THE CREATION AND IMPACT OF AN ARTS COMMUNITY AT A SPECIALIZED INSTITUTION

This paper will examine the Arts@ Program, an arts and leadership program run by a director at a specialized institution of higher education in the northeastern United States. This paper offers the opportunity for readers to: 1.) Analyze a community arts program from a leadership perspective; 2.) Examine ways in which leadership, decisionmaking, and related factors can impact a community arts program; and 3.) Apply concepts of the Arts@ Program toward future virtual programmatic efforts. Key learnings from this paper include the following: 1.) Arts communities provide opportunities for all community members to engage in, build lasting memories from, and benefit from arts-related programmatic efforts, including arts instructors; 2.) Community arts programs have the potential to encourage aspects of self-leadership while also allowing participants to develop a deep, cogent appreciation for the arts; and 3.) Many of the design and delivery aspects of arts programs such as those discussed about the Arts@ Program can be applied toward future programmatic efforts, particularly in virtual formats. Reflections and recommendations for future research are presented.


Introduction
This paper will examine the Arts@ Program, an arts and leadership program run by a director at a specialized institution of higher education in the northeastern United States. The institution consisted of about 4,000 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students, with 400 faculty and staff members. The institution is in a town of approximately 70,000 people, with nearby towns of comparable populations.
One of the advantages of the arts is the longstanding tradition of attempting to escape societal conformity (Bazan, 2020 July). The Arts@ Program provided for community members at a specialized institution a break in their regular routine of education and work; a chance to recharge by allowing their minds to be attuned elsewhere if only for a moment. Biehl-Missal (2010) note that arts and music provide creative perspectives and potential activities for cross-fertilization of the arts and leadership. Manz (1986) reported that a full picture of leadership can only be fulfilled through successful leadership of self. The central purpose of the Arts@ Program was to allow students to complement their specific specialization offered at the institution with exposure to programs that reinforce the practice of self-leadership. Art as leadership and leadership as art "is about creating new ways of understanding the world that embraces its inherent complexity… (and) a vision for a form of leadership which might just rise to the challenges of being human in today's world." (Ladkin & Taylor, 2010, p. 240.). This statement is no less true in the times in which we are living, as the demand for ethical, authentic leadership is stronger than ever before (Nawaz Khan, Khan, & Soomro, 2020).
New ways of understanding the world can open the door to many possibilities, and opportunities to do so while learning the intricacies of a specialized career help to unlock the unimaginable. Palus and Drath (1995) discuss the difference between training programs, which focus on imparting new skills, and development programs, which focus on questioning and stretching existing ways of making sense of oneself and one's work. It is possible to make the connection between participation in a leadership development program and participation in a community arts program in that there are significant learning opportunities for all parties involved to benefit from both obtaining new skills as well as potentially experiencing some form of evolution in self-development and sense-making. In this sense, a community arts program like the Arts@ Program can offer significant complementary components to a student at an institution of a particular specialization, such as business or STEM-focused academic programs where similar opportunities are non-existent or lacking in some form. Research points to a growing interest in integrating the arts into the academic curriculum (Maeda, 2013). The Arts@ Program was created to provide opportunities for community members to take part in arts-related programming in an extra-curricular format, though participation was encouraged by faculty through offering extra credit to students in their courses for doing so. This paper offers the opportunity for readers to: 1.) Analyze a community arts program from a leadership perspective; 2.) Examine ways in which leadership, decision-making, and related factors can impact a community arts program; and 3.) Apply concepts of the Arts@ Program toward future programmatic efforts.

Review of Related Scholarship
This section will highlight literature and research relating to leadership, decision-making, and selected approaches to learning.

