Audience Engagement and the Role of Arts Talk in the Digital Era

211 Pages·2013·1.836 MB·English

by  Lynne Conner (auth.)

Audience Engagement and
the Role of Arts Talk in the
Digital Era
Also by Lynne Conner
Pittsburgh in Stages: Two Hundred Years of Theater (2007).
In the Garden of Live Flowers (with Attilio Favorini, 2003).
Spreading the Gospel of the Modern Dance: A History of Newspaper Dance
Criticism, 1850–1934 (1997).
Audience Engagement and
the Role of Arts Talk in
the Digital Era
Lynne Conner
AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT AND THE ROLE OF ARTS TALK IN THE DIGITAL ERA
Copyright © Lynne Conner, 2013.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-1-137-02391-9
All rights reserved.
First published in 2013 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-43838-9 ISBN 978-1-137-02392-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137023926
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Conner, Lynne.
Audience engagement and the role of arts talk in the digital era / by
Lynne Conner.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-349-43838-9
1. Performing arts–Audiences. 2. Performing arts.
3. Communication and culture. I. Title.
PN1590.A9C66 2013
790.2—dc23 2013023819
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: December 2013
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my sons, Miles and Roy de Klerk,
who make all my days meaningful.
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Preamble: We the Audience 1
Part I Defining Arts Talk
1 Road Map to Pleasure 23
2 Eras of Social Interpretation 39
3 Geographies of Social Interpretation 67
Part II Facilitating Arts Talk
4 Building Audience Learning Communities 101
5 Fundamentals of Productive Talk 117
6 Arts Talk 137
Conclusion: The Pleasures of Interpretation in
the Live | Digital Era 169
Notes 175
Index 201
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Acknowledgments
This book would not have been possible without the support (intel-
lectual, emotional, and financial) of Janet Sarbaugh and The Heinz
Endowments Arts & Culture Program. I am particularly grateful to
Janet Sarbaugh for her vision and sense of risk taking—two qualities
that allowed us to be leaders in building grants-based laboratories
for testing audience engagement practices. I am also grateful to the
12 Pittsburgh-based arts organizations (identified in the body of the
book) that took part in the Endowments’ Arts Experience Initiative
and allowed me to test the original iteration of my Arts Talk hypoth-
esis. Thank you.
Early on my ideas for this project were encouraged by Steven J.
Tepper; I am grateful for his continued advice and support, including
his insightful commentary on aspects of the book’s structure and the-
sis articulation. I am also grateful to Andrew Taylor and Alan Brown
for their interest in this work and for the opportunities they provided
to present my research at various conferences and convenings.
Over the past decade, I have had fruitful conversations with many
colleagues, students, friends, and family members willing to talk
about the nature of talking with me, to share their reactions to my
theorizing about the role of social interpretation in audience engage-
ment, and to put some good ideas into my head. They include Ella
Baff, James Barrett, Karla Boos, Abigail Colella, Miles de Klerk,
Malik Gillani, Jessica Gogan, Lucas Held, Sali Ann Kriegsman,
Tavia La Follette, Stephanie McConachie, Dan Mills, Allison Reader,
Cyd Roach, Greg Sandow, Nat Shed, Louise Sicuro, Andrew Taylor,
and Sarah Wilkes. Colby College provided research funds support-
ing the second phase of work on this project. My editors at Palgrave
Macmillan have been welcoming and supportive. And the members
of IFC (Catherine Besteman, Jill Gordon, Margaret McFadden, Mary
Beth Mills, Andrea Tilden, and Ankeney Weitz) were generous with
both intellectual sustenance and valuable housekeeping tips. I offer
a special nod to comrade Margaret McFadden, whose challenge to
write first and answer e-mails later helped me to turn the corner.
Finally, as ever, as always, my love and gratitude to Peter: day in,
day out.