Comments on: The Embedded and The Revealed http://arlenegoldbard.com/2009/11/01/the-embedded-and-the-revealed/ Purpose & pleasure. Aligned. Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:23:49 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Ian David Moss http://arlenegoldbard.com/2009/11/01/the-embedded-and-the-revealed/#comment-638 Ian David Moss Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:57:04 +0000 http://arlenegoldbard.com/?p=729#comment-638 Thanks for your contribution. Regarding #s 1 and 2, aren't those the exact assumptions Kaiser was calling out in his piece? I read it as posing a dichotomy between diversity and authenticity, in situations where they are not immediately compatible (e.g., a historically-informed ethnically-specific performing arts company). In that sense, it is not necessarily about "small vs. large," (re: #3 and #4), though I agree with you that that is how it has played out historically. But I come from a background in the the world of new contemporary classical music, which is a niche of a niche of a niche of a genre that, for whatever reasons, continues to attract an overwhelming majority of white male composers. The kind of tokenism you lament in #2 was rampant in my experience, as new music organizations scrambled to get women and people of color on grant panels, boards, focus groups, etc. to "represent" their imagined constituencies even though the people inviting them were really not looking for anything in the music itself that was gendered or racially tinged in any way. The very definitional aesthetic boundary of "contemporary classical" was much more the cause of the lack of diversity than any discrimination within the field itself, it seemed to me. Note that most new music ensembles scramble for money just like community arts organizations; the largest have budgets in the low seven figures and most are lucky if they even employ full-time staff. I found this post from Trista Harris interesting in light of this discussion as well: http://www.tristaharris.org/when-segregation-is-good Thanks for your contribution. Regarding #s 1 and 2, aren’t those the exact assumptions Kaiser was calling out in his piece? I read it as posing a dichotomy between diversity and authenticity, in situations where they are not immediately compatible (e.g., a historically-informed ethnically-specific performing arts company). In that sense, it is not necessarily about “small vs. large,” (re: #3 and #4), though I agree with you that that is how it has played out historically. But I come from a background in the the world of new contemporary classical music, which is a niche of a niche of a niche of a genre that, for whatever reasons, continues to attract an overwhelming majority of white male composers. The kind of tokenism you lament in #2 was rampant in my experience, as new music organizations scrambled to get women and people of color on grant panels, boards, focus groups, etc. to “represent” their imagined constituencies even though the people inviting them were really not looking for anything in the music itself that was gendered or racially tinged in any way. The very definitional aesthetic boundary of “contemporary classical” was much more the cause of the lack of diversity than any discrimination within the field itself, it seemed to me. Note that most new music ensembles scramble for money just like community arts organizations; the largest have budgets in the low seven figures and most are lucky if they even employ full-time staff.

I found this post from Trista Harris interesting in light of this discussion as well: http://www.tristaharris.org/when-segregation-is-good

]]> By: a poor player » Blog Archive » Today’s Sampler http://arlenegoldbard.com/2009/11/01/the-embedded-and-the-revealed/#comment-637 a poor player » Blog Archive » Today’s Sampler Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:13:21 +0000 http://arlenegoldbard.com/?p=729#comment-637 [...] them a read and see if they resonate with you. And if you have time, take in Ms. Goldbard’s immediately preceding post, which dicusses assumptions we have about arts funding. -twl Category: Academia, Community Arts [...] [...] them a read and see if they resonate with you. And if you have time, take in Ms. Goldbard’s immediately preceding post, which dicusses assumptions we have about arts funding. -twl Category: Academia, Community Arts [...]

]]> By: Linda Burnham http://arlenegoldbard.com/2009/11/01/the-embedded-and-the-revealed/#comment-636 Linda Burnham Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:36:59 +0000 http://arlenegoldbard.com/?p=729#comment-636 Well said, Arlene. I would like to urge you and everyone to read Ron Chew's essay for Animating Democracy, "Community-Based Arts Organizations: A New Center of Gravity" (http://www.americansforthearts.org/animatingdemocracy/reading_room/reading_019.asp). It's about the true value of small- and mid-sized arts organizations that Chew chooses to call "value-based," but his examples make it clear he's referring to organizations based in and serving communities of color. He attributes to them not only the values named in your blog post, but he points to them as important organizational models for our times: ""Amid changing demographics, a new political climate, technological advances, and globalization," says Chew, these organizations "offer artistic excellence and innovation, astute leadership connected to community needs, and important institutional and engagement models for the arts field. ... They often work in partnerships that cross silos and sectors to connect art organically with other areas such as health, community development, humanities, and social justice." This (and your post) are important steps in a direction we all need to go: a refocusing of our values and a rewriting of arts history. Well done. Well said, Arlene. I would like to urge you and everyone to read Ron Chew’s essay for Animating Democracy, “Community-Based Arts Organizations: A New Center of Gravity” (http://www.americansforthearts.org/animatingdemocracy/reading_room/reading_019.asp). It’s about the true value of small- and mid-sized arts organizations that Chew chooses to call “value-based,” but his examples make it clear he’s referring to organizations based in and serving communities of color. He attributes to them not only the values named in your blog post, but he points to them as important organizational models for our times: “”Amid changing demographics, a new political climate, technological advances, and globalization,” says Chew, these organizations “offer artistic excellence and innovation, astute leadership connected to community needs, and important institutional and engagement models for the arts field. … They often work in partnerships that cross silos and sectors to connect art organically with other areas such as health, community development, humanities, and social justice.” This (and your post) are important steps in a direction we all need to go: a refocusing of our values and a rewriting of arts history. Well done.

]]>