Barry Hessenius argues that the lives of teens and tweens are dominated by face-to-screen time and if we don’t engage them there, arts audiences and funding will suffer in the future.
If we are to have a rosy future for the arts, it's clear we absolutely must figure out a way to insure that today's tweens and teens are part of our mix. We will need them as audiences, supporters, administrators, and artists. We have to figure out a way to recruit them, involve them, entice them and hook them on the arts, and do that as early in their lives as possible. If we don't do that, then our performance seats will be empty, donations will be scarce, and who knows whether or not we will continue to attract the best and brightest to our field, or whether or not the pool of artists grows or declines... Keep reading on Barry's Blog
If we are to have a rosy future for the arts, it's clear we absolutely must figure out a way to insure that today's tweens and teens are part of our mix. We will need them as audiences, supporters, administrators, and artists. We have to figure out a way to recruit them, involve them, entice them and hook them on the arts, and do that as early in their lives as possible. If we don't do that, then our performance seats will be empty, donations will be scarce, and who knows whether or not we will continue to attract the best and brightest to our field, or whether or not the pool of artists grows or declines... Keep reading on Barry's Blog