At a discussion hosted by The Dallas Morning News and the Ten 20 Gallery in Plano, Texas, supporters and advocates discussed how to create “a thriving arts scene” in the North Texas suburb.
I am an author and artist. I am a member of both art and writing groups.
Local artists who attended the meeting expressed the need for more funding. Other speakers talked about the benefits of art in the community. Many attendees spoke of the need to create more financial support from the city.
There are several problems with this approach. Throwing more money at a problem often fails to solve the issue. I believe there are more fundamental issues here.
Let’s take baby steps to analyze the issue. First of all, what are the arts? l The focus on “art” should be refocused on the “arts.” Any initiative should include all the arts, performing arts, writing, and the arts presented in the article. The following is a definition from Wikipedia:
The arts, or creative arts, are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, action, and existence across a wide range of media. Both a dynamic and characteristically constant feature of human life, the arts have developed into increasingly stylized and intricate forms. This is achieved through sustained and deliberate study, training, or theorizing within a particular tradition, across generations, and even between civilizations. The arts are a medium through which humans cultivate distinct social, cultural, and individual identities while transmitting values, impressions, judgements, ideas, visions, spiritual meanings, patterns of life, and experiences across time and space.
The arts are divided into three main branches: visual arts, literature, and performing arts. Examples of visual arts include architecture, ceramic art, drawing, filmmaking, painting, photography, and sculpture. Examples of literature include fiction, drama, poetry, and prose. Examples of performing arts include dance, music, and theatre. The arts can employ skill and imagination to produce physical objects and performances, convey insights and experiences, and construct new natural environments and spaces.
Wow! That’s quite a list. The main point I wish to make is that the arts include many different creative forms. Funding an art gallery or sponsoring art shows only addresses a small part of the creative arts.
The arts need champions to gather interest and support. The logical places to find these champions are the organizations offering the creative arts — libraries, art galleries, and theaters.
I believe artistic organizations should start with themselves before asking taxpayers to help them out. Some things can be done now to promote the arts.
Where do these ideas come from? They are not the exclusive property of the officers of these organizations. These groups have creative people who can look at the problem differently and present innovative solutions.
Many of the public organizations have volunteer advisory boards. Unfortunately, in the case of many of these groups, the members are prohibited from advising. Many boards are Stepford Boards where members are expected to nod in agreement and carry the message to the community. Frankly, I find this insulting. Citizens have volunteered their time to help “advise,” not to sit in meetings like mannequins.
This also occurs in art associations where ideas are dismissed because they didn’t come from an officer. After attending my first meeting of the group, I sent an email to an officer suggesting that new members be allowed to introduce themselves to the group. The idea was ignored. Undeterred, I volunteered to develop a new member brochure and offer some suggestions to improve the association website. The information was sent to an officer. There was no discussion of the ideas, and no action has been taken on my contributions.
Organizations can be living organisms, or they can be cliques. The groups die of old age because they have not added new members. I know of two national organizations where the local chapters are gone because they didn’t add new members.
This means that new members are the lifeblood of an organization. They should be treated as gems to help build a stronger organization. If the group is not welcoming, those initial visits will produce no memberships or short ones.
Why all the whining? Before getting more money to promote the arts, these organizations should examine what they can do with what they already have in place. To encourage a creative art scene in Plano, the community needs to allow creative ideas from local artists.
