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2 years ago
Revised NEA/Fed Art Policy Panel Answer’s (4-6) - much more concise
4> Do you feel that working artists are adequately represented at the decision-making tables of the nonprofit arts sector, including the NEA?
Representation and accountability are the central issues. Since NEA sets the standard, the question should be how does NEA represent the priorities of artists in its decision-making? Several people (not artists) asked me, “Why is the Chairman position an appointment, rather than an elected position?” and “Why are the President’s recent picks for White House art the end of a design process, as opposed to resulting from popular participation, at least in part?” If lack of trust at the leadership level is the problem, whether it is trust in the American people’s capacity for discernment or artists’ capacity for playing well with others at the administrative level, then the answer is not to minimize involvement, but to improve it. The system requires revising not only in the furtherance of artists’ issues, but also with regards the mission of providing people with quality programming that they care about.
The NP art sector is a big place, and many NPs do a fine job representing artists. Artists are frequently NP arts org founders. I don’t know of a compendium of stats that surveys the percentages/ratios of artists to other professions on Boards, in staff and admin positions at NPs, but that would be interesting to know. What experts and experienced NPs generally agree on is that maintaining an effective Board with good staff relations is a persistent and sometimes messy affair for all orgs – not just arts orgs. Artists are often not particularly well suited to Board work and are more functional at the staff level, or as advisors. What does this tell us about the mandates of the NP as an organizational model, and the NPs capacity to serve artists’ needs?
Until the field is democratized, though, the NEA and arts orgs will continue to disenfranchise individual artists and fail to garner the artist support they need to thrive. In many cases, setting aside good intentions, the NP culture, procedures, structure and motivations (and legal parameters) diverge so fundamentally from artists’ that there is little commonality of purpose ultimately. And I wouldn’t, as an artist, pine for some time in the future when NP institutions will start to recruit artists as industry practice – corporatizing the NP will push artists further to the margins.
5> What, if anything, would you like to see the Endowment do to help artists to achieve a ‘living wage’ (i.e., one that would allow them to pursue their artistic career full time without having to work a supplemental job)? Should the Endowment or the field pay more attention to bread & butter issues for artists, such as health care, training, business management etc.?
I would suggest that NEA establish an American artist online network, using Charles Saatchi’s website as the model. The mission should be to offer a “public option” to the US arts marketplace, where NEA’s dedication to artistic excellence can be showcased. Although Etsy, Ebay and other for-profit alternatives have proven the demand and supply-side technology exists for the praxis – the economics are the driver, and not other concerns, such as legacy. The goal should be that NEA provide American artists the best website in the world. This is almost all upside. Such a site can serve as an aggregator, a comprehensive listing, a social network, a revenue generator (for artists and NEA), a driver of healthy competition (economically speaking and with respect to innovation), a platform for critical response and discourse, a subtle way to promote quality from the bottom-up and top-down, and a means by which the NEA can reclaim its rightful position in the field as a determinant, as a field leader and arts service simultaneously. The production costs would relatively minimal, the timeline/turnaround sufficiently brief. The necessary technology for implementation does not need to be invented – it exists. Workers could be hired as an arts stimulus plan, which the industry sorely needs. Plus, the NEA could peg standout US designers and web companies to compete for the privilege of designing, building and maintaining the site. A popular/voting/polling component could be included to democratize the project. The symbolic effect would be to redirect the field’s cultural focus to America’s artistic commonwealth and away from short-term gains, which has in large measure undermined the value of art for the American people. The NEA individual artist grant awards could easily and effectively be integrated into the functions of this site. If public voting is a part of the awards procedure, Americans will support it.
As for the question’s second part, the issues raised apply to all Americans, not just artists. The NEA was recently attacked for promoting arts industry advocacy for political activism meant to improve general conditions for all on these very points. NEA must stand up to such attacks. Speaking for myself, I believe artists are uniquely capable of articulating the need for reckoning or change (“Guernica” comes to mind) and mobilizing, inspiring people to fight on their own behalf and for the common good. Where possible, NEA must come to the defense of artists who do so. For instance, what public position has NEA taken on Shepard Fairey versus AP versus the originating photographer. The field needs NEA to involve itself in messy problems like this one, if nothing else then as a concerned and reasonable third party, leaning always to the side of arts advocacy and excellence.
