I have seen a bunch of postings about change lately, including my own.  I am glad that other people in the arts are thinking about change. However, many of these posts are not officially sharing the actual change.  They end with asking us to think about what we will do to change, inspiring another cycle of thinking about change.

I believe we have fallen into the cycle of thinking about change, over and over again.  As an industry, many of us continue to talk about change until we are blue in the face.  We know we need change.  What needs to change is to stop thinking about change and to start creating change.

We are falling victim to listening to all the talk instead of being inspired by the people who are already spearheading the changes.  Less talk and more inspiring examples please!

This week I have been fortunate to attend a couple of presentations of Peter Kageyama, the author of “For the Love of Cities.”  Here is a guy that does not have the particular background for what he is doing, the correct degree or papers for the job, and he is becoming in demand for the philosophies he his sharing with cities around the nation. It is his passion and energy for presenting fantastic examples of people (typically without the “supposed to” backgrounds) who are creating incredible projects for their cities. I am hopeful these ideas will inspire and be contagious enough for people to take action.  I did however, walk away with the questions of “Who is a part Peter’s audiences?” and “Are there enough people that are the officials of the city in the audience?”

“The rule breakers and the risk takers are the youth and artists,” Peter tells us.  If this is the case, I’d love to see more rule breaking and risk taking in the arts industry.

I think as a whole, we have forgotten to be the artists that we are.  Sure, many of us are behind the scenes now, but we are still artists at heart. We still have a creative mind due to our arts backgrounds.  How come we are not using our creative minds?  How come we have not already put forth change?  I am asking these questions directly for myself too.  I admit I have fallen into the “supposed to” rut as of late.

But, we are  “supposed to” act more business like. Funny how business in general is becoming more artistic while we continue to let our artist selves sleep.

There is hope though for me and for you who are also forgetful of who you really are inside. The good news is, some of us already have changed and have awakened our artists from within.

In order to wake up our artists, let’s gravitate toward the change examples to help us plant the seed for doing something different!  Let’s forget about all the crazy cycles of thinking about change and simply be inspired to”Just do it!”

There are a plethora of quotes on this topic.

Things do not change; we change.

Henry David Thoreau

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

Alan Watts

If a 22-year old from Grand Rapids, Michigan can get a city to create a Lip Dub project, we can create projects that will equally serve our communities on a big scale.

The red tape will always be there.  We will always be battling with tight budgets.  We can work around these obstacles. It’s how people accomplish great feats that naysayers said they couldn’t do and then can’t believe they pulled off.

I say in the end, stop the cycle of thinking about change, which in itself can be what naysayers feed upon, and instead be your artistic selves again – break the rules, take the risks, have fun, go out and play, and change the world for the better!  I leave you with one last quote.

“Somebody said it couldn’t be done.
But he with a chuckle replied,
That maybe it couldn’t, but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so ’till he’d tried.

So he buckled right in with a trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried, he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done. And he did.

Somebody scoffed, “Oh, you’ll never do that
At least no one ever has done it.”
But he took off his coat, and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we know, he’d begun it.

With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or “quit-it”.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t done. And he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done.
There are thousands to prophesy failure.
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you

But just buckle in, with a bit of a grin;
Just take off your coat and go to it.
Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing
That cannot be done–and you’ll do it!”

― Edgar A. Guest

Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,
Shoshana

Shoshana Fanizza
Chief Audience Builder