Authentic Leadership
The five I's of authentic leadership include: Insight, Initiative, Influence, Impact, and Integrity (Gardner, Cogliser, Davis, & Dickens, 2011). Insight requires leaders to not only possess a vision, but also the capacity to find a course of action during complex and challenging times; Initiative involves leading by example and thus only asking others to do what they are willing to do; Influence focuses on how authentic leaders are able to move people toward action, with an infectious energy via their vision and values; Impact includes the capacity to create and effect real, lasting change for all stakeholders; and Integrity is defined as the consistency between one's values and behavior, as authentic leaders should operate from an ethically-sound perspective and should not compromise their values under any circumstances. The Arts@ Program created a multitude of types of art-related events for all members of the institution's community members, including students, faculty, and staff members. The director made the decision to experiment with carefully curated programming that was accessible but evocative. Taking the initiative to curate with boldness helped to necessitate an effective impact. Creating an arts community on a specialized college campus required making use of many forms of influence while constantly weighing each decision made with personal and organizational integrity. Gillespie (1987) noted four major types of decision-making: Autocratic (this is how we do it); technocratic (this is the best way to do it); democratic (how should we do it?); and bureaucratic (we follow these processes to do it). Each of these decision-making strategies can be employed to influence project outcomes, and all serve as a form of leadership that guides a given group. When creating and executing a vision, there are many moments of autocratic decision-making (Gillespie, 1987). However, since the Arts@ Program had to follow the rules and regulations set forth by the institution, there were many instances of autocratic decision-making (e.g., director) as mitigated by bureaucratic decision-making (e.g., institution). While top-down, bureaucratic paradigms were effective for material productions, they are not well suited to today's knowledge and skill-based world (Uhl-Bien, Marion, & McKelvey, 2007). Since the Arts@ was able to function more bottom-up as opposed to top-down, it serves as a model for the kind of muchneeded progressive leadership in today's world.

Approaches to Learning
There are myriad ways to enact and direct learning within a practice that offers significant learning opportunities for the participants. Wortham (2003) discusses approaches to learning as those pertaining to behavior, mind, and society. Behavioral approaches to learning focus on the learner's change in behavior by way of positive and negative reinforcement. Mind, or cognitivist approaches to learning, involve focusing on expanding the learner's mental models through providing examples and applications. Society, or sociocultural theory, as an active form of learning for instructor and learner, whereby both participate in an activity with the instructor taking on the role of the 'Most Knowledgeable Other' (MKO). The MKO role in observing sociocultural learning theory provides scaffolding to learners, and this can be considered a form of direction-setting and thus leadership (Mahn, 1999). Arts@ provided programming that spanned across all aforementioned approaches to learning. For example, the arts and lectures programming focused primarily on cognitivist learning, while the instructors in residence program centered on behavioral and sociocultural learning. Resnick and Rosenbaum (2013) characterize tinkering as an experimental and iterative form of engagement that offers a multitude of opportunities to reassess goals, explore new paths, and imagine new possibilities. If the invitation to creativity is accompanied by intentional structure and guidance, tinkering can be channeled to support deep student learning (Bevan, Petrich, & Wilkinson, 2014). The Arts@ Program had to experiment with wide variety of programming, and the tinkering approach yielded a greater volume of events where community members could engage in some form of deep learning.

Review of Related Scholarship: Summary
In summary, the leadership of the Arts@ Program --consisting of the director, a library art gallery curator who reported to the director, and a few student workers for events --took an authentic leadership approach to the program's design and delivery. Decisions for the Arts @ Program were mainly autocratic, being sure to follow the bureaucratic decision-making of the institution. The Arts @ Program incorporated many different approaches to learning dependent upon the nature of the event, and the tinkering approach allowed for an experimentation with different types of programs while also affording a plethora of deep learning opportunities to community members.

