http://www.artisticfailure.com/2008/02/26/minneapolis-hates-its-artists-according-to-one-of-them/ Where hope springs eternal in the eye of the artist. Fri, 18 May 2012 15:16:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 http://www.artisticfailure.com/2008/02/26/minneapolis-hates-its-artists-according-to-one-of-them/#comment-739 admin Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:54:42 +0000 http://www.artisticfailure.com/2008/02/26/minneapolis-hates-its-artists-according-to-one-of-them/#comment-739 I agree with you, Cory. You make a good point. "No one" person does indeed owe any given artist "anything." After all, we do live in a "free market" system. Still, a free market dictates that when you believe in something you have the right and responsibility to speak out about it--to "sell" it, so to speak. And I firmly believe that the culture at large has a responsibility to make sure that art in general survives and thrives. I realize this is a highfalutin ideal, and that I am expressing it somewhat naively, but, simply put, any civilized society worth its salt must place a premium on how it represents itself and expresses ideas to future generations through its arts and cultural production. And, following this, any thinking and cultured person living in a civilized society then is required to determine how he or she will play a role in keeping the arts alive... For me, I have determined that my responsibilty to art comes down to this: I will write as often as I can about every angle of the failure of the culture to support the arts. My intention is by pointing out these failures--both large and small--I will play a role in keeping art alive, mostly by inspiring others to think about art and its failure or to consider potential ways to break the failure cycle and support the arts and artists. In the very specific case you comment on above, I wanted to point out how one artist's experiences of feeling shut out by the supposedly "supportive" Minneapolis arts community sheds light on a local paradox--that Minnesotans pat themselves on the back over and over about their support of art, and sell their region as a bastion of support for the arts, even as the place is really not that nurturing to artist, many of whom come from all over the country to be here... I point out what this artist claims as a challenge to anyone reading from Minneapolis: What are you going to do to make the local culture truly supportive of the arts? I agree with you, Cory. You make a good point. “No one” person does indeed owe any given artist “anything.” After all, we do live in a “free market” system. Still, a free market dictates that when you believe in something you have the right and responsibility to speak out about it–to “sell” it, so to speak. And I firmly believe that the culture at large has a responsibility to make sure that art in general survives and thrives.
I realize this is a highfalutin ideal, and that I am expressing it somewhat naively, but, simply put, any civilized society worth its salt must place a premium on how it represents itself and expresses ideas to future generations through its arts and cultural production. And, following this, any thinking and cultured person living in a civilized society then is required to determine how he or she will play a role in keeping the arts alive…
For me, I have determined that my responsibilty to art comes down to this: I will write as often as I can about every angle of the failure of the culture to support the arts. My intention is by pointing out these failures–both large and small–I will play a role in keeping art alive, mostly by inspiring others to think about art and its failure or to consider potential ways to break the failure cycle and support the arts and artists.
In the very specific case you comment on above, I wanted to point out how one artist’s experiences of feeling shut out by the supposedly “supportive” Minneapolis arts community sheds light on a local paradox–that Minnesotans pat themselves on the back over and over about their support of art, and sell their region as a bastion of support for the arts, even as the place is really not that nurturing to artist, many of whom come from all over the country to be here…
I point out what this artist claims as a challenge to anyone reading from Minneapolis: What are you going to do to make the local culture truly supportive of the arts?

]]> http://www.artisticfailure.com/2008/02/26/minneapolis-hates-its-artists-according-to-one-of-them/#comment-738 cory Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:32:18 +0000 http://www.artisticfailure.com/2008/02/26/minneapolis-hates-its-artists-according-to-one-of-them/#comment-738 I don't see how an artist not doing his part to fit in and reach out to the community means that community has failed. Artists often think they are entitled to success just because they are artists. Ridiculous. Work hard and provide value just like everyone else who is successful (granted there are a few exceptions) and you will succeed as well. No one owes an artist anything. I don’t see how an artist not doing his part to fit in and reach out to the community means that community has failed. Artists often think they are entitled to success just because they are artists. Ridiculous. Work hard and provide value just like everyone else who is successful (granted there are a few exceptions) and you will succeed as well. No one owes an artist anything.

]]>