialog among leaders. With a minimum of 55 college and university training programs in the United States and abroad for community cultural-development leaders[6] younger leaders have an increased capacity to create new ideas, programs, strategies and responses with access to so many leadership tools. There are not any standardized curriculum or training methods nationally or internationally, however, since this field uses an interdisciplinary approach. It is debatable whether this is even necessary. The ability of leaders to adapt and change based on circumstance has been key to the field’s survival and growth. This hybrid nature has also helped underserved communities continue to affect change. Perhaps by clinging to “nonstandardized” methods, communities of color and those who have been denied access to education and services have been able to organize, resist and fight more effectively; they have been able to use methods specific to the situation. This also gives leaders opportunities to focus training in areas where they feel a lack of experience or expertise, or to craft a program of study that provides a broad survey of all skill areas. Older leaders could benefit from the newness, while younger leaders could benefit from the elders’ time and experience working with communities. Both generations have a unique opportunity to apply theory and action in a real world context making them better leaders and more effective advocates. Older leaders should not fear formal training, but embrace the opportunity it brings, and younger leader should not feel compelled to simply get formal training for the credentials. Sharing experiences and knowledge will help each generation feel and see the value they bring to the communities they serve and also act as a model of communication and understanding to constituencies.

A new path is emerging in community cultural-development work. Society recognizes the importance of this work and the field is now finding value in itself as well. In order to continue in a direction of growth, strong, multifaceted and diverse leadership is necessary. Only then, can organizations truly effect change.

Lee Ann Norman received her Master of Arts Management degree from the Arts in Youth and Community Development program at Columbia College Chicago in May 2006. She completed her practicum with Young Chicago Authors, a nonprofit organization going through a generational leadership transition.

NOTES

Original CAN/API publication: May 2006