First…thanks for the comments, Emily, and Happy Birthday to the Williamston Theatre. In your comment you mentioned all the hard work, long hours, type A behavior, and community support it has taken to get through the theatres first year of existence. What you didn’t mention is courage… which I believe can be found in abundance within the arts and cultural community. In the face of shrinking financial support, ever changing demands and new directions from funders (based on the issue of the day) I’m amazed that arts and cultural organizations and artists continue to find ways to fulfill their passion and share their work with others… that takes courage and the Williamston Theatre is a fine example. Anyway Emily thanks for staying in Michigan and thanks to everyone in the company that have done the same.
Next, great comments Ana. I think we all have a lot of work to do strengthen arts education as well as education in the arts. When you say that you hope we can share (on this blog) “… strategies for working together across various arts and cultural communities to ensure that support for arts and culture is built on a foundation of adequate funding for K-12 sequential standards-based arts education for all Michigan students,” I couldn’t agree more. I am truly hoping that this is the kind of discussion we can stimulate here. It is difficult sometimes to listen to all the comments about quality education, quality of life, etc. etc. while we watch what meager funding we do have to support those ideals disappear like white smoke from winter chimneys. I really believe that in the arts and cultural field, which includes arts educators, we have to continually remind ourselves that we need to call to the mat those that have this disconnect in their logic.
I was also wondering, and maybe Ana knows the answer to this… in general, do those schools not meeting AYP standards have arts programs? Conversely do those meeting standards have arts programs? I’m most curious to know if those schools that show improvement institute any arts programming. It seems to me that the quality of our educational institutions, especially elementary schools, needs to be stellar and I have to believe the arts have a role to play there.
So, just to let you know, I’ve spent the last couple of weeks visiting arts organizations around the state, just to reconnect (I can get pretty bogged down in Lansing) I had meetings with 17 organizations, not counting the Cool Cities Neighborhood meetings. First, before I get to the less upbeat news, let me tell you, as if you didn’t already know, Michigan has some really incredible things happening at all levels… You all need to visit the revamped Detroit Historical Museum; they have done a great job freshening their exhibit space, and while you’re in the area the Museum of African American History is installing a new show that I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview of… excellent! I also stopped by the Detroit Zoo, if you have never visited the zoo, Detroit or otherwise, in the winter it’s an amazing experience. I was also afforded the opportunity to visit the Archive and Research Center of the Public Museum of Grand Rapids. I’ve been to the Public Museum on a number of occasions but never to the Archive. I was floored, what a great collection… a true gem for the state. The Greater Flint Arts Council’s member show is very impressive, I could go on, and I will another time, but I wanted to tell everyone what I learned from these 17 groups.
Everywhere I went I heard the same things: Corporate support has dwindled, foundation support has diminished and priorities are shifting, and government support is underwhelming at best. We have to work to change this trend and it is going to take the best efforts of all of us. That means communication, education, dedication and courage. Our sector has seen more than its share of cutbacks. We can no longer be creative with our budgets. Any further cuts will mean people and programs period.
Education issues also seem to be of great interest again, but non-profit arts and cultural organizations are finding, at least in some cases, that they are being asked to take the place of lost arts programs inn the schools, with little or no financial assistance for education programming from funders. One Executive Director said to me “We aren’t best equipped to offer kids everything they need in an arts education.” Speaking of schools, transportation… getting kids to facilities and shows… is a hot topic right now. I really don’t know how to address it yet, but I have had some conversation with colleagues across the country and there are some state arts agencies that have begun to address this very issue.
I don’t think I have to tell all of you the shape the State budget is in… I think crappy is a pretty good word for it. So stay in touch with your areas decision makers, let your feelings be known and stay in touch with ArtServe, among other things our state’s arts advocacy organization, for legislative and budget updates.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Friday, January 19, 2007
The Chicken or the Egg?
A reoccuring theme concerning arts and cultural tourism/economic development keeps surfacing lately, and I wonder if anyone else has thoughts on this. Susan Burack wrote the following in her weekly Keewenaw Arts Column in the Daily Mining Gazette shortly after the December 7, 2006, MCACA conference:
Thursday 14 December 06
"Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to attend "Driving Michigan's Economic Engine: Using Culture and Tourism to Fuel Community Prosperity" in Lansing. This was the annual conference of the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs which is in the Department of History, Arts, and Libraries. As Governor Granholm stated in her opening remarks (videotaped), it was
strongly supported by many other departments and agencies. There is a saying about cutting the cloth to fit the fashion and at the state level it seems that is what has happened. Where are the arts? Growing Michigan's economy through cultural tourism. The tourism industry has become one of the main drivers of the state's economic engine as the automotive
>industry tanks.
We have known for a long time that arts and culture are good for the economy. People who attend arts events and support arts buy gas, stay in motels, eat in restaurants, and shop. That is what is referred to as the "multiplier effect" and is set at anywhere from three to twenty five percent of the cost of the art.
We also know that people prefer to live in a place where there is arts and culture. Places where artists live are good places to live. People who visit places where there is cultural heritage stay longer and spend more money. What happens when arts and culture exist not only to enrich our lives but also become the foundation for community prosperity? Arts, culture, history, and heritage are in danger of getting lost. Marketing Michigan risks focusing on arts as a commodity.
Tom Tikkanen has said of Calumet, a Main Street community, that we have it all. We do indeed have the arts, the culture, the history, and the heritage (as well as the woods, the beaches, and the sunrises and sunsets). But they are real. They are authentic. They grew here and they live here. If people want to come visit, we welcome them. But, what is here is here FIRST for the
people who live here.
What happened to the arts? What happened to the Arts Council's conference? Where were the artists? They were given ten minutes at the beginning of "break out" sessions and they were labeled "Creative Tone Setters." Yikes!
The warning sirens were blaring and the warning lights were flashing. If one listened carefully, the speakers didn't even say the words, arts and culture. It was all about creative economic growth, community development through civic tourism, technologies in tourism, tourism assets, attracting tourists, tourism partners, new audiences, and state resources for tourism.
Instead of resources for how tourism benefits arts and artists, the perspective has shifted to how arts and artists benefit tourism. Something is wrong with this picture! When we focus so much on meeting the needs of the tourism industry, we risk becoming a Mackinac City, a Disneyland. Not
the kind of place most people want to live in. "
It boils down to what is more important to fund: basic functions and programming of arts and culture organizations, or marketing and tourism initiatives, and cultural economic development education projects for communities that benefit all organizations and Michigan as a whole? Can we do both in these tough economic times? If arts organizations dissappear, what will be marketed and why will people stay in communities?
Perhaps I am seeing a conflict where one shouldn't exist. after all, cultural economic development is about seeing the assets a community already has as being economically valuable and not just for more warm and fuzzy reasons, such as entertainment, education or a meaningful and rich quality of life.
Comparisons can be made to the environmental movement. There are a certain number of people who will not be concerned about protecting nature unless there is an economic gain--when gas prices soar, SUV sales drop. Environmentalists are finally realizing this and gathering data and arguments to convince this sector that it is in their best interest to support their cause. Others know the intrinsic spiritual, helath and happiness benefits that come from a walk in the woods or observing the patterns of snowflakes. Ideally everyone will understand all the benefits of nature--and the arts--and we can work together to strengthen and protect them.
Thursday 14 December 06
"Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to attend "Driving Michigan's Economic Engine: Using Culture and Tourism to Fuel Community Prosperity" in Lansing. This was the annual conference of the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs which is in the Department of History, Arts, and Libraries. As Governor Granholm stated in her opening remarks (videotaped), it was
strongly supported by many other departments and agencies. There is a saying about cutting the cloth to fit the fashion and at the state level it seems that is what has happened. Where are the arts? Growing Michigan's economy through cultural tourism. The tourism industry has become one of the main drivers of the state's economic engine as the automotive
>industry tanks.
We have known for a long time that arts and culture are good for the economy. People who attend arts events and support arts buy gas, stay in motels, eat in restaurants, and shop. That is what is referred to as the "multiplier effect" and is set at anywhere from three to twenty five percent of the cost of the art.
We also know that people prefer to live in a place where there is arts and culture. Places where artists live are good places to live. People who visit places where there is cultural heritage stay longer and spend more money. What happens when arts and culture exist not only to enrich our lives but also become the foundation for community prosperity? Arts, culture, history, and heritage are in danger of getting lost. Marketing Michigan risks focusing on arts as a commodity.
Tom Tikkanen has said of Calumet, a Main Street community, that we have it all. We do indeed have the arts, the culture, the history, and the heritage (as well as the woods, the beaches, and the sunrises and sunsets). But they are real. They are authentic. They grew here and they live here. If people want to come visit, we welcome them. But, what is here is here FIRST for the
people who live here.
What happened to the arts? What happened to the Arts Council's conference? Where were the artists? They were given ten minutes at the beginning of "break out" sessions and they were labeled "Creative Tone Setters." Yikes!
The warning sirens were blaring and the warning lights were flashing. If one listened carefully, the speakers didn't even say the words, arts and culture. It was all about creative economic growth, community development through civic tourism, technologies in tourism, tourism assets, attracting tourists, tourism partners, new audiences, and state resources for tourism.
Instead of resources for how tourism benefits arts and artists, the perspective has shifted to how arts and artists benefit tourism. Something is wrong with this picture! When we focus so much on meeting the needs of the tourism industry, we risk becoming a Mackinac City, a Disneyland. Not
the kind of place most people want to live in. "
It boils down to what is more important to fund: basic functions and programming of arts and culture organizations, or marketing and tourism initiatives, and cultural economic development education projects for communities that benefit all organizations and Michigan as a whole? Can we do both in these tough economic times? If arts organizations dissappear, what will be marketed and why will people stay in communities?
Perhaps I am seeing a conflict where one shouldn't exist. after all, cultural economic development is about seeing the assets a community already has as being economically valuable and not just for more warm and fuzzy reasons, such as entertainment, education or a meaningful and rich quality of life.
Comparisons can be made to the environmental movement. There are a certain number of people who will not be concerned about protecting nature unless there is an economic gain--when gas prices soar, SUV sales drop. Environmentalists are finally realizing this and gathering data and arguments to convince this sector that it is in their best interest to support their cause. Others know the intrinsic spiritual, helath and happiness benefits that come from a walk in the woods or observing the patterns of snowflakes. Ideally everyone will understand all the benefits of nature--and the arts--and we can work together to strengthen and protect them.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Cooking and Arts Funding
I truly enjoy cooking.
I’m not talking about the “what-are-we-going-to-do-tonight-with-this-left-over-chicken” everyday cooking; I like the wow, aesthetic experience kind of cooking. The type of cooking that once someone has come over for dinner they look forward to the next time, and hope that the next time is soon. I wasn’t really raised that way. In fact, and I’m sure some of you can say the same thing, I was raised with mostly brown food… you know; meat, potatoes, corn, gravy, anything that can be fried to look brown etc. --- I don’t think my father, rest his soul, ate anything green more than once a month, unless it was some type of frosting or other confection.
Get This.
I don’t want you to get the wrong impression. I enjoy visiting my family, and any visit to them includes food, food, food, and did I mention there might be food? But it isn’t the food that keeps me coming back, although my mom makes great molasses cookies, it’s my family…period.
I love them.
So at a family gathering, if I happen mention that I will be cooking a duck breast in a tawny port sauce with a cranberry leek confit, wild rice cakes, avocado-pear-romaine salad with gorgonzola and an asparagus leek soup, I might get looked at as if I were Sasquatch. I know this sounds judgmental, but it isn’t… it simply is.
But I must say that the brown food, served at the family gatherings of my youth, has been slowly evolving into more well-rounded and diverse fare… fruit salads, shrimp on occasion, various tossed salads and other green leafy offerings have enhanced our meals as our family as grown and become more extended. Brothers marry, sisters marry, their kids marry and have kids who marry and gradually new experiences, ethnicities and tastes find their way into tradition, especially with food… although there may attempts to fry some of the new stuff from time to time.
I will make return visits to see my mom, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, grand nieces and nephews, great grand nieces and nephews and so on until the end of my days, but I doubt that it will ever be for the food, (Ward and June Cleaver die hard) and I doubt very seriously that any of you reading this right now are all that interested in joining us at a Bracey family gathering and that is my point… isn’t this analogous to the environment that we are all facing today in the arts and cultural field and Michigan in general?
Get this.
It may well be that the greatest challenge we have today in Michigan is convincing our best and brightest that this is a place to stay, play, live, work and do business, as well as convincing those individuals in other states that Michigan is where they should come to stay, play, live, work and do business.
In a press release that outlined her second inaugural address, Governor Granholm said the state's natural resources, work ethic, quality of life, and human talent are unmatched and will serve as the foundation for the Next Michigan. She urged citizens to "believe" in all that Michigan will be. "Believe in the Next Michigan where opportunity to grow and to live a good life exists for all our citizens," Granholm said. "Believe in the Next Michigan where every child can go to college…where our cities are electric, alive with people and culture and energy and jobs…"
If our “quality of life” and “cities electric and alive with people and culture” are priorities, then our state’s arts and cultural organizations, our artists, our patrons of the arts, our arts educators and those individuals who, like me, simply love arts and culture must all be key ingredients in any recipe to successfully achieve these priorities.
This is not a simple recipe, and will take the best efforts of many chefs….. I hope all of you truly love to cook as much as I do!
I’m not talking about the “what-are-we-going-to-do-tonight-with-this-left-over-chicken” everyday cooking; I like the wow, aesthetic experience kind of cooking. The type of cooking that once someone has come over for dinner they look forward to the next time, and hope that the next time is soon. I wasn’t really raised that way. In fact, and I’m sure some of you can say the same thing, I was raised with mostly brown food… you know; meat, potatoes, corn, gravy, anything that can be fried to look brown etc. --- I don’t think my father, rest his soul, ate anything green more than once a month, unless it was some type of frosting or other confection.
Get This.
I don’t want you to get the wrong impression. I enjoy visiting my family, and any visit to them includes food, food, food, and did I mention there might be food? But it isn’t the food that keeps me coming back, although my mom makes great molasses cookies, it’s my family…period.
I love them.
So at a family gathering, if I happen mention that I will be cooking a duck breast in a tawny port sauce with a cranberry leek confit, wild rice cakes, avocado-pear-romaine salad with gorgonzola and an asparagus leek soup, I might get looked at as if I were Sasquatch. I know this sounds judgmental, but it isn’t… it simply is.
But I must say that the brown food, served at the family gatherings of my youth, has been slowly evolving into more well-rounded and diverse fare… fruit salads, shrimp on occasion, various tossed salads and other green leafy offerings have enhanced our meals as our family as grown and become more extended. Brothers marry, sisters marry, their kids marry and have kids who marry and gradually new experiences, ethnicities and tastes find their way into tradition, especially with food… although there may attempts to fry some of the new stuff from time to time.
I will make return visits to see my mom, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, grand nieces and nephews, great grand nieces and nephews and so on until the end of my days, but I doubt that it will ever be for the food, (Ward and June Cleaver die hard) and I doubt very seriously that any of you reading this right now are all that interested in joining us at a Bracey family gathering and that is my point… isn’t this analogous to the environment that we are all facing today in the arts and cultural field and Michigan in general?
Get this.
It may well be that the greatest challenge we have today in Michigan is convincing our best and brightest that this is a place to stay, play, live, work and do business, as well as convincing those individuals in other states that Michigan is where they should come to stay, play, live, work and do business.
In a press release that outlined her second inaugural address, Governor Granholm said the state's natural resources, work ethic, quality of life, and human talent are unmatched and will serve as the foundation for the Next Michigan. She urged citizens to "believe" in all that Michigan will be. "Believe in the Next Michigan where opportunity to grow and to live a good life exists for all our citizens," Granholm said. "Believe in the Next Michigan where every child can go to college…where our cities are electric, alive with people and culture and energy and jobs…"
If our “quality of life” and “cities electric and alive with people and culture” are priorities, then our state’s arts and cultural organizations, our artists, our patrons of the arts, our arts educators and those individuals who, like me, simply love arts and culture must all be key ingredients in any recipe to successfully achieve these priorities.
This is not a simple recipe, and will take the best efforts of many chefs….. I hope all of you truly love to cook as much as I do!
Friday, December 8, 2006
Hi, I'm Joe, your friendly neighborhood departmental technician
Greetings art and culture loving folks of Michigan,
Most of you have probably already spoken with me on the phone as I am the person who usually answers the phone. My job here, as you may have guessed by my title, has a lot to do with computers and more specifically, with the database we use to administer our grants. However, I do much more than that, due to the fact that we have very little staff and we all do more than our share of work here. In addition to the database, I check the financials for the final reports; enter payment details and print contracts; process and distribute all materials we receive; set up panelist arrangements (hotels, travel, etc.); answer the phones; prepare payment listings to go to the business office; and whatever else may be needed from me.
A lot of my posts to this blog will be the do's and don'ts for reports, GIFs, etc. I hope you find this information helpful, and at times entertaining, because that's what we are all about, right; education and entertainment. ENJOY!!!
Most of you have probably already spoken with me on the phone as I am the person who usually answers the phone. My job here, as you may have guessed by my title, has a lot to do with computers and more specifically, with the database we use to administer our grants. However, I do much more than that, due to the fact that we have very little staff and we all do more than our share of work here. In addition to the database, I check the financials for the final reports; enter payment details and print contracts; process and distribute all materials we receive; set up panelist arrangements (hotels, travel, etc.); answer the phones; prepare payment listings to go to the business office; and whatever else may be needed from me.
A lot of my posts to this blog will be the do's and don'ts for reports, GIFs, etc. I hope you find this information helpful, and at times entertaining, because that's what we are all about, right; education and entertainment. ENJOY!!!
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Let's chat about arts and culture and Michigan
MCACA's executive director (AKA "Head Cheese") John Bracey had this great idea to get an arts and culture blog started were we can share thoughts and ideas about the state of arts and culture in Michigan. We'll share latest news from MCACA, highlights of recent or current arts projects, and conversation about how we can all support the arts to make a richer arts environment in Michigan. Everyone is welcome here, but please keep your comments polite.
Carolyn Damstra
Carolyn Damstra
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