Westport Arts Center: Making Better Connections

Lindsay HeffernanPost University

Westport Arts Center: An Overview

Westport Arts Center, Inc. (2014). Reprinted with permission

• Officially incorporated in 1969 as the Westport-Weston Arts Council, but has its origins in the artist collectives that congregated in the town beginning in the late 1920’s (Westport Arts Center Inc., 2015).

• Currently serves as a contemporary arts

gallery with integrated programming, classes and workshops for ages 2-18, and community outreach programming for unique populations and underserved, urban youth reaching 4,000 students per year (Westport Arts Center Inc., 2015) .

Westport Arts Center has limited technological means at this time, though its mission is focused on connecting the community through hands-on arts experiences (Westport Arts Center Inc., 2015). The organization is working on a 10-year strategic plan and capital campaign both of which offer opportunities for exploring how integrated technology could impact visitors and learners.

Increasing Learning and Participation Through Technology

Westport Arts Center, Inc. (2015). Reprinted with permission

As Westport Arts Center explores ways to integrate technology into its current and future locations, it must focus on technologies that allow them to increase their visitor reach and impact while continuing to create hands-on opportunities for participation in the arts. For this reason, Bring Your Own Technology and Gamification technologies are ideal for the Arts Center.Bring Your Own Technology Gamification

• Ability to interact with exhibits and programming on- and off-site (Association of Art Museum Directors, 2014).

• Allows the organization to build content that enriches experiences beyond physical, spatial limitations (Johnson L., et al, 2015).

• Gives access to information based on personal choice and interest (Johnson L., et al, , 2015).

• Empowers learners to develop 21st century skills (Barseghian, 2011).

• Integrates with Bring Your Own Technology helping to double the infrastructure investment.

• Builds on what the organization is already doing with pencil and paper.

Using Scenarios to Plan a Vibrant FutureIn addition to employing emerging technologies, the Westport Arts Center must build a futuring toolbox that will inform its 10 and 20 year future. This toolbox will include scenarios. A scenario is a future set of circumstances built on a series of events that will ensure that the future is something the organization can plan, forecast and assess (Godet, 2000, p. 13). As with many tools, scenarios have many benefits and shortcomings.

Benefits to Using Scenarios Shortcomings of Using Scenarios1) Scenarios can be used to create optimistic futures laying the groundwork for achieving it (Kirkwood, n.d.).

1) Scenarios can become self-fulfilling prophecies particularly when focusing on negative outcomes (Clary, 2011, p. 44).

2) Scenarios help one understand and evaluate an organization’s past to inform the future (Roxburgh, 2009).

2) Sometimes analysts will rely too strongly on the past and thereby find themselves unprepared for a changing future (Roxburgh, 2009).

3) Multiple scenarios can be analyzed and combined to work toward the best possible future while helping leaders to see how problems and consequences may effect an outcome. (Kirkwood, n.d.)

3) Scenarios can have paralyzing effects wherein an organization fails to recognize other opportunities or ignores opportunities for course correction (Roxburgh, 2009).

Scanning the Environment to Inform ScenariosScanning is a tool that allows an organization to use different levels of information to inform future planning (Sobrero, 2004). Scanning must include a wide range of data that is consistently revised and revisited to remain viable (Hines, 2009, p.19; Sobrero, 2004).

Filtering Technology for Meaningful ExperiencesThe use of technology within an organization must be meaningful with emerging technologies being used as tools to create greater context and connections (Public Broadcasting Service 2011).

Bring Your Own Technology and gamification will best serve the Westport Arts Center when filtered through place-based learning models.

Place-based learning is “an educational approach that involves the use of the local community and environment as the central content in the development of institutional learning goals, programs and exhibitions” (Petitpas, 2012).

Westport Arts Center, Inc. (2015). Reprinted with permission

Economic Trends and ConsiderationsChanging markets as well as State and Federal funding has a dramatic impact on arts and cultural institutions that can alter the ability to deliver on ones mission and eliminate the ability of the institution to infuse the local economy with funding.

Impact on the Organization Impact on the Economy

1) Loss of grant funding and programmatic support both competitive and non-competitive (Rizzo, 2015).

1) Loss of local spending by visitors at area businesses and organizational spending on services (Americans for the Arts, 2012).

2) Loss of skilled laborers as budgets face cuts that may never return or stabilize (Rizzo, 2015)

2) Loss of tax revenues from employees should organizations clos (Americans for the Arts, 2012).

The Changing Face of Arts and Culture Institutions

In addition to changing economic circumstances, the audiences and employees at arts and cultural organizations stand to change dramatically in the coming years as the face of America changes. There are several key groups that organizations must engage and service to remain relevant.

Future Vision of EducationThe Westport Arts Center will be an organization that makes use of place-based learning programs mediated with emerging technologies.

By integrating technology in this fashion, the organization will be able to reach new visitors as well as remote visitors while allowing them to become content-makers that will help inform the organization of the types of programs most wanted by potential visitors, donors and stakeholders.

Westport Arts Center, Inc. (2015). Reprinted with permission

Plan For Change: 5 Steps for Implementation

1) Engage experts and partners who can help the organization understand how to build a budget and invest in technology.2.) Analyze the infrastructure of the organization to understand how the intended technologies can be supported. 3) Develop a professional development program that ensures current staffers understand how to create place-based programming and understand how to use and teach to the technologies that accompany it. 4) Create a pilot program of workshops and content that can be used to test an initial investment in technology ensuring the technology works in service of sound programming. 5) Develop a clear means of evaluating the programming and the accompanying technology so that challenges can be discovered and faced readily, and so that the technology remains under review as trends continue to change.

Call to Action: What can be done TODAY! While the steps for implementation will require long term planning and a good deal of time to develop, there are two steps that can be taken now without a great deal of strain on the organization.

Westport Arts Center, Inc. (2015). Reprinted with permission

1) Investigate GPS-enabled technologies and their accompanying apps already being used by organizations to understand what is on the market and what is needed to begin planning.

2) Using the research above, develop a budget and an infrastructure plan that can allow educators to begin to plan for this technology on a reasonable timeline.

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