x
Contributed by Guest Blogger of the Week, Paul Nagle.
Some great work has been done in the last few years, particularly by Randy Bourscheidt and the studies he produced through the Alliance for the Arts. But the arts remain undercounted. Economic metrics, at their best a partial and inferior measure of art’s value, still fail to take into account the employment of many many individual artists and freelance creative workers. We do not have a sufficient method to account for the intangible benefits of the arts. Valuing doesn’t take into account value of mission, or value of service to the community. We don’t have an effective way to present the macroeconomic benefits of the arts, even though we know that urban centers cannot be competitive these days without a healthy cultural sector.
Quantifying these deeper values of the arts has been elusive and hard, but that thinking, that new knowledge is out there. It’s really at the tip of our fingertips. How do we get at it? How do we achieve that needed innovation that ties it all together into a cohesive but expansive narrative? Open up the conversation; both who is in on the discussion, and the range of topics to be considered. Culture is a broad topic and it deserves broad complex consideration. New technologies that are highly interactive with maximum efficiencies can facilitate discussions and inquiry involving the entire cultural community. There is a lot of untapped expertise out there in the trenches.
But even if we achieve that expanded grassroots discussion within the cultural community, the arts could remain isolated. For some reason, we have been repeating many of the same rhetorical mistakes for 40 years now. The political discussion has moved very little in real terms and is presently moving backward again. At ICSCS, we believe that part of our mistake has been sitting in a room full of arts people, telling ourselves how special and important we are. That doesn’t necessarily fly so well with the greater community, especially once you leave the cultural cocoon of New York City.
In fact, most of the problems we face are not so different than those of most of our neighbors. And the really big issues like climate change and worldwide recessions affect us even though, not because, we are artists. It must become clear to the greater community that the health of the cultural sector and the health of the community are interdependent, not because we say it is, but because they see that it is so.
That is why ICSCS will concentrate on creating conversations and initiatives between artists and advocates from other sectors over the value of art and the role of artists in addressing shared issues of sustainability. There are networks all over the globe of people who are not artists, and yet who understand the deep relationships between art and culture and a sustainable life. It’s a matter of creating the synapses of good will and unity of purpose that will make the connections among these networks.
We are artists in trouble, in a world full of trouble. We are artists with new ideas in a world full of new ideas. If we can open up the conversation, not only within the cultural community, but beyond its borders, then we can tie our fate as artists to the fate of the greater community. If we can have these conversations not only with our friends in New York City, but with our allies across the country and in Berlin and Poland and Kenya, then for arts advocacy, I believe it is a game-changing moment of opportunity.
x
I agree, there should be more crossover projects between theater and other sectors (i.e. environmentalists, civil rights, community spaces) where we can find mutually beneficial endeavors. But what I see happening is that these projects are set up with larger arts organizations and our community (Indie Theater) gets overlooked again and again. How can we position ourselves to be a part of those kinds of programs?
ReplyDeleteDo we really need another arts service organization that does not make any art, but will compete for the same unearned income as groups that actually make art? And if we do need such a group, isn't that a sign that the abundance of ASOs already spending money that artists didn't get, have not been doing their job?
ReplyDeleteI seems like ICSCS is looking to have both Macro and Micro perspectives of art, culture and community. I hope you will talk about some of your specific programs and policies and the goals for those.
ReplyDeletePaul, I know you use to work on arts policy for Councilmember Gerson. What are the important policies that we should know about now and how will you continue your work with your new organization?
ReplyDeletePaul responding.
ReplyDeleteKayden - Linkning networks of actvity that small and indie orgs AND individual artists can tap into is a key part of what ICSCS is looking to do. Part of the best thing about internet technologies, is that people can organize themselves and bypass ineffective intermediaries. We are just beginning this inquiry, so please go to the website www.artspolicynow.org and register (or better yet, create a user profile). The answers will come as more people participate. Opportunities will begin to present themselves.
Paul responding to "anonymous" - I'm afraid I find your comment to be emblamatic of the problem the sector faces. It's "tin cup" thinking (there is so little money and this is as big as the pie will ever get). It doesn't really take into account what we do or for whom we do it. I believe that our approach will draw more money to the pot, from other funding streams that have been underrepresented in supporting culture. Look at the mission. We believe that the health of the cultural sector and the health of the greater community are absolutely interdependent. But we are not an arts service organization - we are a policy institute. We are an affiliate program of Demos - the civil society think tank, for a reason. This is a new way of thinking about art's relationship to other sectors of community life. I posit that we do need new thinking and new approaches; that if we accept this current funding situation and keep battling for scraps the way we have been, the future will be even bleaker than the present.
ReplyDeletePaul responding to Melissa
ReplyDeleteIndeed, these are ideas and the proof, as they say, is in the pudding. I will address specifics in the blog this week. You can also find out more by visiting our brand new website www.artspolicynow.org. Once you register, you can join in the conversation and help us figure this out. We are young - just opened our doors in October. We do have specific deliverables to which we've already committed. But our whole goal is to engage the community in crowd-sourcing and open-sourcing these investigations. At this point, you may find as many questions as you will answers on the website. At every step of the way we will share our research and our data with you. Based on your responses to the data, our inquiries will shift and tac until we can nail down a narrative that truly represents the critical work of the cultural community and its pivotal importance at every level of social organization. We are also having our next Town Hall at 6pm on March 21st at the National Arts Club. Free admission - Free drinks, light refreshments, a quick overview of what we're doing and then a good old fashioned town hall discussion. More details later this week. See you there?
paul respoonds to IT
ReplyDeleteThanks for providing the theme for this week's final blog. I'll get back to you.