Alix Refshauge

Green Paper: Artists’ Residency Programs

Posted by Alix Refshauge, Feb 16, 2010 5 comments


Alix Refshauge

Welcome to the Green Paper discussion on Artists’ Residency Programs. We encourage you to read the full Green Paper and make general comments at this time. Be sure to keep your comments brief—Alix Refshauge, the Ambassador for this Green Paper will soon begin deeper, threaded conversations around specific paragraphs, sections or themes that appear in this Green Paper. Follow this conversation thoroughly by adding the Artists’ Residency Programs feed to your RSS reader!

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5 responses for Green Paper: Artists’ Residency Programs

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March 01, 2010 at 12:14 am

So, a couple of questions/comments come to mind after reading this paper.
1. This organization seriously needs to work with Artist's and Arts Organizations Preparedness and Emergency Response; each others feedback and insight is strong alone, but can be exponentially stronger together! Especially after I read the 2nd paragraph in the "What's Next" section, all I kept thinking was how each of the goals you mentioned were directly along the same thought process the "preparedness" paper is trying to examine and develop. Anyway, because I hadn't seen any conversation between these two organizations, thought I would attempt to start a dialogue...It sounds like you both have very similar missions.
2. The creative process is something that truly inspires me - because of the field I am in and some previous research I facilitated. Have you ever read Twyla Tharp's book "The Creative Habit"? If not, I highly advise you - and anyone else who reads this comment - to check it out. At UF, there is a Dance in Medicine course we have the students read the book for; Tharp is excellent at explaining the creative process, and explores ways in which we can qualitatively measure its importance. It is not impossible, but can sometimes be challenging, to measure the importance of the arts quantitatively; so, we must find stronger ways to measure it qualitatively. After reading this book, I will never thinking of the creative process the same way ever again....

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February 23, 2010 at 1:33 pm

Artist in Residence (AiR) programs, together with fellowships and genius grants, have the potential to nurture pure artistic achievement in ways that merit-based programming cannot. The future of the arts, all arts, depends on robust AiR funding initiatives. And current funding criteria will inherently discount and underfund AiRs because of their performance standards.

Arts advocates may know that creativity cannot be measured in an adjudicated process. But they also know that in order to compete, they must fulfill the cost/benefit criteria for their next grant app.

In this Green paper Caitlin Strokosch* writes that "Art for art's sake is insufficient" in our current economic climate. Her statement is may be true, but it also endangers the future of arts in America unless we refocus the perceived value of AiR programs.

I propose that funding for AiR programming receive priority for a period of 15 years, 2010-2015; that AiR funding be increased at least 4-fold; that 10% of each AiR program be dedicated to documentary archivists, art historians, curators, anthropologists and sociologists; that AiR programs be exempt from fulfilling ROI goals until 2025; that in 2025 a full review of the cultural and economic impact of AiR in American communities be conducted and presented to the public in a fully accountable documentary study; and that this AiR documentary study be made available to the international public in an international venue (i.e., a Biennele, a Worlds Fair.)

Thank you for the opportunity to share my comments.
-Mel Ahlborn
Visual artist, San Francisco's East Bay

*(Caitlin Strokosch is Executive Director of Alliance of Artists Communities and author of this Green Paper)

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February 21, 2010 at 4:45 pm

Thats a stupid thing to say... Be more positive about the green paper movement.

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February 21, 2010 at 4:47 pm

Oh...OK..

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February 21, 2010 at 4:43 pm

Its a great dialog that needs broad based assistance to reach beyond...

Be part of a national “Art Comes From Artists” campaign is a requested task and yet, to position this issue for the public in this way, with these words, may promote the "ghettoization" of the artist and their production. I wonder some times if we should not re-frame the perspective for the "public" more often with the 99% law?

99% of everything in the man made world was envisioned, created and designed by an artist; The US Mint has a call right now out to artists to assist create new currency.

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