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Exploring and articulating one's vision is a critical part of helping those engaging in the work to better understand, value and fully appreciate the art.
An artistic leader's vision is a critical point of departure and return for all involved with an arts entity. It frames and explains why we do the work we do, what our beliefs are, the kind of aesthetic and programming filters we use. It explains why we ask others to support and participate in the work.
There are a couple of central ideas involved in our understanding of vision. First, vision is not as an overwhelming singularity, but a field. Field theory (in chaos science) provides a context for cause and effect relationships. Fields define, shape, reflect, and propel behaviours. In this respect, a vision is not a thing, but rather a complex, multi-dimensional set of views, beliefs and behaviours. A vision field contains key philosophical points of view given depth and dimension by other aspects of the field -- aesthetic points of view, programmatic, curatorial or decision-making frames, beliefs and commitments -- which define and shape behaviour and relationships.
Anne Patterson describes the idea of the vision field as follows:
Vision is less the definition of exactly where we want to be and how we get there than a mutual understanding of shared values and ideals. Vision is not one thing to the exclusion of all else. Vision holds numerous possibilities.
The idea of field of vision is a lot more realistic in relation to the way many of us work and understand our organizations. It is not as defined as a "guiding vision"; it is more chaotic. The field of vision is where we work every day. It is composed of the values, the goals and the ideals of our organizational culture. There are also the "danger zones," things that our organizational culture clearly cannot support.
Our leadership conveys the vision of the organization to all by establishing the values, goals and ideals and marking the danger zones that are obstacles to achieving the vision clearly. In this way, we do not limit the creativity of our partners by imposing a strict set of rules within which to operate. As long as everyone understands the field of vision there will be many possible creative solutions for every problem that arises.
ARTS Action Research finds that many arts professionals are more comfortable with the idea of inviting others to participate in their vision field in appropriate ways rather than blindly or obediently following "the vision".
A second central idea in ARTS Action Research's understanding is that a vision is personal. Personal beliefs and values are at the heart of a vision field and therefore at the heart of any organization regardless of size, scale or body of work. Toronto dance artist Denise Fujiwara, Artistic Director of Fujiwara Dance Inventions, expresses her way of working and measures of success in very simple but clear ways. According to Denise:
I was once shown a diagram of wave theory, how waves in the ocean are created out of water moving in cycles, how they build, crest and reform. Large waves are made up of many smaller cycling waves. After a large wave has crested, it actually reforms into many smaller waves. I see a parallel with my work that also seems to evolve in waves that cycle. A wave cycle (a project) may take as long as ten years from beginning to completion. I can see now how the waves come one after the other, sometimes one overtaking another. With my eye on dancing well into maturity, I am happy to let dances develop in stages and work strategically, rather than only tactically.
My current artistic vehicle, Fujiwara Dance Inventions, allows each wave, each project to begin, develop, emerge and grow. As each wave unfolds and reveals itself, it also reveals what is needed in terms of human, financial, time, space and resources. Fujiwara Dance Inventions places a premium importance on preserving my autonomy as an artist, keeping the organizational requirements light and fluid to respond to my vision, the project, the environment, and to serve the needs of my work.
I understand much better now that the life force of an institution is in the artist, the vision and the artistic direction. After twenty years of professional life as a dance artist, I no longer define myself by the success or failure of an institution or my last work. I can think in terms of the larger cycle. I have faith that I will achieve my larger goals because I plan to do it over my lifetime, not just within my next project.
Exploring and articulating one's vision, through a vision field and very personal values, approaches, definitions, expectations and measures of success takes time and it is complex. This complexity recognizes that there are layers and dimensions to each arts professional's vision that should not only be recognized and understood but also celebrated. When it comes down to each individual vision, the matter is necessarily complex, but not complicated at all.
Article originally contributed by Nello McDaniel, ARTS Action Research, updated in 2005 to include current terms and conditions
RESOURCES:
McDaniel, Nello & Thorn, George. Towards a New Arts Order: Process, Power, Change. ARTS Action Issues: New York, 1993.
Wheatley, Margaret J. Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in Chaotic World. Berrett- Koehler Publishers, Inc.: San Francisco, 1994.
Wheatley, Margaret J. Leadership and the New Science: Learning About Organization From An Orderly Universe. Berrett- Koehler Publishers, Inc.: San Francisco, 1999.
Kellner-Rogers & Wheatley, Margaret. a simpler way. Berret-Koehler Publishers, Inc.: San Franscisco, 1996.
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