Bottleracks & Fountains

A starting point for this conversation was the essay ‘Arranging the Deck Chairs’ by Josephine Zarkovich, published by the Oregon Visual Arts Ecology Project this month, where she describes in no uncertain terms the disappearance of medium-sized arts spaces due to rising rents, declining college enrollments, and a diminishing middle class. This means few options for emerging artists to take the next step that doesn’t involve leaving the Northwest or giving it all up in favor of paid gigs.

The precarity of the worker in the gig economy applies also to the arts with the difference that art often has nothing to sell, at least not enough for individual artists to live on. Culture largely doesn’t return the same recognizable value that a product in the marketplace would, yet we are squeezing art into this economic model it isn’t fit for.

We reference the book ‘In the Flow’ by Boris Groys, where he explains why modern and contemporary art is necessarily unpopular, which of course doesn’t do it any favors on the free market. We live in a world that despises ambiguity, without which art becomes design and not art. Design is everything and art is nothing. Art doesn’t provide solutions, it only asks questions and creates more questions. It seems that art is funded when it takes on the task of design and becomes sellable as an object, or when it can prove to aid our ailing society. What does that do to artists and the nature of art?

We consider the always popular immersive and interactive experiences where technology often ends up taking over, and art is side-lined as a mere excuse for the spectacle. Whose agenda is being driven forward when art and tech are brought together? Arts funding doesn’t reflect today’s financial reality, and often leads to developing art for business, not for the benefit to society and public life. The government’s spending on art amounts to less than half a penny on a hundred dollar bill, with priorities obviously elsewhere. We talk about the differences in how we value culture, comparing the US and European countries like Sweden. Where does the motivation for nurturing culture lie? In the economic results that are produced or in its historically intrinsic value? This question can be framed on the one hand as the value of culture to the individual, and on the other as a social good.

Eugene Contemporary Art has been agonizing over the choice of going nonprofit or forming an LLC, asking ourselves: Who are you beholden to and what position does it put you in as an arts organization? The administrative burden of nonprofits is weighed against the financial pressure of the LLC. Fiscal sponsorship has been our alternative because it gives us an opportunity to innovate on the model of the organization, the risk being that this organizational effort entirely takes up our capacity. We agree with Josephine Zarkovich about the unsustainable nature of asking other artists for financial support. If we all just help fund each other’s projects, where does the money come from? How does money enter into this loop?

The idea of revenue filters into grant applications for arts funding in that they require quantitative proof of effectiveness and community engagement. We contend, that with government and state funding cut, the different grant giving foundations and trusts have become obliged to take on the burden of teaching art in the schools and providing accessible art, foreclosing funding for more challenging art and complex discourse, and thereby narrowing the field of art.

What are the systemic problems and what can we do about them on an individual level? How are you accountable if not quantitatively? Are the tools we use to build organizations neutral? We come back to the value of the mission statement as a tool for sticking to your politics, rather than your bottomline, weighing every decision against the mission statement. There is no getting away from politics since the 2016 election, and that’s a good thing.

Links:
‘Arranging the Deck Chairs’ by Josephine Zarkovich: https://oregonvisualarts.org/portfolio-items/arranging-the-deck-chairs/?portfolioCats=4051
‘Books: Organizing the Future’ by James McAnally: https://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-features/magazines/books-organizing-future/
‘In the Flow’ by Boris Groys: https://www.versobooks.com/books/2525-in-the-flow
New Inc: https://www.newinc.org/
Meow Wolf: https://meowwolf.com/
A manifesto written for The Luminary in St. Louis by James McAnally: http://temporaryartreview.com/the-work-of-the-institution-in-an-age-of-professionalization/

Vicki Amorose is a performance artist, writer, educator and expert discussioner. Active in the local art community in Eugene, and author of the book "Art-Write: The Writing Guide for Visual Artists," she got her start in the post-punk scene in San Francisco in the 1980’s and admonishes us to remember what artist Nayland Blake has said in conversation with the brilliant Sharon Louden: "The magic of that era is that we threw the parties we wanted to go to.” Lest we forget!

