Results tagged “Americans for the Arts” from Real Clear Arts

Americans for the Arts, the advocacy group, has a lot on its plate, including, once a week, sending out an email of news items called ArtsWatch. Last week's edition, which arrived on Wednesday, July 29, has been nagging at me. The numbers in the articles just don't make sense. I've written the press office asking for an explanation, but have received no reply. So I'm posting the three items here -- perhaps I'm crazy, and the numbers are right; if so, please explain. If not, these are more examples of funny numbers in the arts that don't exactly inspire confidence (not to mention some pretty lazy reporting and/or writing).

Under the heading, "The Arts In Recession":

Iowa: Federal Stimulus Funds Save Over 300 Arts Jobs
Quad-City Times, 7/22/2009

Nearly $500,000 in federal stimulus money is being spread to 18 arts organizations in 10 cities, preserving a total of 323 jobs according to Gov. Chet Culver's office.

AND, from the same article/item:

The National Endowment for the Arts also approved $150,000 in stimulus money for arts organizations in Amana, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, and Dubuque. The governor's office said the stimulus money preserved 34 full-time and 104 part-time jobs, as well as 185 contract positions."

And, from:

Rhode Island: State Arts Council Receives Stimulus Money, Foundation Funds
The Providence Journal, 7/28/2009
"Governor Carcieri and members of the state congressional delegation has joined more than 100 members of the arts community to announce the arrival of nearly $300,000 in federal stimulus money for the arts. The Rhode Island Foundation contributed an additional $100,000 to the federal stimulus package, which allowed the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts to support a total of 18 organizations. The money will allow the recipients to restore or retain 77 positions in the arts, from free performances of Shakespeare in Westerly to after-school art teachers.

Do a little division, and those numbers yield salaries that are waaaay below the minimum wage, even leaving the part-time and contract jobs out of the calculation.

So, am I missing something?

It's not Americans for the Arts' job to correct newspaper reporting; but it doesn't do much good to circulate silly numbers either.

You can read last week's entire AFA newsletter here. And I've written about the need for better statistics and studies here.

Just catching up with the Americans for the Arts convention in Seattle this week, I discovered that it made a terrific award on Thursday, the "Public Art Network" award, to artist Buster Simpson.

Simpson, a Seattleite, has so many credits to his name -- shows, projects, awards, panels, books, etc. -- that it's hard to pick one or two to talk about. Rather, I suggest looking for yourself at his website. But here's Incidence, from the Museum of Glass in Tacoma.

 Giving the award, Robert L. Lynch, president of Americans for the Arts, said this:

Buster Simpson has helped define contemporary and environmental public art. He is an accomplished artist and an exemplary leader in community arts. His innovation and dedication has been recognized regionally and nationally in the public art field.

And Eloise Damrosch, executive director of Portland's Regional Arts & Culture Council, wrote in his nomination:

He has never wavered from caring about and addressing critical environmental issues in all kinds of settings with a completely unique personal voice and style. Buster has been 'green' long before anyone really knew what that meant. He is a brilliant thinker, highly original artist, and treasured member of the country's public art community

Americans for the Arts gave five other leadership awards, too. They went to Bruce W. Davis (support for the arts through a united fund), Randy Engstrom (emerging leader), Victoria Hamilton (building communities through the arts), Sheila Smith (state arts advocacy) and Big Thought (arts education). You can read more about all of them here.

And the group recognized forty of the "best public art projects" of 2008, culled from 300 entries. That list is not yet posted on its website, but the winners from previous years can be seen here.