Bad Economy Hits Local Culture

This is a local story, but it is being repeated all over the country. When the economy is bad, things that aren't a priority for living go by the wayside. If it comes down to a choice, will you put food on the table or go to see a local theater group put on a play? That would be a no-brainer. Here's another thought: instead of your morning coffee at Starbucks, bring it from home for a week and donate the money to a local arts organization.

Why? Because local arts organizations enrich lives. They bring in people from outside your community to spend their dollars inside your community. They provide opportunities for people to socialize with like-minded people and research after research proves that people with healthy relationships have healthier lives than people who don't. And we should all spend a portion of our time in the real world, not just the virtual one.

The local theater group here is the Town Square Players of Woodstock, Illinois. Support them if you can.

http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2009/09/18/r_d1o2nybgscuqjxhaug2hw/index.xml

Why Aren't the Arts Taken Seriously?

Cruising through online sites like Craigslist and ODesk looking for freelance work, it bothers me so much that people who earn their living creatively aren't respected. Someone looking for a photographer on my local Craigslist said, "We don't pay, but you can use the photos you take for us in your portfolio." Really? How generous. ODesk, widely touted by ABC's Good Morning America last winter as a place for people to find work, recently had someone looking for someone to write articles 500 words or so for $2.50 per article "because they are easy to write." So if they are so easy to write, why not do it yourself? And ODesk is full of similar offerings, so much that I won't check there anymore. Let's not forget all the opportunities for "interns" (read: unpaid dogsbody).

Does your lawyer offer to represent you for free because s/he's building his resume? Does your doctor take care of you for free because s/he's just starting out? No.

The bottom line here is, no-one should work for free. Ever.

Sponsorships for the Arts

After waiting in line for hours, some fans sang, some screamed and others simply bobbed their head along with Elvis Costello's music as the singer took the stage in Hollywood earlier this summer.

But he wasn't performing at one of Los Angeles' famed music venues -- instead, hundreds of his fans had crowded against racks of albums inside of Amoeba Music, a giant record store which hosts frequent in-store performances.

Surprisingly, as many music and book retailers have shuttered in recent years, a number of stores -- like Amoeba -- haven't seen their sales fall at all.

How have they managed to do that? The book and record stores that have survived are playing up their roles as community centers that serve as unique cultural spaces rather than just a place to buy a quick CD or magazine.

Source: http://www.thewrap.com/article/not-just-sales-amoeba-music-booksellers-stay-afloat-getting-creative_5387


Events like this at independent stores are a obviously a marketing effort to generate more traffic, corporate sponsorship on a smaller scale. But an event like this also provides the opportunity for the artist to generate a following, and for the community to support their local musicians, writers, and artists. So it's a low-cost (unless you buy something) way to advocate for the arts. A win-win situation??

Tourism Dollars For Cultural Non-Profits

From Americans for the Arts:
On Tuesday, September 8, 2009, the U.S. Congress is scheduled to return from their summer recess and the Senate will begin consideration of S. 1023, the Travel Promotion Act of 2009. The House of Representatives is expected to take up this legislation later this year. Please tell your local senator to support inclusion of the nonprofit arts and culture sector in this bill!

The bill advocates spending money on tourism to attract people from around the world to visit America. That would be a good thing. Let's see some of that money go to the non-profit sector that knows how to make the best of what money they get. They promote America too.

http://www.americansforthearts.org/
http://www.artsactionfund.org/

Europeana, The EU's Virtual Museum

"Europeana, the European “virtual museum” offers from now on free access to more than two million books, paintings, videos and other digital documents from the cultural centers all over Europe. The European Commission's goal for Europeana is to make European information resources easier to use in an online environment."

In a perfect world, seeing those paintings or reading those books in person would be ideal. But the next best thing is to be able to call up those works of art easily on one's own computer, without the hassle of airline schedules, hotel problems, and the need for taking vacation time from work.

Although it has its problems, Europeana is the Gutenburg project of the arts. I'm looking forward to the improvements.