Funding Active, Diverse Audience Engagement

Writing for her blog, Museum 2.0, Nina Simon reflects on a conversation with Ted Russell, senior program officer at The James Irvine Foundation, about the foundation's new Exploring Engagement Funds and the challenges inherent in what she defines as a field-rattling initiative. Irvine's efforts to connect with artists and organizations working in nontraditional venues and to inspire change in the engagement strategies/expectations of traditional arts venues could set the stage for field-wide revision and innovation. At the same time, though, Simon observes: "It is just as hard to be an activist funder as it is to be an activist organization."