Remember last month when Miltown was gripped in the throes of yet another arts kerfuffle? Sure ya do. The Milwaukee Arts Board (MAB) was on the budgetary butcher's block as Mayor Tom Barrett proposed that a lion's share of its funding be cut, leaving only its $50,000 head intact and causing it to beg in a faint whisper, "Kill me." As is the usual reaction to such a threat, a landslide of frantic emails, tweets, phone calls, text and Morse code messages spread throughout the artsy community. Most resolved to fight the cut, but others--namely myself, Jonathan West and a measurable number of blog readers--said, in effect, meh.
Well, you can all be at ease and smoke 'em if ya got 'em because the Common Council voted to restore the funding at the 2010 budget adoption session last Friday, November 6. Haha, they did it again! They got our blood all angered up and then--Bam!--turned around with a playful smirk, saying, "Just kidding!" Oh you city hall jokers, who could stay mad at you, huh?
Anyhoo, those who opposed the cut can and should heartily thank those civilian peeps who attended the joint Common Council/Mayoral public hearing on October 13 and Alderman Michael Murphy, the tireless city worker bee who will let no public arts funding disappear even if it only adds up to government budgetary chump change. By some kind of numerological and political networking magic, Ald. Murphy sponsored the amendment, brought it to the floor and got it passed by a vote of 11:3.
Of particular note was the comment made by Alderwoman Milele Coggs, who opposed the motion in committee but, based on a refiguring, voted for it in session:
"As I stated at committee, I would like to just state that in examination of the groups funded I just would hope that the Arts Board in the future gives even greater effort, I know that they've had some effort and that they do many programs that serve a diverse community, but that the organization's funding be reflective of the diversity of the City of Milwaukee and that greater efforts be made toward that, but I will support this motion."
And to that I say, "Right on! Thank you, Ald. Coggs, for speaking the truth!" And I say that not just for truth's sake or because it's the right thing to do, but because if the MAB fails to increase funding for arts programming that benefits the various minority communities in Milwaukee--who, by that way, are the collective majority in this here burg--the next time it faces the political Russian Roulette table the voting chamber may well be filled with a fatal bullet, regardless of what we say, how much we whinge or how many public hearings we attend.
Because knowing the cost of a victory is just as important as the victory itself, here are a few of the things that got slashed in the amendment in order for this turnaround in MAB funding to happen:
• Unemployment Compensation Fund Special Purpose Account (SPA) reduced by $10,000
• Economic Development Committee Fund SPA reduced by $15,000
• Municipal Art Fund Capital Project reduced by $25,000--Hey, look, that's art stuff, too!
Ald. Murphy did offer a compromise of sorts by reducing the Unemployment Compensation Fund by $35,000 and restoring the difference to the Economic Development Committee Fund. Kinda painful, ain't it?
So, now that we've survived the umpteenth public art funding battle, I'd like to pose a question or two that I hope y'all would be so kind to comment on. Is anyone else getting a tad weary of this yankin' back and forth? For that matter, does anyone else think we should stop laying all the blame on the politicians and the non-artsy community for this repetitive here's-some-money-hup-can't-have-it game and finally accept our own role in it?
It's become increasingly clear that the status quo will not remain for much longer--a fact that should not be turning us all into blubbering victims but rather should be inciting us to jump for nutty joy because the status quo for the arts in the U.S. quite frankly sucks. It reduces us to beggars and vagabonds, scrounging for scraps at the budgetary feast table. It undermines our work, our worth, our dignity, and our position as a societal and economic force.
To be sure, public funding for the arts will continue to be an important issue that deserves our attention, but we need to stop wasting valuable time, energy and money simply on reactionary efforts. We need to spend every dime of our capital telling and showing everyone that art is not a luxury and it is not a charity. How do we do this? Simply by presenting the facts of what art is and what art does. And, like any advertisement in seemingly endless rotation for the newest toy, we must do it over and over and over again.
Fact #1: Art is the very foundation of civilization and without it we will crumble into a sea of madness and decay. Art is our collective conscious made manifest, it is the truth teller and the fable weaver, it is the ultimate expression of humanity that crosses barriers of language and culture, aiding us in our progression beyond that of mere survival and into a shared prosperity. It is everything we are and, by that estimation, it is worth paying for.
Fact #2: You are what art has made you. There is no one on this planet who hasn't been touched by the power of artistic expression. Got a favorite song that fills you with profound happiness and/or sorrow? That's art! Read a novel in school that made you think differently about yourself and/or others? That's art! See a painting or video that helped you to come closer to understanding those conflicted feelings you've been draggin' around for years? That's art!
Fact #3: In the absence of art, we would not have developed our level of creative thinking and problem solving as quickly as we have. All these fancy gadgets we love to play with would not exist. All the scientific achievements we've made to date would have floundered and we'd still be plagued with diseases and illnesses that most countries have seen extinguished. If we let art die, we shall be the destroyers of our own future.
And if those heady words don't get 'em, then bring in Fact #4: Art is a global economic industry of huge proportions, with an even bigger potential for growth. As the world becomes more connected through The Mighty Internets™, other forms of communication and travel between countries and continents, the audience for art in all its forms multiplies and creative opportunities to make money expands.
These are the facts and just the facts, Ma'am.
It is the primary mission of any art to articulate and communicate complex concepts and ideas to the rest of the human race, but if we cannot do that when it comes to stating our own reason for being, then we have failed and must try again, for as many times as it takes to succeed.
The floor is open--let the verbal jousting begin!
Related:Milwaukee Arts Board, Transform Thyself
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