Overview of Arts@ Program
The Arts@ Program ran for seven semesters, from Spring 2011 to Spring 2014. The Program included the following: Performing arts series, music and arts instruction/workshops, concerts, lectures, student arts organizations including the chamber orchestra and pep band, the library art gallery, and additional campus programming such as the summer lunch series. The performing arts series presented nationally-touring acts of various forms for campus community and surrounding towns, while the live music concerts featured artists and speakers each semester. The lecture series partnered with academic departments on a regular basis to provide programs and events that related to the material covered in the classroom, and focused efforts on featuring speakers from less traditional specialty environments. The library art gallery presented several artist exhibits each academic year and served as a forum for the institution to interact with the broader regional creative community. The music instruction and workshops were conducted as needed and according to what worked best for instructors and students. A music rehearsal room was made available for general community use and also for group rehearsals and instruction. Overall, the Arts@ Program intended to provide opportunities for community members to expand awareness and appreciation for the arts while also providing opportunities to learn and refine art-and music-related skills. Please see Appendix A for semester schedule artifacts used by the Arts@ Program, including semester schedules and promotional material.
The Arts@ Program provided opportunities for students to supplement their intensive specialized studies with artrelated activities and events including workshops, the various performing arts & lecture events and through involvement in the art-related student organizations on campus. Additionally, this program aimed to bring together all members of the campus community through common interests and mutual appreciation for the arts. Programming was paired with a campus leadership development program featuring leadership-themed workshops and seminars (Payne, 2018, July). Please see Appendix B for some of the logos utilized by the Arts@ Program at the institution and in the greater community and surrounding cities. The methodology for this study include program evaluation, making use of existing data that was collected during the time the Arts@ Program existed (Rubin, 2020). In addition, an exploratory, qualitative approach was utilized to look for themes that emerged from the data obtained from a qualitative survey that went out former participants in the Arts@ Program via an existing social media group page (Ravitch & Carl, 2019). Outcomes are discussed in the next section.

Discussion of Outcomes
This section will present the outcomes from the Arts @ Program. Table 1 and Table 2 present program logistics including total number of events during each semester of operation. Qualitative data taken from reflection surveys administered after an event provided by students and community members was used to refine aspects of the Arts@ Program. Examples of this refinement include the following: the creation of the Artist Instructor In Residence Program (workshop classes as well as private instruction); Best nights for events (Performing Arts/Concerts); and suggested guest speakers (Lectures, leadership program co-sponsored events).

Arts@ Program Data (2011-2014)
In Table 1, it is clear to see the explorational aspect of the Arts@ Program in the Spring 2011 semester, as there were 33 total events. Almost half of these were workshops that helped to inspire future programs within the Arts@ Program structure. One of these programs is the Arts Instructor in Residence Program, where community members had the option of signing up for free individual or small class instruction for guitar, voice, drums, and visual arts. Additionally, Table 1 indicates a high volume of lectures and workshops, which were met with the most success, as the speakers and sessions were more congruent with the specialization of the institution. These efforts were supported by other events such as concerts and performing arts which were aimed at providing more stretch opportunities regarding exposure to the arts. Overall, there were 183 events presented over the seven semesters. Note that this does not include additional campus programming. The total events for each semester are presented in Table 2 along with the average attendance for each semester. The performing arts events, which took place in the campus's large auditoriums, were the most well-attended (82), with concerts being the second most well-attended events (71). Lectures and workshops were designed to accommodate smaller audiences since there were more interactive elements including case studies, exercises, and opportunities to build art-related skills through creation and instruction. The art gallery exhibits showcased talent from around the region.