A fun fact about Vicki, is that she was part of the Church of the SubGenius and was featured in the documentary “J.R. 'Bob' Dobbs and the Church of the SubGenius,” which premiered at this year’s SXSW in Austin, TX. Agnese happened to be there and was able to go to a screening so we had a moment talking about that.

Eugene Contemporary Art wants to encourage art criticism about the significant amount of contemporary work that is being made in our region. Yet, the writing we see here is largely journalistic and promotional, summaries of art events and shows that don’t go deeper into the discourse. To change this, Vicki will be leading the workshop “Write About Visual Art" presented by Eugene Contemporary Art in partnership with City of Eugene Cultural Services, promoting a departure from the old paradigm of criticism as judgement to open up new forms, inviting writers of all kinds to turn their focus to visual art. Vicki wants to change the connotations of the word “critical” which in Eugene, and probably in many other places around the country, is taken to suggest severely judgmental and mean. The problem with the “It’s all good” attitude is that you don’t go any deeper than what meets the eye, and sometimes you don’t even get that far, unknowingly perpetuating norms dictated by an abstracted academy or art market.

We discuss Darren Jones’ essay “Art in America: The Critical Dustbowl,” recently published by the New Art Examiner, and made possible by the Arts Writers Grant Program from Creative Capital and the Andy Warhol Foundation, that supports the work of writers specifically. Which of course leads us to the ever-relevant topic of money and artist compensation. Courtney was quoted in Jones' article, and it takes up the place and impact of critical art writing outside New York and L.A. Art writing tends to neglect small towns in favor of urban centers. What is written about is what makes art history, so what stories will not get told? If the art is not written about, does it even exist? Who should benefit from art writing? What can it do for artists?

Does art criticism have to be academic and theory-laden? Vicki explains the difference between critical writing and descriptive writing. As a writer, you should consider your audience and not just write for the internet. Who are you writing for? The off-putting language of much art writing acts as a shield, deflecting interest rather than drawing people in. Referencing Gilda Williams, Vicki says that bad art writing comes from fear and lack of understanding, rather than malicious intent. She describes the artist statement as a bridge, shares strategies for compelling art writing and says hallelujah and hurray for editors.

Links:
Darren Jones’ essay “Art in America: The Critical Dustbowl” published by the New Art Examiner: http://www.newartexaminer.net/art-in-america-the-critical-dustbowl/
Arts Writers Grant Program, Creative Capital & The Andy Warhol Foundation: https://www.artswriters.org/
An Paenhuysen, Instructor, "Art Writing and Criticism” NODE Curatorial Studies Online: https://nodecenter.net/
Gilda Williams, author, “How To Write About Contemporary Art”: https://www.amazon.com/How-Write-About-Contemporary-Art/dp/0500291578
Nayland Blake in conversation with Sharon Louden, New York Academy of Art professional practice lecture series: https://vimeo.com/333369230
BRIDGE Exhibitions, Eugene, Oregon: https://www.eugene-or.gov/3927/BRIDGE-Exhibitions
Mayor’s Art Show, Eugene, Oregon: https://www.eugene-or.gov/3868/Mayors-Art-Show
"Art-Write: The Writing Guide for Visual Artists", author Vicki Krohn Amorose: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Write-Writing-Guide-Visual-Artists/dp/1937303128/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=DH6JED98J3KY7GBWQFZY#customerReviews
W.A.G.E.: https://wageforwork.com/home#top

Louise Kennelly settled in Maryland after adventures around the country and abroad, and has been in her position at Frederick Arts Council for three and a half years. She notes that interest in contemporary art has really taken off in Frederick during this time.

She talks about working through the bureaucracies of art in public spaces, compromising and having a plan B. The Sky Stage that was created with the artist Heather Theresa Clark is an example that persistence pays off. It hosts 150 events every season, where the community decides what they want and the arts council facilitates access to the space. Seed money from local family foundations came with the promise of more financial support if the community showed that they were committed to this project, and it turned out to be a huge success. We should trust artists to imagine and create something unprecedented.

