A Belated Happy New Year to All!
Written by Neeta on Sunday, January 20, 2008 at 6:00 pm
I hope your holidays were peaceful and rewarding.
Since so many things are happening with ArtServe, I thought I’d start off with a quick organizational update and then a big picture thought for you to ponder. Here are some things going on with us that I hope will be of interest:
VIDEOS AND PHOTOS OF THE GOVERNOR’S ARTS AWARDS ON THE WEB. Unlike many videos of events, this is not one long boring video. We have been able to package different parts of the actual awards show into mini videos that are interesting and enjoyable. Go to the Governor’s Award for Arts & Culture web site, and let me know what you think.
CONSTITUENT RELATIONS POSITION. This week I hired a Director of Constituent Relations, Simon Perazza. He is an expert in the areas of strategy, marketing and digital media. He has an extensive background in arts education and video production, having won numerous statewide and national awards for his videos and original scripts. Simon will travel around the state, working with our constituents to make sure we are taking advantage of every opportunity to partner on strengthening Michigan’s arts and cultural sector. In the coming months, you can look forward to ArtServe working with you in your own backyard where the things that matter most to you are affected.
WE’VE MOVED! We’ve consolidated our two offices (Lansing and Southfield) into one main office at the Riley Broadcast Center at 1 Clover Ct. in Wixom effective Jan. 17th. Not only is this move a smart use of our limited resources, it is also an opportunity to partner with Detroit Public TV (our landlord at the broadcast center) and public television stations around the state on developing programs to promote the arts, culture and creativity in Michigan. The sky’s the limit in terms of possibilities here.
SAVE THE DATE - ARTS & CULTURE DAY IN LANSING, MARCH 19TH. This year, we have decided to reinvent the Arts Advocacy Days of the past by significantly expanding the tent and broadening the focus. While the day will be capped with visits to legislators lobbying for specific pieces of legislation designed to strengthen the arts and cultural sector, the theme of the day is Investing in Michigan’s Competitive Edge: Nature, Culture and Creativity. Specific pieces of legislation aside, the fundamental message we will be sending to our legislators is that investing in the basics (education, health care, and public safety) are indeed a MUST but they are not enough. For Michigan to be a place where people choose to live, work, and visit, we must simultaneously invest in those things that are our unique assets, attributes and strengths which I would argue are - Nature, Culture and Creativity.
- Nature: The Great Lakes, woods and water
- Culture: The authenticity and diversity of our home-grown, world-class cultural offerings and
- Creativity: Our legacy of innovation and entrepreneurship!
These are the things that differentiate Michigan and hold the promise for our future. The only way we are going to get this point across and make investing in these strengths a public policy priority is to coalesce a broader coalition around this entire range of interests. Without this broader coalition, supporters of each aspect of our Michigan’s competitive edge are easily relegated to special interest status and easily dismissed.
The first step in pushing for this broader agenda is to bring together a much broader cross-section of the arts and cultural community for the March 19th event than in past years. We need not only nonprofit cultural organizations to join us. We need artists of all disciplines, arts educators, and more people who represent the for-profit side of the sector. Whether you want to face it or not, public policy shaped in Lansing has an effect on all of these individuals and groups, not just those who receive grant dollars from the state.
As part of this focus on Michigan’s Competitive Edge, we are also extending an open invitation to all of those aligned with environmental and natural resources interests to join us. If you care about the things we’ve been discussing on this blog, you need to show up and get involved! We’ll make it easy for you by filling you in on the issues, legislation, key messages, etc. Please Save the Date! I promise an inspiring, informative experience that will engage you in making a difference. Join us and bring your friends, family and colleagues. ArtServe can’t advocate alone. We need all of you with us on the 19th. Stay tuned for more details!
NEW ADVOCACY WEBSITE UNDER DEVELOPMENT. As promised, we are developing a new advocacy website that will make it unbelievably easy for you to advocate for arts, culture and creativity whether you are trying to persuade a school board, local business, city council or foundation. Like the Michigan Artists Resource Center website under development, we will be coming to you for feedback on content and usability before we go live sometime in March.
NOW TO SOME FOOD FOR THOUGHT. . .
One of the things I did over the holidays was to serve as one of four guest consultants assisting the American Composers Forum(ACF) in setting the stage for the strategic planning process they are undertaking. To prepare for this role, we were provided with some background reading to prime the pump for a daylong session with the ACF board and staff. Among these materials was a speech by Ben Cameron, Director of the Arts Program at the Doris Duke Foundation who was also one of the four guest consultants. Many of you may know Ben from his work in the theatre world. I bother to share this with you because this particular speech recently delivered to the Southern Arts Federation, Performing Arts Exchange 2007 is something I consider an absolute MUST read. You can access it on the web.
There is one particular observation Ben makes that has major relevance for our efforts here in Michigan. As he describes the challenges facing the arts and culture in a constantly morphing and increasingly fluid environment, he makes the point that it is not the arts, culture and creativity that is being challenged or threatened. It is the form and structure of the arts and culture sector that is threatened and I agree with this observation.
As I look around, there is no shortage of creative expression. New art forms are popping up everywhere with much of this activity increasingly happening in the virtual world. In fact, I would say that we are actually experiencing a resurgence of the arts, culture and creativity. Where the challenge comes is that for decades we have pretty much allowed the arts and cultural sector to be defined primarily as one and the same as nonprofit arts and cultural organizations which of course, does not begin to capture the entirety of the sector which includes individual artists of all kinds, working fluidly between the nonprofit and for-profit worlds.
Even more challenging is that within this nonprofit part of the sector, many organizations are increasingly finding themselves left out of the arts scene equation, searching for their own relevance. The writing seems to be on the wall, that we need to come up with some new models that are a better fit for our times.
Those of us who are interested and drawn to this challenge have exciting work ahead. The one thing we know will get the ball rolling is to share our thoughts with one another. To that end, I am eager to hear you join in on this conversation. And, please do check out Ben Cameron’s speech.
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Comment by Bob Pierson
added on Saturday, February 9, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Neeta,
Saw your article in the Traverse City Record-Eagle today!
Speaking of performing arts, I think you should work on adding a Wayne Kramer wing to the DIA!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6Cg0qJ-ieRk
Wow! You are the perfect person for the ArtServe Michigan gig…what a great fit! Best wishes carrying the message and making it happen!!
-Bob Pierson
Williamsburg, MI
