Art attack
I think it's safe to say that I'm a ridiculously active supporter of the arts. Almost all of my free time is dedicated to some arts organization or another. I'm on the board of directors for both Lawndale Arts Center and Diverseworks Artspace. I have co-chaired the VIP party for the Art Car parade for six years. I've been involved in multiple galas, auctions, small cocktail parties, fun runs and other charity events for half a dozen arts organizations throughout the city. Aside from Planned Parenthood and KUFH, almost all of my tax-deductible contributions are to arts organizations.
In addition, my family members are also ridculously involved. One sister is employed by a museum has been a prominent member of the arts community since her mid-twenties. The other is an artist and curates art shows in her spare time. My brother serves on, at last count, four arts-related boards of directors/advisors. My parents are members of numerous arts organizations, and my mother just joined the board of the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater. Most of my friends are involved in the arts somehow, either professionally or as ardent supporters.
So attacks on the arts in Houston are personal.
Wayne Dolcefino is an investigative reporter for Channel 13, and last night was the second of four installments in his "shocking" expose on the arts. See, in Houston, 19% of a hotel occupancy tax is dedicated to the arts. The theory is that if the city is culturally attractive, more people will come to see it, thus driving up revenue for the whole city. An organization called the Houston Arts Alliance* helps divy out that money, by giving grants to organizations and individual public art progjects. Mr. Dolcefino (so far in the series) has targeted the HAA.
He starts his report thinking that he's Rudy Guliani in the 90s, pointing at various items that HAA has funded over the two years of its existence, and exclaiming "Is that art?" He then goes into a tizzy over a line uttered in a play, a lesbian puppet show, modern dance, and a stained glass phoenix.
I'll pause for a second to say that no one at all questions the importance of oversight on the use of public moneys, dispite the misleading implication in the story that the citizens of the city of Houston pay the hotel occupancy tax. Mr. Dolcefino does point out a poem that has apparently been funded but not yet completed, and that is probably appropriate reporting.
But the story isn't about whether there's proper oversight in the HAA. It questions whether or not public funds should be used for individual art pieces at all. And it questions the artistic judgement of the employees and members of the HAA that approve grants.
Sorry, Wayne, but some members of the Houston public want to see puppet shows about the lesbian experience. And the arts that are funded by the public should be reflective of the community. And that doesn't mean that all of the community at the same time should have a consensus before any public art expenditure can be made. Some people will like any one individual piece, some people won't. But as a whole, the more art in our community, the better off we are as a culture.
And art is hugely important to the economy in Houston. The nonprofit arts are a $626.3 million industry in Houston-one that supports 14,115 full-time jobs and generates $69.5 million in local and state government revenue. Nonprofit arts organizations in Houston, which spend $270 million annually, leverage a remarkable $356.3 million in additional spending by arts audiences-spending that pumps vital revenue into local restaurants, hotels, retail stores, parking garages, and other businesses. A total of 12,192 professional artists are estimated to live in the Houston area, and are responsible for total annual spending of $147.6 million. Spending by artists supports 3,422 full-time jobs and generates $10.5 million in local and state government revenue.
I was at Discovery Green on Friday night, with Graham and two of my closest friends. We walked from the pavillion over to the Tree House to grab a drink, and all four of us stopped to admire Synchronicity of Color. On our way back to the pavilion after our drink, we stopped again to admire the work. Had Wayne picked us randomly out of the crowd instead of Rhianna Baker and Nancy Retz, two supposedly random Houstonians he found at the park whatever day he got there, he would have had a totally different answer about whether or not it was "worth" $350,000 in public expenditure.
This is probably a story that does need to be told. But it needs to be told without some sort of sensationalist, ratings drawing bent that distorts what exactly the arts, all of the arts, do for our community. And Wayne Dolcefino is certainly not the person to tell that story.
*Disclosure: my brother is on the board of the HAA.
In addition, my family members are also ridculously involved. One sister is employed by a museum has been a prominent member of the arts community since her mid-twenties. The other is an artist and curates art shows in her spare time. My brother serves on, at last count, four arts-related boards of directors/advisors. My parents are members of numerous arts organizations, and my mother just joined the board of the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater. Most of my friends are involved in the arts somehow, either professionally or as ardent supporters.
So attacks on the arts in Houston are personal.
Wayne Dolcefino is an investigative reporter for Channel 13, and last night was the second of four installments in his "shocking" expose on the arts. See, in Houston, 19% of a hotel occupancy tax is dedicated to the arts. The theory is that if the city is culturally attractive, more people will come to see it, thus driving up revenue for the whole city. An organization called the Houston Arts Alliance* helps divy out that money, by giving grants to organizations and individual public art progjects. Mr. Dolcefino (so far in the series) has targeted the HAA.
He starts his report thinking that he's Rudy Guliani in the 90s, pointing at various items that HAA has funded over the two years of its existence, and exclaiming "Is that art?" He then goes into a tizzy over a line uttered in a play, a lesbian puppet show, modern dance, and a stained glass phoenix.
I'll pause for a second to say that no one at all questions the importance of oversight on the use of public moneys, dispite the misleading implication in the story that the citizens of the city of Houston pay the hotel occupancy tax. Mr. Dolcefino does point out a poem that has apparently been funded but not yet completed, and that is probably appropriate reporting.
But the story isn't about whether there's proper oversight in the HAA. It questions whether or not public funds should be used for individual art pieces at all. And it questions the artistic judgement of the employees and members of the HAA that approve grants.
Sorry, Wayne, but some members of the Houston public want to see puppet shows about the lesbian experience. And the arts that are funded by the public should be reflective of the community. And that doesn't mean that all of the community at the same time should have a consensus before any public art expenditure can be made. Some people will like any one individual piece, some people won't. But as a whole, the more art in our community, the better off we are as a culture.
And art is hugely important to the economy in Houston. The nonprofit arts are a $626.3 million industry in Houston-one that supports 14,115 full-time jobs and generates $69.5 million in local and state government revenue. Nonprofit arts organizations in Houston, which spend $270 million annually, leverage a remarkable $356.3 million in additional spending by arts audiences-spending that pumps vital revenue into local restaurants, hotels, retail stores, parking garages, and other businesses. A total of 12,192 professional artists are estimated to live in the Houston area, and are responsible for total annual spending of $147.6 million. Spending by artists supports 3,422 full-time jobs and generates $10.5 million in local and state government revenue.
I was at Discovery Green on Friday night, with Graham and two of my closest friends. We walked from the pavillion over to the Tree House to grab a drink, and all four of us stopped to admire Synchronicity of Color. On our way back to the pavilion after our drink, we stopped again to admire the work. Had Wayne picked us randomly out of the crowd instead of Rhianna Baker and Nancy Retz, two supposedly random Houstonians he found at the park whatever day he got there, he would have had a totally different answer about whether or not it was "worth" $350,000 in public expenditure.
This is probably a story that does need to be told. But it needs to be told without some sort of sensationalist, ratings drawing bent that distorts what exactly the arts, all of the arts, do for our community. And Wayne Dolcefino is certainly not the person to tell that story.
*Disclosure: my brother is on the board of the HAA.