New York Planning $25MM Relief for Artists

[Anderton]

...and this program, called City Artist Corps, theoretically includes musicians. It's basically shaping up to be a public works kind of program. Artists will be creating public art, pop-up shows, performances, murals, etc. More info here.

 

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

Option 1: Some artist does something like create a sculpture called "Gilded Dog Poop" that's literally dog poop painted gold, and placed in a plexiglass case. It outrages people, politicians grandstand about the waste of taxpayer money, arguments about freedom of artistic expression break out in social media, the artist squanders his 15 minutes of fame by talking on some TV newscast about the transcendent beauty of dog poop, etc.

 

Option 2: New Yorkers are delighted as they walk past inspirational sculptures and beautiful murals, while they listen to musicians busking with original, inventive songs that bring joy into peoples' hearts after being locked up so long because of the pandemic. The program is considered such a great success, it's replicated all over the country. It not only brings about an artistic renaissance, but puts some deserving artists into the spotlight, which becomes a springboard for their future careers.

 

Which option would you bet on?

[The Real MC]

Public funding of the arts has had its share of controversy.

[Anderton]

Public funding of the arts has had its share of controversy.

 

True. Interestingly, I was in the Netherlands several years back, where if you were an artist you could basically have subsistence-level living from the government (don't know if that's still the case). The object was to encourage the arts, and hopefully, the artists would be able to parlay their exposure into a gig.

 

I remarked to a friend of mine who lived there how that seemed like a pretty cool idea. He said that it resulted in art from bored artists. He felt dealing with everyday life and conflict was the crucible in which great art was often formed. Picking up a check at some government office...not so much.

[Mike Rivers]

I was in the Netherlands several years back, where if you were an artist you could basically have subsistence-level living from the government (don't know if that's still the case). The object was to encourage the arts, and hopefully, the artists would be able to parlay their exposure into a gig.

 

Back when I was looking for ways to dodge the draft (Vietnam War era), one possibility was to get a Masters degree in folklore and learn enough French to get around, then go to Canada and tell them that I wanted to collect and document songs. There seemed to be quite a bit of interest in bringing Canadian folklore out to the general public. A few years later, I met someone who did just such a gig, only he was collecting poetry from a native tribe.

 

But then I learned that I was safe from the draft because I was too nearsighted. The rest is history.

[Anderton]

Back when I was looking for ways to dodge the draft (Vietnam War era)...

 

I got a very nice letter from the Selective Service that said "In case we ever go to war, PLEASE join the other side."