Giving Compass' Take:

• On the Americans for the Arts' blog, Boston-based project manager Victoria George discusses how diversity in the sector must think beyond audiences into true institutional change, and lists ways to achieve it.

• Could the Logic Model, as described, be applied to other nonprofit efforts? George also emphasizes the power of collective buy-in.

• One challenge is that funding to improve diversity in the arts is dwindling.

I am fortunate enough to oversee two great projects at ArtsBoston: the ArtsBoston Audience Lab, funded by the Barr Foundation, and the Network for Arts Administrators of Color, launched with seed funding from Bank of America. Both programs are helping to drive the change we desperately need in greater Boston’s arts sector. For the ArtsBoston Audience Lab, diversification (specifically audiences of color) began with a Theory of Change — a blueprint designed in collaboration with the ten participating organizations in the Lab. When organizations state that they want more “diversity” in their audiences, we ask them to think a step further:

What is the real change we want to see in the sector?

It can’t just be about our audiences. If we want meaningful change to happen, we have to build out a long-term strategy that includes structural and institutional change.

Creating the Logic Model was the first critical step in the launch of the ArtsBoston Audience Lab. As a cohort, we needed to clearly define the problem, and build out a set of strategies, outputs, and outcomes toward the ultimate goal of systemic change.

Read the full article about diversification in the arts by Victoria George at ARTS Blog.