Thoughts from Bob…
July 30th, 2007 at 09:27am Chad Bauman
Direct arts coverage in newspapers is often seen as sparse but I always like to look for where arts issues seep in unexpectedly in articles in the business section or front page. On July 29, in The Washington Post’s Opinion Page, art is at the center of an editorial about whether three statues of Former Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, author of the 1857 Dred Scott decision declaring that blacks had no rights, should be removed from public land in Maryland. The Post says no and a reason they cite references why public art or memorials are important in the first place: “Memorials are meant to cause reflection and not always celebration or even respect. The Taney statues should remain but be supplemented with signs explaining the significance of Taney’s contributions to American law, warts and all.” The Post is pointing out the power of art as a teaching tool.
The power of art is increasingly understood internationally. A China Daily article this week references improving China’s “soft power” through increased cultural exports. This is exactly what I saw happening last month when I visited Shanghai and Beijing. In my podcast this month, Artcast II, I point out that the main reason I was in China was to speak at a conference on building audiences and marketing the arts. The article quotes senior Chinese government officials calling for “a clear national cultural development strategy” and saying “some forms of cultural development have not been fulfilled and lack strong government support.” Recently China has established 15 cultural centers outside the country. More cultural investment, supporting cultural exchange, understanding the “soft power’ of the arts. In America the reduced investment in international arts exchange has been a severe mistake for which we are now paying. Our government and all of us might need to pay attention.
And apparently it is now okay to admit, and I assume, make mistakes. Thursday’s New York Times talks about the new trend among foundations to admit and examine failures. Actually I see this as very healthy, in both the recognition that not every foundation investment or every program that gets the money can or will be a complete success, and secondly that we can learn something from the effort. “Foundations are supposed to take risks,” says Paul Brest president and CEO of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. He is right and I would say it is equally healthy for arts organizations and arts enabling organizations to understand this for themselves, for the projects that they produce and for the programs that they support.
Finally in Sunday’s New York Times a great article explores a potential problem in the art museum community. Twenty-four of the two hundred members of the Art Museum Directors Association are looking for new directors. All twenty-four are highly significant institutions. On the other hand the vacancies are only about 12 percent of the whole and so it is not at a disaster level yet, although it certainly bears watching. My observation of the arts industry as a whole is that this need for new leaders is an industry-wide issue. And I assume it is going to get worse as more leaders approach retirement. I am pleased that at Americans for the Arts several years ago, we began our Emerging Leaders Program to help identify and nurture young or new leaders. I was equally pleased to see that the young arts administrators who sought out the program were not only leaders from arts-enabling organizations like arts commissions, united arts funds, and arts and business councils but professionals from dance, theater, music, the visual arts, and more. I am excited about the passion and the ability of the young leaders I have met through this Emerging Leaders Program and if the New York Times is right it is an area that all arts organizations need to develop more thoroughly and perhaps a bit more quickly.
- Bob Lynch, President and CEO, Americans for the Arts
