two cities -- best and worst change places

Over around the u art flourishes, lots of activity. They have galleries and events, a museum with docents, studios and support -- supplies, status, and prestige. It’s pretty good. To directly quote an emeritus from a nearby u, as said to an art professions assemblage a few years back, “it’s a pretty good racket.” They have the support of just about all of us if we pay taxes, and maybe even more if we take deductions. What about the art? Well they sure seem to like it, and are quick to vouch for each other no matter what, so long as there’s no hint of general appeal about it. They consider creating art to which the average citizen might relate outright treason --disgraceful, cheap and tawdry besides.

Somewhere in an abandoned storefront three blocks off campus, with temperamental plumbing, seasonal drafts, maybe bugs, someone sits in paint spattered clothes before an easel picking out that little gob of paint that sits in the neck of the tube after it’s been squeezed dry. Rent is a hassle, supplies come at a sacrifice, and time is stolen from both any sort of recreation and even some honest responsibilities -- a thin edge to walk along. For the work there is no outlet, no access to the public, no airhole. The writers around here all hang around the u and compete among themselves to be more obscure than the artists they extol, and beleaguered galleries just want stuff they think might sell, too desperate to care about art.

The average citizen is screwed. Contemporary art, the kind that all public institutions declare as a mission to herd folks toward, can sometimes seem sorta goofy. For people who work forty hours doing something they wouldn’t do on their own, the effort may appear minimal. To people who apply their creative talents to solving problems in the real world, the rationale for the typical community funded project, installations and such, can sound like three year olds planning an imaginary tea. For reasons like these they don’t tend to take much interest in art, except to marvel at the millions reputedly paid at auction for branded artifacts, a regular item on the evening news.

Time for a revolution, obviously, but no shots will be fired. More galleries and open studios will do the trick. They'll provide more chances to see art, more opportunity to compare and think about what artists are attempting and how well they’re doing it. Along with the pictures there are the price tags, an important part of any art exhibit, because they form the context for considering each piece -- can the price be justified and is it affordable? These questions can only be answered after seeing a fair amount of art, and that’s where more galleries come in. Interestingly enough, the more galleries there are the more there will be, an economic anomaly arising from the former distortion and the amazing range and diversity of artistic expression and taste latent in this community.