Blog

Whitney George is the Arts Director at Church on the Move in Tulsa, OK. There, he oversees the teams that are responsible for service planning, worship, video, graphics, and production.

1) Good art starts with good leadership

• Art is born in the heart of an individual. 
• It’s not lead by committee or focus group.
• Some scan the populous to see what they want to do.  That’s not leading but instead managing.
• Good leaders divide people.  Some will love what they’re doing and another group will want nothing to do with it.
• You can’t make good art pandering up or pandering down. 
• Good artists understand that boundaries are part of the deal.

2) Good artists realize originality doesn’t exist.  Authenticity matters.

• A lot of people get hung up thinking everything has to be new.
• Make services you would want to go to.
• It’s better to be good at one thing instead of doing everything terrible. 
• Don’t care about where an idea comes from but where you are going to take it.
• This is not saying it’s okay to just copy/paste or directly steal.
• A real artist can take something from one context and use it in some completely different context.

3) Good art does require building a strong team.

• Who do you want on your team?
  • People you respect and people that can respect you.  You have to trust the people you work with.  You can’t fake who you believe in.
  • People who have a heart for your church.  You need people who aren’t self promoters or just there for the pay check.  This will make sure people’s ideas are coming from an honest place.
  • Chemistry.  You have to speak the same language.  Useful for brainstorming.  Tension is a creativity killer.  You don’t need yes men or people who don’t participate. 

4) Good art requires ruthless evaluation.

• You have to separate your own worth from your ideas.  When we attach our worth to our art, we feel bad about ourselves if our art isn’t chosen or doesn’t work.
• It’s not about getting it done.  It’s about getting it right.
• The difference between good and great is the last 5%.  You have to focus on the small details.
  • Don’t wing announcements from the stage.
  • Don’t say the same thing every week (visitor welcome, we’re looking at you).
• We’re wired to seek praise.  How did I do?  People don’t want to say you did badly.
• If you want evaluation, you have to ask for it.  Where could I improve?  Did that work? You have to be vulnerable but these questions invite people to give you real critique.

5) Good art requires that there is no magic behind the magic

• Common excuse: “If I knew what you knew, I could do my job better.”
• Reality: the magic behind the magic is hard, focused work.
• There is not great talent that trumps hard work and practice.  Talent exists but it doesn’t play as big of a role as we make it. 
• You want to become better?  It comes little by little through daily discipline and hard work.