In Response to a Response to a Response

Cricky received a comment from Christine Harris of the Cultural Alliance of Greater Milwaukee to my last post about the whole Creative Community Summit/MKE Kre8 Kamp thing. While it seems redundant to reproduce the entire comment in a new post, as the headline suggests, I'd like to respond to a couple of statements she made in response to my response. Why? Because open dialog is one of the most productive activities we humans are capable of engaging in--well, that and well-timed slapstick comedy.

"In the interest of full disclosure, you, Crickettoes, was indeed invited to attend the Summit, as were a couple of other individual artists, and you couldn't get there. In the end, the reason why really doesn't matter - invited individual artist voices weren't there. (There were several people there who are selling artists and happen to wear other hats,too.) No artist invited suggested an alternative person nor asked for help to get there. I think that's a pity and a missed opportunity so please don't keep blaming us for not having artists there, even though it wouldn't have been enough and we have all acknowledged we could have done better. Time to move on."

Yes indeed, and I made it perfectly clear in a past post that Cricky was invited to the Summit but could not attend for financial reasons, so I felt no need to repeat that information. It is fair to say that in that post I did not explicitly state that the reasons for my nonattendance were above and beyond that which could be solved by the financial assistance offered by the organizers to those who needed it, and I accept that criticism. However, seeing as I am not running for political office nor for a post in President Obama's Cabinet, the specific details of my and my husband's finances are the business of quite frankly no one but ourselves and the IRS.

I included the fact that there weren't enough artists at the Summit as a main point in the development and formulation of my opinion of the overall effectiveness of the meeting, so it served a more important function than simply pointing a finger of blame. The purpose of that last post was to put a period on my commentary over the last month or so of activities sponsored by the Greater Milwaukee Committee (GMC) and the Cultural Alliance, and to engage and speak directly to independent artists--who are free to make their own choices and decisions--and for the interest of others. If I didn't make that apparent, I apologize for the confusion, but my intention was to make it more or less an ending post to the recent chapter of goings-on and then move on.

There are a whole lotta people out here not attached to established, mainstream organizations--living and working on the fringe, if you will--who have witnessed similar efforts in the past and who've seen those efforts fail. Some feel as if they've been led on some extremely manic-depressive journeys and that they've been jerked around, so many are cautious and some are just plain pissed off. In addition, there exist still others who simply won't engage with institutions of the establishment for political and/or philosophical reasons, but they have a right to voice their opinions and I am willing and pleased to host those opinions here if they choose to do so. While I remain fairly optimistic, I understand where they're coming from and a voice of healthy skepticism is necessary to the discussion as a whole.

Ms. Harris:

"So, all of the above being said, what would you like those of us who were at the Summit to do to engage you now? What would work to get you at the table?"

Well, Pegi Taylor, just to name one individual who's been actively speaking out, posted an interesting though already talked about idea on MARN yesterday:

"I am repeating myself, but I do see one thing the Cultural Alliance could do. It could create a full, solid clearinghouse to gather information about cultural events in the area for EVERYTHING! And I mean everything. And maybe this could become a site to sell tickets for larger organizations
and/or to exchange needs and ideas. This is totally doable without a task force or any further study. It would take the Cultural Alliance will to do it. And I believe it would take something like the CA with outreach capacity to get it going in a big way right away."

So there's something. And, yes, I am aware that this was discussed at the Summit and is a part of the larger action plan, but her point that this could be accomplished rapidly is what's most important.

What else? Given the current economic turmoil, perhaps the Cultural Alliance or a member entity could reach out to independent artists and others in the community who are suffering financial hardships with an online job board. It's something that could be setup fairly quickly and would allow job seekers to connect with medium and large organizations and institutions involved in the Milwaukee 7 Region efforts who need help in achieving the goals set at the Summit. These jobs could be anything from part-time to full-time, from contract to consultant work. It's a win-win for everyone, and helps to sustain the artistic community.

As funding is gained, establish and offer micro grants to independent artists and small arts/cultural orgs immediately. These can range from $200 to self-publish an on demand book of poetry or a novel to $2000 to stage a play or to fund a very low budget video/film. Be clear yet flexible in your standards of what constitutes a qualifying project, idea, individual artist and/or organization. Be open to new and innovative interpretations of what art is, understanding that self-taught artists have as much claim to ask for assistance as those who've earned the highest level of academic study. In other words, it's the work that matters.

The key to whatever you do in your outreach to the independents is consistency and undiminished commitment. As I stated before, many are injured and jaded as a result of ill-informed and poorly managed efforts of the past, and while you cannot be expected to help heal all of these psychological wounds you must strive to do your best to understand them so that trust can be built over time. You will never win over every single person and that is just a simple fact, but you can earn respect through a show of perseverance and an unceasing devotion to the process.

So, that's my response, and a mighty long-winded one at that. I invite Ms. Harris and anyone else to leave a comment so that you may have your own say.

Related:
To Ally Or Not To Ally, That Is The Question
The Value of Live Blogging a Live Blog
Live Blogging the MKE Kre8 Kamp Day 2
Live Blogging the MKE Kre8 Kamp
GMC to Blog and Tweet It's Way into Your Heart

Comments

[Christine Harris, Cultural Alliance]

Hi, Cricky! My response yesterday is out in cyberspace somewhere(beware falling epistles), so I will attempt to repeat.

First, thanks Crickettoes for keeping open and productive dialogue going - I love it!

With regard to getting others involved, I asked Rex Winsome for a list of people/organizations that may not be on our radar and he sent lots of wonderful stuff. I extend the invitation. In fact, you can now go to http://www.culturalalliancemke.org/ and sign up to volunteer for the Creative Coalition (currently says Cultural but that will be changed) to get involved. More details will follow.

Rex also sent some information on the type of artist funding you suggest, Cricky, from the Twin Cities and we will take a closer look at that, too.

With regard to the clearing house idea, in fact you will see on the Low Hanging Fruit flip chart on the Kre8Kamp website that this is in fact something that is being developed now. It will be quite a comprehensive connection tool - with very hip resources. Despite what seems like an easy thing, this type of resource, done well, takes time to develop.

And finally, yes, I understand the jaded perspective because our community has never yet developed a creative plan to chart our destiny collaboratively. But I will say that this is the most collaborative approach I have seen in my 25 years of arts administration in Milwaukee. Like our Prez says, "We aren't going to get it all right, not everything will work as we think, but I'll keep working to bring us all together".

So, let's give it another shot, shall we?

Have a good weekend, all!

[Christine Harris, Cultural Alliance]

Oh, one more thing.

The Alliance is working very closely with MARN and we believe in partnering and strengthening MARN. Therefore, I would suggest that any individual artist resource, such as the job bank, is a project for MARN. The Alliance can announce and create a link, but this should be a MARN-owned resource.

[Mary Dally-Muenzmaier]

Thanks for the update, Christine. All sounds good. Forward we go!

Mary

[BORIStheARTIST]

hey, i wasn't invited either!

Pegi's ideas is great for milwaukee. there should be one clear concise resource for all cultural events in milwaukee that would be targeted to all age groups and sub-cultures.