Cultural Recovery

Jobs for Artists

Click here to see a 22 March, 2010, video or read the text of Arlene’s talk at New York’s Cherry Lane Theater on a new WPA for the arts, presented by WomenArts.

White House Briefing on Art, Community,
Social Justice, National Recovery

Click here to download a detailed report on the May 12, 2009 White House briefing that brought more than sixty artists, cultural activists and creative organizers into conversation with the Obama administration about cultural recovery and putting artists to work for a sustainable society and culture.

Arlene Goldbard on
Putting Artists to Work in National Recovery

Click here to download a discussion paper created to call a question that has been emerging into visibility since the nomination of Barack Obama for President:

Is the time right for cultural action to be recognized as a powerful force for democracy? Is there now a sufficient mass of activists and thinkers committed to cultural democracy to propel a broad-based, highly participatory movement advocating for democratic cultural policy, for substantial roles for artists in national recovery, for a shift to thinking about public policy and priorities that recognizes culture’s essential role as a crucible for change?

Cultural Recovery is a project to build and sustain a coalition of artists, cultural organizations and their allies in other realms of social action, education and organizing. They would join to promote the democratic interest in culture, including democratic cultural policies and substantial public investment in community development, education and community service through the arts. Its centerpiece would be culturalrecovery.net, an online center for information and organizing. While it would be home to a full range of initiatives to bring attention and resources to culture’s mobilizing power, its first targeted initiative would be a campaign to create a substantial, sustained public-sector investment in community service programs employing artists and cultural organizations as part of national recovery, WPA2.

This discussion paper lays out the need and the concept. If the idea is sound, we hope to find partners through the circulation of this paper:

• An institutional incubator for Cultural Recovery, a 501(c)3 organization that can serve as a launching-pad for the project;

• Contributed income to support the costs involved;

• Steering Group members willing to invest their wisdom and influence in the project.

If you would like to become an endorser of Cultural Recovery—as an organization or an individual, please send a letter as an email attachment to Arlene Goldbard, arlene@arlenegoldbard.com. Questions and comments will also be gratefully received. If you prefer to talk by phone, please call 415-690-9992.