Well Whaddya Know?
Now here's something you don't see every day, an arts community rallying behind a laid-off critic.
There have been so many layoffs lately it seems as though these things are becoming, if not unnoticed, then at least unremarkable. And really, you have to wonder who, besides other critics and desperate arts editors, would stand up for a critic anyway? Every enthusiast believes themselves capable of the job, hence the proliferation of user reviews and, of course, blogs. And the reviewed? They don't seem too fond of us either.
But at least in beautiful Kansas City they understand the importance of informed critical opinion on the cultural climate and aren't willing to accept anything less than full-time attention. And brava/o to them.
I'm certainly one of those to whom the job has been farmed out, and though I love what I do as much as any full-timer, it's not exactly a living. If I didn't have a husband whose profession makes it possible for me to indulge my passion part-time while still taking extended vacations, I'd probably be copy editing Gardasil pamphlets for Merck and availing myself of their excellent dental plan (though lately, even they have been laying people off). Getting rid of full-time positions narrows the field of reference inestimably, and if people are fine with having opinions fed to them through a very narrow and privileged straw, I can at least attempt to make up for some of that lost flavor, even if it makes me feel somewhat like a scab. After all, if no one fills in the gap, then what?
Right. So praise the lord and pass the ammunition.
Still, it's awfully gratifying to see that people outside the newsroom also care about critics' thinning ranks. I hope creative communities across the country take Kansas City as an example and rise up to resist the disappearance of their reflection in the aesthetic mirror.
Maybe it's because in this desperate economy, things like this are also starting to occur, and arts professionals realize that as goes the critical voice and its commitment to making art a relevant topic of contemporary conversation, so goes art. Take a cue from Kansas City (who knew?) and demand that your media outlets--print, television, radio, online--consider arts news as important as sports and business news. I wish all those dancers, singers and musicians, as well as Paul Horsley, the best outcome for their "formal protest," and encourage them to see it through to fruition. The nation's arts writers could really use that backup right about now.
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Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City
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Andrew Taylor on the business of arts & culture
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rock culture approximately
rock culture approximately
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Laura Collins-Hughes on arts, culture and coverage
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Richard Kessler on arts education
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Douglas McLennan's blog
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Dalouge Smith advocates for the Arts
Dalouge Smith advocates for the Arts
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Art from the American Outback
Art from the American Outback
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For immediate release: the arts are marketable
For immediate release: the arts are marketable
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No genre is the new genre
No genre is the new genre
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David Jays on theatre and dance
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Paul Levy measures the Angles
Paul Levy measures the Angles
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Judith H. Dobrzynski on Culture
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John Rockwell on the arts
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Jan Herman - arts, media & culture with 'tude
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Apollinaire Scherr talks about dance
Apollinaire Scherr talks about dance
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Tobi Tobias on dance et al...
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Howard Mandel's freelance Urban Improvisation
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Focus on New Orleans. Jazz and Other Sounds
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Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...
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Jeff Weinstein's Cultural Mixology
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Martha Bayles on Film...
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Creative Destruction
Fresh ideas on building arts communities
Fresh ideas on building arts communities
The Future of Classical Music?
Greg Sandow performs a book-in-progress
Greg Sandow performs a book-in-progress
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Exploring Orchestras w/ Henry Fogel
Exploring Orchestras w/ Henry Fogel
Overflow
Harvey Sachs on music, and various digressions
Harvey Sachs on music, and various digressions
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Bruce Brubaker on all things Piano
Bruce Brubaker on all things Piano
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Kyle Gann on music after the fact
Kyle Gann on music after the fact
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Greg Sandow on the future of Classical Music
Greg Sandow on the future of Classical Music
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Norman Lebrecht on Shifting Sound Worlds
Norman Lebrecht on Shifting Sound Worlds
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Jerome Weeks on Books
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Scott McLemee on books, ideas & trash-culture ephemera
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Wendy Rosenfield: covering drama, onstage and off
Wendy Rosenfield: covering drama, onstage and off
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Chloe Veltman on how culture will save the world
Chloe Veltman on how culture will save the world
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Public Art, Public Space
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Regina Hackett takes her Art To Go
Regina Hackett takes her Art To Go
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John Perreault's art diary
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Lee Rosenbaum's Cultural Commentary
Lee Rosenbaum's Cultural Commentary
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Tyler Green's modern & contemporary art blog
Tyler Green's modern & contemporary art blog
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