6> What would you like to see the Endowment accomplish? What policies should govern its actions? What should be its priorities? If you were to advise the new Chair of the NEA - Rocco Landesman - on what the agenda for the NEA should be —what would you tell him?
I will start at the last question and work backwards, because the mission, goals and values of NEA will determine the quality of the Endowment’s accomplishments. First, NEA should require all NEA grant beneficiaries to register voters as an integrated function during any NEA-facilitated event. NEA, rightly or wrongly, must re-establish the broad support and trust of the American people. This gesture would set the proper alignment for the Endowment in relation to the stakeholders and the governmental process that encompasses all. Representation and accountability are the key principles.
As for advising Mr. Landesman, I would suggest that NEA must embrace its leadership role. The Endowment must be willing to define artistic greatness and reward it. Some of the panelists have suggested that it is not appropriate for the NEA to adjudicate questions, such as “What is art?” and “Who is an artist?” I would argue on the contrary that there is no agency in the United States with a clearer mandate to offer value judgments on these questions, provided the agency propose to answer specifically:
· What is American art? And what is the best/great American art?
· Who is an American artist? And who are the best/great American artists?
The answers to these questions will serve to propel the agency to act with focus and effectiveness. The NEA does not have to answer these questions for the world. The Endowment only must answer these questions for the nation. Further, the Endowment does not have to invent the answers from the top-down. The Endowment can choose to trust the American people and integrate evaluation of America’s art from the bottom-up. I would argue this is the only way that NEA can rebuild the trust of the country and garner the people’s steadfast support.
The NEA must evaluate with discernment, in order to encourage individuals to do so for themselves. The evaluation of quality must be treated as the beginning of an exchange process, not as something to be avoided. Otherwise, the public forum is privatized and, as has been demonstrated, the field is relegated precipitously to those driven by profit-centric or other, non-representational motives.
NEA must embark on this mission as publically as possible. I would recommend that the Chairman should be pre-empting negative strikes against himself and the agency by actively engaging in activities that reinforce the Endowment’s leadership role and promote a strong public profile for the figurehead at the top.
To this end I would suggest four programs:
· A weekly radio broadcast on NPR, during which the Chairman discusses art with an accomplished American artist
· The establishment of an online/brick and mortar American arts/artist archive, built on a Hall of Fame model, which contains and promotes documentation of artist lives, words, portraits and studio practices – the National Archive for the Arts (or something similar); aside from strengthening the national cultural memory and establishing an important new arts destination/resource, this project would immediately provide stimulus for the field, including many arts jobs for emerging artists who could be commissioned to gather content
· A US/NEA-hosted international contemporary art fair (like the Venice Biennale), in which American arts are placed in the global context in a spirit of healthy competition. The US/NEA Art Fair would prove (or disprove) NEA’s success in incubating quality US artists and art. Ultimately, the work of US artists must be considered in a global context, not just a global market context, as verification. A “People’s Choice” component would democratize the fair, differentiating it from all others. The US/NEA art fair could in part function as a “public option” to events such as Miami/Basel and the Armory Show, which are market-centric in focus, and do not necessarily reflect well on American artists or concerns.
· An Olympics for young (amateur) artists, hosted by NEA to begin with, though ultimately a better outcome would be the formation of an international committee to govern the event, which would take place every four years. This program would remind the world that the US/Democracy has contributed historic innovations in arts practice and continues to be committed to the export of object-based cultural goodwill (Think MoMA’s “50 Years of American Art” in 1955). To use marketing vernacular, a broad consensus suggests that America needs to improve its global brand, and the US/NEA art “Olympics” presents a great opportunity to do so. Notes
