http://arlenegoldbard.com/2009/02/01/stepping-up/ Purpose & pleasure. Aligned. Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:23:49 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://arlenegoldbard.com/2009/02/01/stepping-up/#comment-543 Teaching Artist Sun, 01 Feb 2009 14:51:14 +0000 http://arlenegoldbard.com/?p=506#comment-543 I've read your two excellent articles on the WPA and I'm still not totally convinced it's the way to go. I want to believe, but I can't and here's why: I'm a professional teaching artist trying to sustain a career in the field and I am entitled to a living wage, health care and freedom of speech. The WPA approach you outline is a deal with the devil and a distraction from a larger fight for basic human rights. I don't see the WPA solving my need for health coverage in the long-term and I predict censorship and other unacceptable forms of control over content. If there are bread lines on the way, sure, sign me up for the WPA. I need to eat. But otherwise, I want to focus on joining the larger effort to secure universal health care and I want a Union to represent my interests. Those two things will improve the quality of my life much more than a government check and all the bureaucracy and censorship I am certain will come with a WPA style approach. I don't think that's cynicism. That's strategic. Why stand alone demanding our fair share? Let's join the AFL-CIO or the UFT and fight as part of a larger community. The people we should be yelling at are running the Educational establishment. It's clear that many of our natural allies think art and artists are extraneous. The money is going to go into the schools. Let's get in on that party. I love your stuff! I’ve read your two excellent articles on the WPA and I’m still not totally convinced it’s the way to go. I want to believe, but I can’t and here’s why: I’m a professional teaching artist trying to sustain a career in the field and I am entitled to a living wage, health care and freedom of speech. The WPA approach you outline is a deal with the devil and a distraction from a larger fight for basic human rights. I don’t see the WPA solving my need for health coverage in the long-term and I predict censorship and other unacceptable forms of control over content. If there are bread lines on the way, sure, sign me up for the WPA. I need to eat. But otherwise, I want to focus on joining the larger effort to secure universal health care and I want a Union to represent my interests. Those two things will improve the quality of my life much more than a government check and all the bureaucracy and censorship I am certain will come with a WPA style approach. I don’t think that’s cynicism. That’s strategic. Why stand alone demanding our fair share? Let’s join the AFL-CIO or the UFT and fight as part of a larger community. The people we should be yelling at are running the Educational establishment. It’s clear that many of our natural allies think art and artists are extraneous. The money is going to go into the schools. Let’s get in on that party. I love your stuff!

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