Arts@ Program Open Response Survey (2020)
A qualitative, open response survey was sent to former Arts@ Program stakeholders asking them to reflect on their experiences with the program during their time at the institution. The following represents the thematic areas which emerged from the analysis of qualitative survey response data.
Impact of arts@ program. The Arts@ Program provided opportunities for all community members to engage in and benefit from arts-related programmatic efforts. The student perspective includes responses associated with the Arts@ Program providing enrichment: "I honestly think the arts should be required for every student at [this institution]. The arts creates character. It opens your eyes to the world and makes you view your surroundings and your fellow human through a new lens" (Personal communication, 11 December 2020). Further, student responses highlight the capacity for arts programming to help to augment that which is provided at a specialized institution: "I definitely gained an appreciation for arts and business and how the two can be intertwined" (Personal communication, 14 December 2020).
The impact of the program can be measured not only by the skills and developmental opportunities afforded to participants, but also by what comes afterward, such as having influence on shaping student perspectives on career aspirations: "I loved the acoustic concert series at the cafe to hear new acts. Some I have met years later in Nashville as I pursue my own professional career in music" (Personal communication, 11 December 2020). Another perspective includes the arts instructors who were employed by the Arts@ Program to provide music and art instruction in individual sessions and small group formats. One of these instructors, the artist in residence for voice and songwriting, offered perspective that is in full support of what is possible for students: "In my observation, having an arts program was incredibly beneficial to the students at [this institution]. It is my strong belief that music is a healing force. University carries its pressures and could see every week how the private lessons, workshops and performances would beneficially change the mood and confidence of the students in the program" (Personal communication, 12 December 2020). The power of a community arts program is that it can be as impactful to the instructor as it can be for the participant: "I felt so good about the work I did at [this institution]. It's always rewarding to watch people truly transform through the power of music and art. I so appreciated participating in a program that acknowledged the importance of arts even in the context of a [specialty]-focused school" (Personal communication, 12 December 2020). Since the Ars@ Program essentially functioned as a community for all interested in the arts, it served as a place to meet influential people, both instructors for the program as well as faculty and staff who work at the institution: "Some of my most influential teachers and mentors at [this institution] I met through the Arts@ Program" (Personal communication, 12 December 2020). The following quote reflects the balance that can be struck through having an arts program at a specialized institution: It felt like I was surrounded by students who were incredibly passionate about [specialty], while I admire their zealousness towards their studies I personally was not the type to devote ALL my time and effort towards schoolwork. The Arts@ gave me an opportunity to be involved in my lifelong interest in music and reminded me that music will continue to be a part of my life even when I'm out of school. (Personal communication, 14 December 2020) Another important aspect regarding the impact of community programs is to keep expectations realistic when creating a community that will support a larger strategic objective institutionally.
Comments from the open survey demonstrated that community members recognized that the events of the Arts@ Program were not as well-attended as they could have been. "I was always in amazement that more people didn't attend these amazing events" (Personal communication, 11 December 2020). The vision of the director consisted of creating a community of arts-related programming at a specialized institution. If all events were popular, the Arts@ Program might have been seen as a threat to the culture of the specialized university. Therefore, many events were planned with a small audience in mind; the point being that there was something for every community member on the campus. This is essential to creating a community that will fit within a larger institutional framework, especially during its initial formation (Backstrom, Huttenlocher, Kleinberg, & Lan, 2006, August). Overall, responses indicate an appreciation for being positively impacted by the Arts@ Program.
Arts@ program: Memorable moments. The experience of active participation in a community program can provide a multitude of memories and points of reflection, often long after the participation has taken place (Mezirow, 1997). Research by Sedikides, Wildschut, Arndt, and Routledge (2008) purports these positive memories, or feelings of nostalgia, serve at least four key functions, that they: Generate positive affect, elevate self-esteem, foster social connectedness, and alleviate existential threat. "I really enjoyed meeting [Bill Rosemann] from Marvel. He joined us for lunch/dinner and spoke about his experience with guiding the legacy of the Marvel universe" (Personal communication, 14 December 2020). This quote reflects the personal connections that were made possible through participation in the Arts@ Program. Other comments exemplify the positive feelings associated with taking a temporary break from the norm (Bazan, 2020 July): "Attending live music shows was a blast. I would have a front row seat and watch how the band interacted with each other, and just have a good time" (Personal communication, 11 December 2020). Here is another quotation reflecting a similar sentiment: "As a drummer, I loved listening to live bands play. It pulled me away from the world of [this institution]" (Personal communication, 14 December 2020). The following comment notes the once-in-a-lifetime experiences that participation in arts programming can provide: "Watching Peter Himmelman teaching a professor how to improvise on his clarinet during a live performance" (Personal communication, 14 December 2020). Through participation in the Arts@ Program, participants had the opportunity to engage in what Bevan et. al (2014) refer to as moments of deep learning: "Mine had to have been all the guitar lessons I took advantage of. I got to meet some amazing musicians and hear so many creative minds that influenced the way I play and perform today" (Personal communication, 11 December 2020). In a similar fashion, instructors were able to bear witness to the transformational experience that exploration in the arts can provide: "I did have one voice student who thought himself "tone deaf". I worked with him the first day just on matching one note, then two and so on. By the end of the semester, he was singing an entire song on pitch and thrilled about it" (Personal communication, 12 December 2020). Another comment is representative of milestone achievements made possible through the challenge that a community arts program can provide: "I had so much fun participating in the open mic allowing students to perform in front of an audience. For some of them it was their first time performing" (Personal communication, 12 December 2020). Responses under this theme overall demonstrate positive memories associated with the Arts@ Program. These feelings of nostalgia are powerful and can determine future involvement as an alumni and potential donor to the institution (Boym, 2007;Gallo, 2012). The creation and maintenance of an arts community at a specialized institution relied upon the enablement of services for interested community members, while also leaving room to entice those who might not normally engage in such programming: "Arts are important and [director] worked to make those resources available for the ones interested, but also wants to get people inspired and enlightened, even if they do not know it is good for them yet" (Personal communication, 12 December 2020). Overall, survey respondent perceptions of the Arts@ Program leadership were favorable. Other comments pertaining to the Arts@ Program leadership note a perceived lack of support from the larger institution: "I feel like the Arts program got the funding it needed to succeed but senior leadership did not embrace it. It seemed like [director] successfully ran it as a one-person operation rather than something the entire campus would support" (Personal communication, 14 December 2020). A similar comment reflects how this perceived lack of larger institutional support for the Arts@ Program creates a missed opportunity for such a campus community to align with institutional strategies and objectives: "It would have been nice to see more than one person of leadership care for the ARTS because only one person only makes me care and respect that person and not [the institution]" (Personal communication, 11 December 2020). Survey responses toward program leadership overall reflect an appreciation for the efforts to create the community, as well as a recognition of the lack of broader support from the senior leadership at the institution.
Arts@ program: Leadership lessons. Several comments from the survey noted lessons of leadership learned via participation in the Arts@ Program, with particular emphasis on aspects of self-leadership (Manz, 1986): "From a leadership perspective, it allowed students to attend whatever events they found interesting and lead discussions at those events. It helped students express themselves in a new way compared to presenting PowerPoints in class." (Personal communication, 14 December 2020). A similar comment suggests the importance of self-leadership while also noting the transformative nature of program engagement (Manz, 1986;Palus & Drath, 1995): "If you want to pursue your passion, wake up and do that thing every morning...It teaches you that you have to be disciplined, it teaches you patience, it teaches you that nothing happens overnight. It teaches you to appreciate the ones before you because you know how hard it is to achieve that feat" (Personal communication, 11 December 2020). A final comment alludes to the paradoxical lessons made possible through developing a deep understanding of and appreciation for the arts: "Art comes from the struggles and hardships in life, but it also rises and paints its beauty as well. Art inspires through the good and the bad and I made sure I took every advantage of the Arts at [this institution]. I'm a better person today for it" (Personal communication, 14 December 2020). Responses from the survey suggest that there were some leadership lessons learned through participating in the Arts@ Program by encouraging self-governance while also developing a cogent appreciation for the arts.
If the arts@ program existed today. Our current times are indicative of major shifts to normalized aspects of life. There are significant changes happening within higher education, notably a re-thinking of how programs and courses are delivered (Govindarajan & Srivastava, 2020). Respondent perceptions regarding if the Arts@ Program existed during today's world seem to indicate an overwhelming confidence in the capacity to deliver the programs virtually in an effective manner: "I think that we'd have an opportunity to show students at [this institution] a broader assortment of talent. I think Zoom and other applications would allow us to see performers from other parts of the world and see how technology can help us be better connected. I think we could also have more collaborative programming -such as having students vote for submissions to a virtual library photo series..." (Personal communication, 14 December 2020). This comment gets at what is more possible now in a world where, for the sake of necessity, we are more fully-engaged with what technology makes possible regarding social and human connection (Rubin, 2020). The following comment represents the same notion: "Arts to me is self-expression. I would say hosting events virtually to teach students certain concepts of art, whether that's music, drawing, dance, etc. With a new age of technology, more is possible" (Personal communication, 12 December 2020). Finally, this comment from a former Arts@ instructor notes the feasibility based upon their current experiences: "Given the current state of the country/world, I would assume the arts program would be occurring online until in-person classes could resume..I have been teaching private online lessons during the pandemic and find that it has continued to be a rewarding experience, a stress reliever, confidence builder and a welcomed connection" (Personal communication, 12 December 2020). Overall, comments suggest that the Arts@ Program could function effectively in today's world in a virtual format.

