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| Sept/Oct 2005 | Vol 1. No. 7 | ||
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Features: Lobbyist's report Big Apple Hard to Beat |
Storytelling Conference Tatman Group |
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Getting Back on Trackby Charlie SmithEveryone acknowledges that getting tourism and the economy back on track is the obvious key to economic recovery. The arts and culture are what drives that economy, the things that make us different and attractive to others. To that end, I am asking that MAJOR attention be given to our industry in the Recovery. Our state funding has been adequate when we had other income but arts groups and artists are scattered to the four winds. We will need our share of recovery funding to bring back the Southeast Louisiana economy. Please keep this in mind in your planning and actions. Scattered Ideas for Artists Recovery 1. Try to get serious increases in state and Federal money. I realize the state is -- or will be -- in a fiscal crisis but there is ? or reportedly will be ? money for industry recovery. We need to make sure the arts get their needed share. 2. Urge WPA type program. I know there is talk about a crash construction education program so our citizens can get meaningful jobs during the recovery. Reconstruction could last ten years or more for everything. I want to make sure arts infrastructure is kept on track. 3. Use unemployed artists as teachers ? Implement the BESE mandate that students receive an hour per week of arts instruction. 4. Develop tourism friendly procedures to lure high end arts patrons back to the region. Especially important will be getting our share of advertising dollars spent. in the tourism budget. As they are affluent and accustomed to travel, arts patrons are a ready target. We could advertise arts bargains, hurricane sales, whatever, in the right mediums. Appeal to altruism: Do your part to save the arts in Louisiana. Use personalities to advertise packages. 5. Develop inventory of arts needs from organizations and individuals. How much will it cost to keep arts organizations afloat during this lean time. Who has special needs and what are they? Can we afford to lose our most talented to other states? 6. NOCCA needs to be restarted when possible. Obviously, the students are scattered but some electronic instruction or something of that sort might be established to keep the program concept alive. NOCCA has a reputation and continuing the program would signal that our art's education is back in business. 7. We need to point out that we are acting on our own to keep our own -- especially orchestras, ballets and the opera -- as well as providing references for those who must go out of state to sustain themselves. 8. Eco-Tourism - Scientists to study impact of urban flooding The Past is Prologue to the Future I planned to report on the past session but events have overtaken us. We passed an inventory tax exemption for consignment art - special thanks to Sen. Bajoie and Rep. Carter - restored some positions at the LDOA, got a modest funding increase and helped some building projects along. But that’s history. We now face a challenge greater than any since restoration of funding in 1994. Some will consider arts funding as a secondary need. Four days after a great conference emphasizing the integral part arts have played in developing the state economy, a major part of our industry was destroyed by wind and rising tides. So now we have a job to do. Our message is simple. The arts must be an integral part of the Louisiana recovery process. With the realization that we are all in for lean times and a long and difficult road, we should point out that the arts are a made for recovery industry. The arts can be used to educate, entertain, and inspire people during the return and rebuilding. Those who had televisions to watch must have felt something when the Jackson Square artist was seen sweeping the small area in front of his stand and hanging his paintings. Because, as I recall, he said, "I'm an artist, this is what I do." Ditto for those who saw the lone blues player in the Quarter, singing the blues and strumming his guitar. For an artist, it is how we say we survive; we are still alive. I teared up at the report of the heroic woman who kept spirits alive in the shelter with her gospel singing. Millions watched musical benefits for our beleaguered state. I cried again at "Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans" and "Louisiana, 1927." Artists were the first aboard the recovery train. We will be the spiritual building material for the future. Artists can operate without a lot of infrastructure. Many have personal "start-ups" every few weeks. A new theatrical production, a more intricate dance, a painting, picture, pottery or sculpture waiting for formation. Mostly, we only need small amounts of support to sustain our efforts between pay checks. We should remind our elected officials that tourists will return to our beloved New Orleans and South Louisiana and our myriad neighbors because we are a whole culture in danger of extinction, and because as artists, we refuse to accept the