No Brainer for Arts Support

The value of art in our lives is measured by how our community embraces arts. Sounds like a chicken or the egg thing, but consider this: I live in Vancouver, Washington, a community that is very close to Portland, Oregon. This community does not want to be like Portland at all. No, it wants to develop its own personality without the aid of Portland, thank you very much.

Problem is the city management has turned its back on one of the aspects that is very important to Portland. An aspect that means dollars in the coffers of a city that embraces it. That aspect is support of the arts.

That is why I drove to Olympia, Washington, the state capitol, to lobby for art support. Today was Arts Day 2008 in Washington, and a small group of us from Vancouver, the lower bowels of the state of Washington, joined forces, and met our representatives to share with them how important support of the arts is.

It was an enjoyable day, because we congratulated the legislature for passing by a vote of 95 to zero an extension of time that nonprofit arts usage can offer to for profit organizations. We thank all of our representatives for this.

However, getting back to the local Vancouver political people, things are a bit less supportive. Vancouver does not have to be a Portland copy cat, but it can look at what works in Portland and put that spin on Vancouver. What works in Portland is the creative spirit, and the creative spirit’s support by Portland’s city government.

In doing research, I have found that arts and culture are the glue that holds a vibrant community together. Arts and culture is what draws tourists to a location; what draws highly educated people with a lot of disposable income to a location; what entices highly skilled businesses to open offices in a location; and what brings property values up. 

Support of the arts by local government is a no brainer. So, my friends in Vancouver USA, do the right thing and open your eyes to the wealth that awaits this city. Through your support, we will develop our own fabulous, enriching community that will draw tourist dollars and new, highly paid employment. That sounds like a no brainer to me.

Touchy-Feely Jewelry

Does touching jewelry transform the viewer and creates a better understanding of the “concepts inherent in pieces of art jewelry?” This is the question asked at Portland’s Museum of Contemporary Craft in an exhibit they call, “Touching Warms the Heart.”

We discovered how fun and fascinating this interactive collection of hand made object were when we visited recently. Odd combinations of a hair curler neckless, plastic grapes, and balloons filled with sand were just a few of the dozens of fun, artistic, and useful objects we tried on.

Just like in dress up, we could stand in front of a camera (this one being an iMac) and photograph ourselves for posterity.

If you haven’t been, it is a great experience for friends, young and old. We saw an aunt with her preteen niece hamming it up. So do stop by. Exhibit ends March 23, 2008.

What is curatorial practice?

The word “curator” has been used a lot. One curates a gallery. One curates a museum. One even curates a coffee shop. I thought I knew what that word meant, but I was wrong, at least according to Portland’s Museum of Contemporary Craft curator Namita Gupta Wiggers. During a lively Kaffeeklatsch February 5, 2008, Wiggers passionately stated that curation is more than hanging or placing art. It is a process that includes the history, artist collaboration, and community. 

Specifically mentioned was the fiasco at the Mass MoCA, where Christoph Buchel’s installation was never completed, and a lawsuit, filed by Mass MoCA, to show what was there, just stirred the pot. Usually a museum’s curator goes about his or her work quietly, and the show opens, and everything is nice. However, in Boston, things got way, way out of hand, and the project never happened, even after spending thousands of dollars, and winning the court case. In winning, Mass MoCA also lost a lot of support from the arts community. It is an amazing saga that won’t go away, and one that is a lesson for artists and curators.

You can see a video of what could have been at http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2007/10/21/dismantled/