Audience Engagement and the Role of Arts Talk in the Digital Era

Lynne Conner is Associate Professor and Chair of the Theatre and Dance Department at Colby College, USA.

• Preamble: We the Audience PART I: DEFINING ARTS TALK 1. Roadmap to Pleasure 2. Eras of Social Interpretation 3. Geographies of Social Interpretation PART II: FACILITATING ARTS TALK 4. Audience Learning Communities 5. Fundamentals of Productive Talk 6. Arts Talk Conclusion: The Pleasures of Interpretation in the Live | Digital Era

“Conner’s book is an elegant and well-organized combination of historical records and contemporary culture phenomena. Based on theoretical analysis, Conner reaches back into history and continues onwards into contemporary live and digital culture. The book is designed to be read and used by a wide range of arts workers, arts administrators, artists, arts educator, arts students, and arts funders. Conner’s book also offers value to a general public who longs for the chance to explore their arts experience.” (Yurong Huang, The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, Vol. 45, November, 2015)“Lynne Conner’s monograph will be of great interest to scholars working in the field of cultural management, museum studies and sociology of culture, but also to professionals working in museums, as educators and curators. … Lynne Conner’s monograph provides an important contribution to processes of meaning making in the arts. … Conner’s practical questions and guidelines are useful for arts workers and art lovers alike to stimulate inclusion and active participation.” (Christian Morgner, Participations, Vol. 12 (2), November, 2015)"Conner is unique in leaning on present-day tenets of cognitive science as a tool for enhancing understanding of pleasure. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate Students, researchers, professionals." - CHOICE"Lynne Conner offers a deep dive into an essential question for anyone who creates, curates, manages, or supports the arts: What makes arts experiences meaningful? Through wide-ranging scholarship and practical connections, this book is an art-lover's field guide to clearer thinking, richer listening, and more resilient practice." - Andrew Taylor, Assistant Professor of Arts Management, American University, USA, author of The Artful Manager"What if the past 75 years were a mass culture bubble from which we're only now emerging? Perhaps the digital revolution, as empowering and startlingly new as it is, is most powerful when it helps us return to and build on long-held enduring values. Lynne Conner's historically-steeped perspective on how communities have traditionally interacted around culture is an insightful and particularly useful take on constructing a framework for sharing culture in the digital age." - Douglas McLennan, Editor and Founder of ArtsJournal.com"Lynne Conner's Audience Engagement and the Role of Arts Talk in the Digital Era is a path-breaking book about cultural consumption and engagement. What do works of art and culture actually mean to their audiences, and, more importantly, what is the process by which these meanings are created, extended, and deepened? Conner's analysis reveals the deeply social nature of engagement with art. When we have to express our ideas, respond, and deliberate with others, our connection with art becomes more meaningful, and, Conner argues, more pleasurable." - Steven Jay Tepper, Associate Professor of Sociology, Vanderbilt University, USA, and Associate Director of the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy