ART IS ESSENTIAL
There is a need to change the perception of art as a luxury or an add-on to art as an essential element of civil society. |
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Although those involved in the arts and in art-based placemaking recognize the central importance of art and culture in a civilized society, the need remains for individual and community efforts to prove the value of art in the larger realm of city-building. (See Measuring the Impacts) Despite the fact that mainstream arts and large-scale art venues have become a recognized economic generator, art programs of all sizes are among the first services deleted from public budgets when funds grow short. |
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Similarly, to the extent that arts programming is seen as a frill, artists themselves are often marginalized and viewed as fringe contributors to the civic dialogue. Studies may show cultural participation as a predictor of community revitalization and how arts and culture are magnets, (see Richard Florida’s work), but artists are largely absent from the decision making core, and arts programming is routinely excluded in public planning. |
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Jack Murrah, Executive Director of the Lyndhurst Foundation, gave a moving keynote address in Chattanooga. He opened his remarks with the reminder that “often the arts have struggled to occupy a place of any serious consideration in a community.” With restrained cynicism, he illustrated his point, “The arts are often an afterthought. For instance, we will create an economic development plan, and no one from the arts community will have been asked to be in the process, and when that omission is pointed out, we’ll rush in at the last minute and draft a disconnected section entitled “The Arts Means Business.” That’s not a way of affirming the arts, but of pretending to affirm them. We don’t provide substantial arts curriculum in our public schools, but we do persuade the administration to put up a banner once a year saying, The Arts are Fundamental.” Mr. Murrah went on to explore the importance of the inclusive nature of art, and its important effect on community building. (Jack Murrah’s Remarks) |
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I want you to think of the artfully designed and art-enriched public realm as the place where we have our strongest experience of community and as the place that reminds the arts and the artists what they are to the community. |
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Every one of the Forum projects has changed thousands of minds about the incredible value of arts related work, but the task of persuasion is still tremendous. Chattanooga’s Mayor Corker, who has thrown full support to the effort to bring the arts to waterfront planning, acknowledged that their planning only considered the arts late in the process. Three hundred people responded to the invitation to a planning meeting that resulted in the waterfront plan. It was only after this initial effort was completed that a meeting was called to plan for the public art. Five hundred people attended |
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Jack Murrah’s (Lyndhurst Foundation) words are apt “Why is it so hard for arts to take their place among activities of societies and yet have so many devotees?” Arts programming has seeped into government budgets yet it is rarely integral to project planning. Arts get recognition for revitalizing communities, but the absence of routine inclusion of arts programming in public and private planning is evidence of a chasm still to be bridged. |
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When we created Allied Arts, we said from the beginning that it was not just a collective fund raising effort. It was a positive step in moving the arts to higher ground on the agenda of community priorities – into a leading role in creating the way we view our city and its values.
Mai Bell Hurley, Chair, United Way, Chattanooga |
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OTHER TOPICS:
Art is Essential
Impacts
Measuring the Impacts
Sense of Place
Race and Diversity
Collaboration Helps
Seizing Opportunity
Art and Education
Challenges of Success
Leadership and Transition
Adapting the Models |