The question remains: Does the community want and need contemporary art? And how do you build an audience? Personal connections to artists and the theme or narrative of the work that is relevant to the local community organically draw people in to see the work and develop a sense of what contemporary art can be. “The local community is picking up the slack which the national culture is not satisfying,” says Louise, emphasizing intimacy, authenticity, kindness, empathy, and communication as valuable aspects of the work. It addresses the basic need for connection, collaboration, and experimentation, which seems to be lacking in the broader culture.

It is important to give people the benefit of the doubt, allowing for complex interactions and relationships to exist. It's easier to put your differences aside in a smaller community and to have a real conversation. There is an openness to risk-taking. Louise thinks that there is a renaissance at the local level of arts initiatives, because people feel the need for getting together in the same room, sharing the same physical space, something there is less and less of in our daily lives where most interactions are mediated by a screen. She says: “If you put aside your preconceptions about what people can or cannot handle with contemporary art, you'd be surprised.”

The next step is to think about what it would look like for young artists to be able to live and work locally? Making it sustainable for individual artists, who should have a commercial lens and get more creative with the business side of things. There is a need for a community arts center where artists can all get together, and more opportunities for paid work for artists. And more art parties! The Frederick Arts Council has a policy now that they don’t take anything for free, and are strict about paying everybody. For that, we salute you, and hope that others follow suit.

Links:

Frederick Arts Council: http://frederickartscouncil.org/
Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program: https://rair.org/rair
Artist Heather Theresa Clark, Sky Stage in Frederick, MD: http://heather-clark.com/project/sky-stage/
Artist Thomas Faison: https://vimeo.com/tomfaison
Frederick Arts Council's Festival for the Arts: https://www.visitfrederick.org/event/26th-annual-frederick-festival-of-the-arts/9596/
Wing Young Huie: https://www.wingyounghuie.com/
AS220 in Providence, RI: https://as220.org

Stacey Ray is an arts admin professional, and the Programs and Communications Manager at Lane Arts Council in Eugene, OR, with serious experience in both the arts and rural life. She has previously interned with TBA Festival/PICA (Portland Institute for Contemporary Art) and studied Arts Management at the University of Oregon, but grew up in central Montana, in an unincorporated community of about 20 people, where her family has been for five generations, working as farmers, butchers, and loggers.

We talked to Stacey about her special interest in art in rural places, which was also the topic for her graduate thesis. She researched contemporary art in the rural context by looking at artist residencies around the country. Is there contemporary art outside urban spaces? Perceiving a lack of scholarship on the subject, Stacey took matters into her own hands and decided to dig into six different art residencies in rural places in the U.S.

Residencies and collectives are the ways that contemporary practice can happen in isolated and remote places. There are many challenges to being a rural community, not only isolation from centers of cultural activity, but also separation from the infrastructure that support it and barriers such as population density and lack of a shared vocabulary.

We examine the term “contemporary” and the language we use to speak about art, talk in depth about the good work being done by the Wassaic Project in NY and M12 in CO, dipping into informal versus formal participation in the arts. We also get into preconceived notions city folk have of the rural idyll as “a place to get away from but not to go, and certainly not to stay,” and avoiding being a tourist by being attentive to your surroundings. The artists and the arts organizations in rural places both act as mediators and facilitators, gaining the trust of local communities and earning their goodwill. We can’t expect people to come to us, we have to go to them. We have to meet people where they are.

Links:
Lane Art Council: http://lanearts.org/
TBA Festival/PICA: http://pica.org/tba/
Wassaic Project, NY: https://www.wassaicproject.org/
M12 Collective, CO: http://m12studio.org/index.html
Wormfarm Institute, WI: https://wormfarminstitute.org/
Grin City Collective, IA (closed operations in 2019): http://www.grincitycollective.org/
Epicenter, UT: http://ruralandproud.org/
Coleman Center for the Arts, AL: https://colemanarts.org/