You are right about the performing arts. I recall the dean at NYU telling me that students in their film program must make a 30 minute film at their own cost to complete the program and the estimate (15 yrs. ago) was $50,000. That was a program known in academia as a "Hollywood" program, signifying a full scale type production. Other programs are more experimental, relying on video, etc., still expensive but not as much as Hollywood programs.
Miller wants a state run art school situation for new propaganda art made with time-tested exacting skills based on old Russian Socialist stuff and ancient Asian traditions. And how would his graduates fare in a wild west democracy? WC --- On Wed, 2/4/09, Michael Brady <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Michael Brady <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: Tinkering with the System > To: [email protected] > Date: Wednesday, February 4, 2009, 9:32 AM > William > > > Thus there is little in the existing social structure > or marketplace that would embrace the sort of art that most > high quality art programs aim to foster. > > I think this will be the "money shot" to Miller. > Sit tight, William. > > As for your comments about the performing arts, bear in > mind that an important factor is cost. It takes a lot of > money to put on a ballet, concert, or play. Not to mention a > feature-length movie. Even one-person performances require a > theater or auditorium and all the things that go with them. > > Visual artists and writers labor alone and typically > don't require a lot of capital (excluding the needs of > the big metal sculptors). > > Many years ago, I observed that the funding for the arts, > via NEA grants and similar benefactors, offers full-time > employment to a lot of administrative staff and very few > artists. Notable among the artists who receive what amounts > to full-time employment are symphony orchestras. Because the > performers have to rehearse and travel together, they are > paid a larger stipend or salary, compared to the typical $5K > or $10K that *a few* painters receive as an outright grant, > or, more often, for an "artist in the > schools"-type of arrangement. > > Things may have changed over the years and these remarks my > not perfectly fit the situation, but I think it gets to the > salient part. > > Another thing: Democracy and capitalism are great > "harrowers," turners over of the soil, which is > the way to promote the new growth. It's the sabbatical > and jubilee year of forgiving debts and starting over again. > What once was first is now last. Cabanel's polished > putti are now Cezanne's scumbled landscapes. > > > | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | > Michael Brady > [email protected]
