Discussion
December 17th, 2008 by eleanor - State of the Arts TPG8
Please use this space to comment on the project, to come up with more ideas, or to suggest solutions to these problems. We look forward to hearing from you.
Here’s what we’ve been thinking about and wrote to our subscribers:
It’s the year of politics. While the election is (thankfully) behind us, the idea of change and representation has pervaded our lives and made us re-examine our own values and priorities. This project, run by Joseph del Pesco is a bit of a departure from “normal” TPG pieces. “State of the Arts” is part visual art, part political message, and part unconventional exhibition of Bay Area artists.
In a series of conversations, both group and individual, Joseph started a large group of artists and curators off with a set of statistics outlining the current environment for artists and arts funding in California and the US (they’re included in this booklet). From there, the conversations (one of which makes up this season’s audio accompaniment) go in many directions- identifying problems for working artists, their root causes, and creative ways to harness and generate support our army of artists.
An important aspect of this project is still yet to occur. The posters will be delivered to the offices of politicians throughout the Bay Area, a process that will be documented through our blog and website. We hope that in some small way we might impact policy or at least remind politicians of their constituency, a large portion of which is made up of artists.
We’re indebted to Joseph for keenly creating a project that echoes many of the goals of The Present Group: utilizing new models to create positive change and exposing a wider audience to the value or artists and art. Since the theme of this piece is conversation, we’ve taken a different approach to our critical essay this time round. Our written back and forth with Joseph gives insight into his ideas behind the project, what we came away from the conversations with, and possibilities for the future life of the project.
As you can see from the posters and statistics, art is a huge part of life in the US. In times of economic downturn, history shows a boon for the arts and creativity, which then help to bring us out of the economic slouch. So now more than ever we must act on our belief in the power of art by considering the way we treat, pay, and support artists in our communities. As subscribers, you are already helping to create a new network of support for artists and for that, we commend and thank you.
Warm regards,
Oliver and Eleanor
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Hi Celeste,
While Joseph touched on many of these points already in his response, I would like to re-emphasize a couple of things. Though the struggles of every artist are important and cause for concern, I think it is very disconcerting that there is not even sustainability for the artists at the top of their game in the bay area. Forgive the analogy, but if there is no light at the end of the tunnel, how will artists keep going? The Town Hall on the 21st will be a chance for a wider group to share in this discussion.
The reason that this group of artists endorsed the point about the nonprofits is that, as Joseph stated, while the salaries for non profit employees have increased according to inflation in the past 40 years, fees for artists in that time have either stayed the same or have been reduced. The idea of trickle down funding isn’t working. The organizations have gotten bigger with this influx of money, but the direct support and funding for individual artists has declined or stayed the same. This group felt that though they do not blame or hold a grudge against the non-profits, their increasingly professionalized staff, or their position in the community, they were calling for a second look at how nonprofits are spending the funds that they currently receive. In an ideal world, these organizations would be flooded with money and this would not be a problem, but here we are. And the problem does not lay only in the hands of the nonprofits, this is just one piece of the puzzle.
And yes. Let’s do it. Our goal with this project is to start the discussion. And we’re continuing that on Saturday. See you there!
the value of art is greater than dollars. to turn this value into dollars, the money-holders must be made to believe that art has more value than the dollars they’re holding onto. advertising art with cold, ugly statistics is no way to advertise.
to hbv: thanks for your comment. I of course agree that the real value of art, like the value of a gift, is outside the circumscribed domain of the market. However, artists, real people in the real world, deserve to be compensated for the services they provide to institutions… they deserve to make a living (or at least minimum wage!). These posters are not advertising art, they’re making requests on behalf of artists. Sometimes the truth is ugly.
Hi,
I’m from Art for a Democratic Society, speaking for myself here though.
I agree with the project’s criticisms for the most part, but I wonder if the dialogue was limited by including only certain members of the artist community. Artists like Packard Jennings and Christian Maycheck, for example, are regularly shown, give lectures, probably have gallery representation, etc. Where are the voices of the multitudes of artists who are unseen? I am one of those artists, and while I agree that even artists like the ones you’ve interviewed don’t make enough to support themselves, I don’t make anything off of my art. Yet artists like me are expected to make the same sacrifices, even more, because we have to work harder to even get in a gallery show, and aren’t yet on the radar of curators like del Pesco.
I also agree that there isn’t enough funding for the arts, considering the size of the community and the varied contributions it makes to daily life. I think the switch from funding individual artists to funding arts non-profits is a direct result of the Maplethorpe scandal mentioned. It’s sort of trickle-down theory for arts funding – fund the people who pay the artists, and they’ll have more money to pay artists, right? I think when it comes to these non-profits, especially in Oakland, most are struggling just as much as we are. It seems misguided to lay so much of the blame at their feet. You don’t have to donate to their auction, you know. Maybe if artists organized a strike against the next auction, these non-profits would have to re-evaluate their fund-raising strategies. We’re all struggling, from the non-profits to the artists, so perhaps we should put our heads together and dream up a new way of working together to get our issues some recognition (and funding). Perhaps a nation-wide campaign akin to the recent anti-war shows. Or something better, we’re the innovators, right?
Hi Celeste, thanks for your very thoughtful comment. One of the reasons we chose to organize a visual arts town hall meeting (next Saturday from 3-5) was to open up the conversation to a wider range of artists. But you raise an important consideration: if the ‘more successful’ artists (in the Bay Area) experience a sense of precariousness in relation to the possibility of making a living from their work, isn’t that an even greater cause for concern?
The goal is not to blame the non-profits but to point out that they are inadequately funded. However there are internal problems with priorities: many of them have been paying the same artist fees since the 1980s but have increased the salaries of the employees with inflation. This kind of compromise goes against their mission.
I think getting artists to organize and lobby for their needs, especially given the Obama administration’s willingness to support the arts (as demonstrated by the 50 million for the NEA in the stimulus package), is a step in the right direction. I hope you’ll join us on Saturday and invite your artist friends as we begin the process of putting our heads together…