this is a call to action, without apology, to the arts community in grand rapids, michigan.
two nights ago, our artprize top ten for the third year was announced. i don’t know why we’re not allowed to say this publicly, but the majority of the choices were …simply… abysmal.
now granted, i understand that people are perhaps not voting with selecting the very best in mind. many are, like i did that first year, so excited that they’re hitting “thumbs up” for anything they are enjoying. and granted, our arts education and arts appreciation in the good ol’ us-of-a is slim if not anorexic. it’s just not a regular part of our days. understanding and learning about art is not something that our school systems and our family lives put as a priority on a regular basis.
but even understanding those caveats, thursday night i found myself absolutely deflated.
i woke up the next day, somehow inexplicably hopeful.
and this is where my call to action comes in. i have seen, over the last three years, a wider divide spreading between the “General Public” and the “Art Elite” (terms I hear from others, so we’ll just use them here as a means of having a common language). i’ve seen the local press jump in on one side or another of this dividing line. Serba’s mockery of basic terminology used when discussing art did nothing to help people to understand and everything to pin the art professionals as those frustrating alienating doctors who won’t speak to you in “plain language” so you can understand how to heal. local art activists sat behind their computer screens watching their countdown clock, just hiding out until the damn thing was over and the crowds left their avenue.
there’s no reason for either of you to be acting this way. grow up, settle down, and see ArtPrize as an opportunity that you have never had and may never again.
listen. people are interested in art. thousands of people who would never set foot in a gallery or purchase art are walking around in a giant, albeit often poorly curated, GALLERY. many of them are making purchases, thinking about the creative impulse, wondering how you do what you do and why.
and you’re pissing it all away because they just don’t get it, and you assume they aren’t capable of ever getting there.
listen. you complain about the soul-crushing day job or the lack of money or the fact that no one understands you. but when the consumer-driven society that is not making it possible for you to make a living at what you were made to do… when they want to see what you do-when they’re interested- you can’t make a little effort to hold their hand and explain a few things so they can enjoy what you do? so they can appreciate it? so they can understand the importance of art and beauty and visual expression in their own lives?
this is my call to action: artists, in grand rapids and its surrounding areas, artists on the coasts talking about this crazy “social experiment” called artprize, i want you to seriously consider doing the following:
i want you to consider the huge opportunity you have right now to get the culture around you to care about, understand, and want more of what you do. i want you to welcome these throngs-interested though uninformed-and appreciate that they are taking time out of their regular lives to see this other world that you live in and they never encounter. take this opportunity to help them understand it a little bit. consider the benefits you have had from your education and experience and use it to help people. do some educating, build some inspiration, open the door to making art a part of people’s lives.
don’t shut them out, shut yourself away from the spectacle, mock and deride.
for the love of all that is beautiful and moving, do not act like a spoiled child and ruin this chance. if you do, and then later see me on the street and you complain about not having time to make your work, not being able to find buyers or patrons or supporters… if you’re still stuck with your small crowd of fellow artists that can’t afford to purchase your work, much as they’d like to… i’m not going to find much sympathy for your situation.
your surrounding culture is opening a door to your world. Are you going to let them in and show them around and let them get excited enough to be a part of the community? or are you going to shut them out and continue to watch the walls crumble around you because you can’t afford the repairs?
sure there are things that could be better. there always are. that doesn’t mean we just walk away altogether from possibly the largest opportunity we’ll have in our lifetime to make our livelihoods sustainable.
this is a call to let go of anger, bitterness, and petty temper tantrums. this is a call to grab hold of this opportunity and help the culture start to embrace art, start to embrace what you do, by just extending a welcome and being willing to help them understand. this is a call to honor the people now curious and turn that curiosity into appreciation. it can be done. i have seen it and i know it is possible.
this is a call to action.
photo taken of suzanne cohan-lange’s Little Black Dress, showing at frederick meijer gardens.
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11 Comments
Thank you so much for putting into words what I believe so many are feeling in their hearts and unable to express. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Okay. I just read this for the third time and had to thank you again. This is so beautifully expressed and honest and true. I hope this message gets out over and over and over again. Thank you.
Amen sister. Thank you for your bold call to action. I am listening.
thanks ladies. much appreciated. sometimes you care too much to keep your big mouth shut. i am sure not all comments will be as appreciative, so i thank you for starting off the responses on a positive note.
Brava, Holly! Brava!
Watching the Devos ArtPrize experiment this year is a little like watching the air leak out of a tire until it runs flat. The idea that an American Idol type vote would somehow create a walking society of educated art appreciators is laughable at best and very sad in it’s silliness as a premise. This years top ten vote is an insightful answer into Rick Devos “radical” social experiment that replaces knowledge about art with popular opinion.
Even more crazy than all of that is your notion that the problem with this years top ten results isn’t Rick Devos’s economic development plan but that the fault somehow lies with the artist. We aren’t trying hard enough. We aren’t working hard enough to communicate with these wonderful people who ”taking time out of their regular lives”.
As if the lack of arts funding, the lack of arts education in our schools, the lack of arts investment in our communities that created this mass of nice people that need to be educated is now somehow our responsibility.
And then if educated artists and viewers complain about the “crap” all over the city you accuse us of bitterness and having tantrums? You have got to be kinding?
richard-
the fact that art is not understood in our country is not the artist’s fault. i never said we Got Here because of something artists did. we certainly have not been handed a fair deal in this game. but here we are.
now.
are we going to take the chance when everyone’s paying attention to make a difference about that problem, or are we going to widen the divide and snub our nose at all the people showing up to discover?
the streets of grand rapids were crowded today. CROWDED. all over, not just in places with a top ten contender. that’s an opportunity. a little grace and a little willingness to not be an ass while all those crowds are watching makes a big difference.
so yes, i want you to work a little bit hard than that.
i’m asking you to be nice.
apparently, that is just too much burden to bear.
Holly, So now artists are asses? Was Mia Travonatti or Bill Secunda also being an ass when they were working hard and “paying attention to make a difference”? Were the willing crowds that voted for them being educated by those artists or duped?
You and I agree with the problems art faces in society. One thing we as artists can do is agree not to participate in a insidious event that doesn’t encourage the public or at least fails to encourage the public enough to come down and become educated. It encourages them to replace knowledge with their opinion. What you are suggesting is like asking all 7-11 employes to work harder to educate customer about proper nutrition.
though we agree on the problem in general, i respectfully disagree that the event is insidious; i respectfully disagree that it doesn’t encourage the public to come down and become educated; i chuckle at the analogy that this is anything like a 7-11 employee asked to educate on something they’re not experts on.
what i am saying is that yes, some artists are being asses. and yes, the event is creating an opportunity for education. and yes, it is our responsibility -as those who are passionate about and knowledgable about art- to take that opportunity and put our efforts into turning entertainment into education. any educator will tell you that, especially with adults, you can’t just say “hey kids, let’s get us some education!” and expect interest to be piqued. learning doesn’t have to be so straightforward and is often more long-lasting when not done in traditional “schooling” methods.
Well last time I checked you had to be an adult to vote at ArtPrize so the subject of children isn’t even the issue. How I read your call to action is that you are asking the artist to fix the problems inherit in the competition. Problems that wouldn’t even exist if ArtPrize was design differently.
Holly,
Thank you for this honest, sincere, and much-needed exhortation. Thankfully, not all artists are asses. Thank you for again pointing out that we may not be responsible for the system, the public opinions, etc. but we are responsible for our response. Resentment and derision helps neither artist nor public.