ARTSblog

Welcome to the Green Paper discussion on the future of Art Therapy. We encourage you to read the full Green Paper available in the tab above and make general comments at this time. Be sure to keep your comments brief—Michelle Dean, the Ambassador for this Green Paper will begin deeper, threaded conversations around specific paragraphs, sections or themes that appear in this Green Paper. Follow this conversation thoroughly by adding the Art Therapy feed to your RSS reader!

Do community based residencies serve the academic artist?

How can community based residencies enable the critical conversations that serious artists need to challenge their work and keep them up to speed on contemporary issues in the arts? Can we provide both a forum where the serious contemporary artist can transform while making their art or their services accessible to the general public? Are these two practices worlds apart or do they coexist? Does this apply to location too? Is an artist at a disadvantage if they arent living somewhere that has direct access to a contemporary art scene; or does technology provide enough access to the information they need?

What do you think?

Today I took about 60 fourth, fifth, and sixth graders to hear a performance by the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.  For most of these students, it was the first time they had ever heard a live performance by a symphony orchestra – for some of them it may be have been the first time they had heard a symphony orchestra AT ALL.  The funny thing is, they’re all string players.  They are all a part of our in-school string program, and they’ve all been playing for at least seven months.  But if it weren’t for today’s performance, they may have gone through their two years of string classes without ever hearing an orchestra perform.  Read the rest of this entry »

I feel slightly guilty not taking more time to post specifically about the Green Paper – which I believe is wonderful, makes some great points of discussion, and I highly encourage EVERYONE to read – but I must take the time, now, to focus on something that I am always an advocate for and is always on my heart …. Taking on the Leadership Role!!!

Most recently, I read a post by another individual on the ArtsBlog.  I tried looking his name up again, but had no luck in finding it.  Therefore, if you read this blog, please introduce yourself – it was refreshing to listen to you speak your mind.

Therefore, the topic of discussion I would like to bring up is this: Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the Green Paper discussion on the future of Community Development in the Arts. We encourage you to read the full Green Paper available in the tab above and make general comments at this time. Be sure to keep your comments brief—the Ambassador for this Green Paper will begin deeper, threaded conversations around specific paragraphs, sections or themes that appear in this Green Paper. Follow this conversation thoroughly by adding the Community Development feed to your RSS reader!

When I was asked to blog about a green paper on the future of state arts agencies (SAAs), I wasn’t sure the topic would attract much discussion. Most of the people who will read this paper will be grantees, I thought, so what do they care about SAAs as long as they get their grants? And then I read the paper and I realized I had been short-sighted. If you aren’t one of the few SAA employees in our country, you may not feel this paper is of interest to you. But I urge you to reconsider, read it, and join the discussion.

Mr. Tzougros’ thoughts about SAAs reach far into our society and ask what SAAs can be to the ever-changing landscape of the arts in America. His vision of the future SAA “sets our work in a broader ecology, allowing us to make more meaningful connections to other creative industries and public policy issues, enriching our work on behalf of all citizens.” Heady stuff for a government agency which may or may not be appreciated by the majority of citizens anyway. Read the rest of this entry »

In this month’s ArtNews magazine, I read a book review covering In Curating: Interviews WithTen International Curators. Carolee Thea, author of the book, quoted one curator who shared his innate perspective that, curators are mediators between artists and the public. I couldn’t help but think, isn’t that what I do (at least part of what I do)?

For the last day-point-five, I have been attending the Arts in the Airport workshop presented by the American Association of Airport Executives. I posed these question over cheese and berries last night, do Public Art Administrators think of themselves as curators? Are we curators? The question evoked/provoked some rather lively discussion. We really delved into the highs and lows of elitism, juxtaposed the field of museology and shared challenging views of how the two fields compare. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to the Green Paper discussion on the future of STATE ARTS AGENCIES. We encourage you to read the full Green Paper available in the tab above and make general comments at this time. Be sure to keep your comments brief—Leigh Patton, 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 future of STATE ARTS AGENCIES  feed to your RSS reader!

Welcome to the Green Paper discussion on the future of Jazz. We encourage you to read the full Green Paper available in the tab above and make general comments at this time. We are currently looking for an emerging leader ambassador to help lead the conversation about the future of jazz. Please email greenpapers@artsusa.org if you are interested. Be sure to keep your comments brief—the Ambassador for this Green Paper will begin deeper, threaded conversations around specific paragraphs, sections or themes that appear in this Green Paper. Follow this conversation thoroughly by adding the JAZZ feed to your RSS reader!