silence of defeat. Art is not just a livelihood, it is life. We carry our art with us in our hearts, heads and souls. Creation can take place anywhere. Performance and execution of course, need a stage, a studio, a workshop. The many arts building projects need to be finished and opened for the public. My love for the arts stems not just because I believe we are vital to the economy, important to education and necessary in building sense of community; it is more because when I made a limited run as a street poet earning all my money from public sales, I learned that people need art. I received a lot of mail, especially those in some form of recovery, saying that my words inspired them to accept life as it is and proceed from that point. One lady from Green Bay, Wisconsin wrote that she had come to New Orleans to join her recently deceased husband but the poetry acted as a catharsis, enabling her to release her grief and resolve to continue living. A teenage girl in Nashville wrote a four page letter saying she had found a book of poetry in her mother’s purse while looking for something to "end it all" and decided to write me instead. We would up speaking and she decided life was the best option. I'm not trying to brag but to point out that every artist has an impact - many of which we are never aware. It concerns me that arts are always on the chopping block as a frill. Art is not a luxury; art is a necessity to life. We need to start now and remind our lawmakers that we are recovery personified. We owe it not just to our artistic community but to our state. I tried to say this many years ago and the words still ring true. Why art? Why art? I can see my children's smiles the flash of lightning in the summer sky the warm arc of the promised rainbow Why art... For the memory of the smile when the child vents adult scorn for the memory of the light when all is dark for the memory of the promise when the flood washes hope away Why art? I can feel the curve of my mate I can see the beauty of her eyes I can hear the love of her voice Why art... When the curve turns to cold flesh when the eyes dim when the voice cracks the picture remains Why art? Our machines move earth and create mountains from their dust Our weapons destroy cities in evanescent flashes of time Our technology is limitless, our science without boundary Why Art... Only so that a thousand years from now those who come after will pass the rust of useless machines will look with disdain on our antiquated technology and will come upon a verse, a vase, a picture and say There was humanity here There was art By the Staff of AmericanStyle Magazine Back to Newsletter Top | |||
No doubt about it: the Big Apple is hard to beat
For the fifth time in the eight years of AmericanStyle magazine's Top 25
Arts Destinations readers poll, New York has rocketed to the top of the
list. And why not? It's classy, it's cultured, it's street-smart, and it's
got enough creative bling to entice traveling arts enthusiasts into its five
boroughs over and over and over again.
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The Third Annual SCSC [Southern Crossroads Storytelling Conference] will be
in Alexandria, LA.
This now annual event is Co-Sponsored by LSUA, the Central Louisiana
Storytellers Guild, and the Louisiana Storytelling Association. The entire
event will be on the LSU-A Campus. This year it will happen on Friday, 28
October, starting at 8:00am and continuing until around 10:00pm. Those
wishing to attend will be able to participate in any or all of the segments
of the day. There will be minimal charges for some of the events and some
will be free to the public. The day is planned as one that will be a
combination of learning opportunities and entertainment times. Friday
Morning is reserved for Workshops which will be of value for all who are
interested in storytelling either as presenters or as audience. There will
be two Sessions of Workshops with each lasting an hour and a quarter.
Professional presenters will be bringing a variety of experiences and a
wealth of knowledge for the participants. These will be of particular value
to Educators, Librarians, Sunday School Teachers, Parents and Grandparents
who would like to polish personal skills, Health Care Professionals, and
People who Just want to Know more about the Experiences of Storytelling.
These workshops will range from "Storytelling Basics" to "Story and
Healing." |
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The Tatman GroupThe Tatman Group is here to meet your association's needs. Please contact Nicole Hidalgo, your association management specialist, with any questions or suggestions you may have to better serve you. Our contact information is below: |
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The Tatman Group 4707 Bluebonnet Blvd., Suite B Baton Rouge, LA 70809 P.O. Box 82531 Baton Rouge, LA 70884 Phone: (225) 767-7640 Fax: (225) 767-7648 |
DavidTatman david@tatmangroup.com Nicole Hidalgo nicole@tatmangroup.com Keli Ourso keli@tatmangroup.com Debbie Bliek debbie@tatmangroup.com Cassie Esneault cassie@tatmangroup.com Shelly Wolf shelly@tatmangroup.com |
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