Reflections/Recommendations
This study suggests that there are relevant aspects of arts community development and management that exist in the world that are rich with insight on ways in which to create successful communities, especially at specialized institutions of higher education where a need for such communities exist. The following represent key learnings from the survey response analysis: 1,) Arts communities provide opportunities for all community members to engage in, build lasting memories from, and benefit from arts-related programmatic efforts, including arts instructors; 2.) Community arts programs have the potential to encourage aspects of self-leadership while also allowing participants to develop a deep appreciation for the arts; and 3.) Many of the design and delivery aspects of arts programs such as those discussed about the Arts@ Program can be applied toward future programmatic efforts, particularly in virtual formats.
Based on the information provided in this paper, the following recommendations are made. First, it is recommended that the Arts@ Program be used as a case study for examining leadership during the creation and maintenance of any supplemental or STEAM-focused program efforts (Maeda, 2013). Second, it is important that any programmatic efforts are supported by senior leadership downward to ensure buy-in and investment across the organization. Third, work to balance efforts in creating any community aimed at providing complementary opportunities for participants so as to not threaten the main specialty or brand of the institution. Fourth, try to find inroads for all programs that speak to specific specialty of the institution, but do not be afraid to deviate from the norm. Arts have an additional charge to challenge people's existing frameworks (Mezirow, 1997). The Arts@ Program relied mostly on providing lectures and workshops for the specialized community, while also providing a great deal of 'against the grain' programming such as concerts and performing arts events. A student comment from an article about the Arts@ Program noted the following after attending a lecture which featured music industry professionals: "Learning about the music industry was interesting and made me think about how my education at [this institution] could be put to good use" (Walsh, 2012, October, p. 3). The art gallery formed its own small community which attracted a solid group of supporters. Fifth, the outcomes of this study highlight significant opportunities at specialized institutions of higher education to integrate 'STEM to STEAM' transitional frameworks as a way to move arts from the periphery into core focus (Maeda, 2013). This can be accomplished by creating inter-disciplinary academic programs and/or through use of extra-curricular programming such as the arts@ program. Lastly, paying attention to an organization's culture, and in particular listening to the wants and needs of any sub-cultures that exist, is extremely important for leadership to consider when making decisions regarding the creation of community programs. Individual leadership as part of an organization, as opposed to organizational leadership as adjudicated by an individual, has the potential to signal to community members that efforts might not be completely supported by the organization. This can create the impression that the individual cares more than the organization does. Alignment is critical.
Future programs operating mainly under the virtual programming framework should focus on providing more opportunities for audience interaction, particularly with programs that build it into the actual event as opposed to simply closing with a question-and-answer period. In addition, there are modular resources such as the Masterclass application platform that can supplement existing efforts (Masterclass, n.d.). We are seeing in the world we live in today the potential for virtual programmatic efforts, and it is possible to look to pre-existing approaches of live, inperson frameworks such as the Arts@ programming as inspiration. There will be a constant risk-versus-reward process to be considered when planning live events but developing a deeper understanding of the leadership aspects involved in creating a campus community can certainly assist with making the best decisions possible within a virtual environment (Monorchio, 2020). "Exposure to the arts encourage people to think about our world in different ways and be more open to different perspectives…it helps us to make connections with others and contribute to something greater than ourselves" (Walsh, 2012, October, p. 3). It is hoped that this study can assist with future leadership of arts and other forums where there are programmatic needs to be met or communities to be created.