On My Mind

September 30, 2006 by giarts-ts-admin

During my time in Anchorage with the leaders of state arts agencies, the subject of "public value" was still very much in play. Many state arts agencies had done extensive rethinking and planning around the public values they promote. And new communications strategies and publications were spreading this new word to legislators and constituents.

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July 31, 2006 by giarts-ts-admin

While in Toronto recently, I discovered an abandoned paperback book in a public lobby — Tom Clancy's Hunt for Red October. It turned out to be a liberated book, set there on purpose to be taken by some random stranger to read and then to re-release into the wild. It was a Bookcrossing book, set free by one of that site's 460,000-plus members.

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July 31, 2006 by giarts-ts-admin

These thoughts were sparked by attending the Council on Foundations 57th Annual Conference, "Philanthropy: Investing in the Vision of Progress." I was especially engaged by the plenary remarks of George Soros and Newt Gingrich.

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October 31, 2003 by giarts-ts-admin

Targeted marketing is extremely effective. It uses psychological and purchasing-pattern analysis to divide the population into groups likely to make certain decisions. It then targets those groups with messages that reinforce previous beliefs and, if possible, creates barriers through psychological pressure to stay within certain social, style, and consumption boundaries. The result is a society of many lifestyles, each with boundaries carefully drawn and reinforced.

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June 30, 2002 by giarts-ts-admin

I want to salute a very select group of people in our community — self-selected actually. Those who provide continuity.

There is a standard interview question: “Where do you see yourself in five years, ten years, fifteen years, twenty years.” Now I don't know what the right answer is. But I know what the wrong answer is. The wrong answer is: “If you hire me I promise you I'll be right here — doing this job you're offering me, until the sun falls from the sky and rivers all run dry and the poets run out of rhymes and I join the choir invisible.”

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April 30, 2002 by giarts-ts-admin

I privilege the making of arts as an activity to support, and hence my advocacy for strengthening the creation system. I do not see or define the worth of art on what it delivers, whether what it delivers is audiences, civic engagement, or the "next new art thing." This is not to separate art from context, from the creation and delivery systems, but serves to place the focus on arts as transformative. Art is a passionate force that creates metaphors, images, sounds, and aesthetic experiences. How does one make a policy for transformation?

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