I was at that meeting too, but I had a very different take on the whole thing. First of all, the arts commission is not new - it's been around for ages.
I do have to commend R.T. for sticking it out at the meeting and also explaining there is no money available. But I was amazed at how pollarized and political the discussion quickly became. Everyone was was trying to vie for having the "event" in their territory - downtown, North, Northeast, in the parks, with the July 4th festivals - etc. There was never any initial suggestion of an event to really happen other than and umbrella concept to make cohesive what is already taking place. My guess what will come out of all this is an attempt at a flashy poster of summer events and maybe alittle publicity. Then I go to a McKnight sponsored event the next day (yesterday) - and it was all about the wonderful arts explosion happening in the suburbs away from the center city. Meanwhile, the Minneapolis Arts Commission has been pretty much reduced to rubble. Last summer I was on a task force to revamp it's art project granting program, which has existed since the 1970's (our organization - received two of them). It was totally updated with a lot of hard work from a large handful of volunteers and staff from the arts commission. This program completely vanished at the same time the Department of Cultural Affairs was shut down. Unfortunately, many arts programs existed because of these grants. I found it incredibly ironic that the city of Minneapolis wants to sponsor and celebrate the arts here. Minneapolis spends LESS money on it's arts infrastructor than ANY city in the NATION of this size and smaller. Minneapolis gives less money for the arts than some of our own suburbs such as Bloomington and St. Louis Park - that is truly embarrassing!!!!! Maybe it's time we all move to the burbs???? I think Terrell Brown totally misses the point of seeing funding for the arts as on the "nice to have" list. No maybe the really large organizations don't need the help. But the boost up for startups and wonderful arts projects of small and mid sized organizations and individual artists DO very much need this help. Artists often live on the edge - and I know many who would be very happy not to have to constantly struggle. The arts art part of a very intricate ecosystem that helps run the economy and raises the quality of living here that is hard to qualify. If the arts pull out of Minneapolis because of lack of support and funding - it would be a huge change for the worse - both economically and culturally. Liz Greenbaum Longfellow Mark Wilde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >Not too much discussion on this list about arts in >Mpls. But I did attend a great meeting >with the new Arts Commission. I think there was a lot >of energy in the room, they had to bring in more >chairs to accomodate everyone. > >R.T. wants to fund and promote multi-cultural arts >festivals or events. The discussion centered around >defining "multi-cultural," does it includes the gay >and disability communities? What about klezmer music? > >The Mayor's aide used to be on the Commission so I >think it will really have some impact on funding, >although the Mayor admitted that the little money >there was, will probably be even less now. > > >Mark Wilde >Windom Park > > > > >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup >http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com >_______________________________________ >Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy >Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: >http://e-democracy.org/mpls > __________________________________________________________________ Your favorite stores, helpful shopping tools and great gift ideas. Experience the convenience of buying online with Shop@Netscape! http://shopnow.netscape.com/ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/ _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