Last night I attended a forum that was organized by Citizen Spartanburg, a grassroots movement that aims to “inspire citizens to pick up the banner of Spartanburg’s future and march forward”.  The group believes hard-working citizens not only have the power to transform their community but are responsible for getting involved and defining what they want the community to be.  The forum was held in HUB-BUB’s gallery space.  It was a one hour meeting with 5 City Council members and the Mayor – all speaking briefly about why they ran for office and what their passions in the community are.  At the end of the meeting, the moderator asked each one to answer the question: “what do you want to see everyone here do to make Spartanburg a better place?”  The answer: “get involved, on any level.  Show up.  Treat your neighbors with respect.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Americans for the Arts and the Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties need your feedback. Please answer this one question posed in Andy Witt’s Green Paper discussion on “Private Sector Support for the Arts”.

How can we engage the business community as arts participants in other ways other than requesting cash donations?

Read the full Green Paper, or read a quick summary of what it’s all about. Thank you!

The American String Teachers Association’s second principle in our vision for the future of string and orchestral music education deals with “influencing policy at the local, state, and national levels to promote the arts as a core component of a well-rounded education and of thriving communities.”

If we are going to influence policy, who do we need to sell on the benefits of string and orchestral music education to do so?  Who are the people who, on all levels, would be our best advocates? 

I would hypothesize that the answer can be found in the last two words of this second principle – “thriving communities.”  Take a look at the communities where the arts play a key roll in the health of the area.  Those are the communities that understand the importance of the cultural element.  My own current hometown of Gadsden, Alabama, is a perfect example.  The downtown area, once despondant and going the way of many small downtowns in the United States, has enjoyed a resurgence in the past 20 years, including occupancy rates over 80% and a monthly downtown festival, First Friday, that is ranked among the best in the Southeast.  When did the change occur?  When the Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts became the occupant of an otherwise vacant department store in the heart of downtown. Read the rest of this entry »

I recently moderated a panel at the 25th Annual Winter Music Conference in Miami. It’s not the first place you would think that a panel on arts education would exist and indeed our discussion rounded out a week of panels that included conversation on why DJs should dye their hair to better market themselves. I worried that we would not have an audience – especially since the event was held on the last day of the conference. Adding to my concern, it was also a beautiful Saturday afternoon, it was on Ocean Drive and the beach was literally steps from our discussion room. If individuals made it past the beach, the second hurdle was the lobby where the conference had a collection of vinyl records for sale. While waiting for the room to be set up, I perused the record collection. Who knew that Appolonia released a solo record? Then I wondered, “Who knew about our panel?”

We were seven individuals and, according to the panel description, we were ready to discuss “Why are the arts important to child development and how are interdisciplinary approaches beneficial?” Also, “How does funding affect the quality of education in the Arts?” What a cast of characters we were. We could have given Gilligan’s gang a run for their money. After all, we too had a professor (actually, more than one) and arts leaders, radio talent, and composers to boot. The panelists and I joked that if no one came, we were happy to have met each other and we agreed to take an hour to converse over lunch and the inevitable South Beach cocktail. Read the rest of this entry »

Hello Everyone-

I have been waiting to make an “official” post until I could create a slightly organized pattern as to how these posts would go so that folks would know when to check if a new post has been published. I have decided, until the conversation gets going a bit more, I will publish one post about a specific portion of the green paper every other week, and a post about a general topic regarding the field in the weeks between. So, check the blog each Monday, and something new should be up.

Specific topic #1
Reading thru the green paper, I came across this sentence that I thought many of us could relate to:

“Changes in the American economic and healthcare systems, coupled with the growth of our aging populations, bring opportunities for expansion of the arts in healthcare into rural communities and the realms of public health, social services, and human services.” Read the rest of this entry »

As arts advocates throughout the country prepare to converge on our nation’s capitol for Arts Advocacy Day, I began thinking of the conversations many will have with their members of Congress. Some will be fruitful while others will feel like they’re talking to a brick wall, but regardless of the situation we will certainly get our point across.

But that got me thinking. What is our point, how do we back it up and do they get it?

I believe that there are two key elements to making our case for increased and sustainable funding for the arts. We need to have a compelling story that is backed up with reliable and comprehensive data.

We have the stories down pat. We know how to talk about John Q Student who was saved by the arts or how Organization B and Artist X contributed to the revitalization of a community’s downtown development. We are great story tellers, but for the most part cannot back up our stories with data.

It’s a common theme that I’ve seen come out of many meetings, interviews and conversations over the past couple of years. Elected officials, and the public in general, understand what we are doing but they need the numbers to back it up. They want to know exactly how many jobs we create, how much money is contributed to the local and regional economy, etc. Until we are able to provide them with reliable data, they will hear what we’re saying/doing but will never “get it”. Read the rest of this entry »