West Tennesseans share tips for promoting arts
By Craig Thomas, Jackson Sun
Phones buzzed and sirens could be heard in the distance around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, briefly interrupting the Jackson Arts Council’s meeting upstairs at the Ned R. McWherter West Tennessee Cultural Arts Center.
With a tornado warning issued, the group of about two dozen people representing various local arts groups headed to the building’s lowest level.
Folding chairs were brought into an interior hallway for attendees, and three invited panelists sat slightly above the group on the stairs. The room was crowded, but the session resumed promptly.
What’s an art meeting without a little creativity?
Ekundayo Bandele represented the Hattiloo Theatre in Memphis, Lori Neal Nolen represented the Dixie Carter Performing Arts and Academic Enrichment Center in Huntingdon and Dr. Shawn Pitts represented Arts in McNairy and the Tennessee Arts Commission.
The three shared tips with other locals involved in cultural activities on how to promote the arts, and some people took notes.
Bandele said the Hattiloo Theatre has attracted millennials through HYPE Nights. HYPE stands for Hattiloo Young Professional Experience.
“The Devil’s Music: The Life and Times of Bessie Smith” takes place in the 1930s and will open there later this month, and to attract 20- and early 30-somethings the HYPE committee asked which 1930s era cocktail they would like to be served at the play.
Bandele said Hattiloo also has a Black Greek organization committee, and different fraternities and sororities host different nights and that helps build publicity.
“It’s a way of us working smarter and not harder,” Bandele said.
Nolen said the Dixie emphasizes programs for children, through schools and through other free hands-on events teaching pottery, drawing, theater and other activities.
Recognizing the importance of high school football in the area, Nolen sent a choreographer to show the football players different dance-related exercises on the football field. The football players later served as ushers for a Dixie production.
“The community will do anything that those blue shirts do, OK? And so once they were there, they were kind of like ‘The whole town’s into this!’” Nolen said.
Promoting arts can be tough in a small town, but Nolen has to find ways to take advantage of it.
“We have to really plug in to that personal connection,” she said.
Pitts noted Arts in McNairy has a larger social media reach than the population of the county and said social media being free is particularly helpful. But the group noticed they were not adequately attracting minorities to their programming, so they went to black churches and nonprofits to talk about what was going on.
A recent traveling exhibit on the Bracero migrant worker program drew in local Latinos, including one man whose grandfather came to the United States as a guest worker.
Pitts said he wants children of all backgrounds involved in cultural programming.
“People won’t come to you and ask you ‘Can we be engaged in your arts program?’ You have to be very intentional about that,” he said.
This article was originally published in the Jackson Sun, August 2, 2016. Read it here now.
