Readings

I began my work life over thirty years ago writing poems with children in my daughter’s kindergarten class. At that time, I didn’t think of myself as a community artist, the descriptor I’d come to use in a few years. I thought of myself as a mother, a volunteer, a lover of poems, and as someone who had fun sharing imagination with kids.

Originally a nautical term, battening down was a procedure to safeguard ships against bad weather. The crew would prepare for an impending storm by fastening canvas over doorways and hatches. Now in the arts, it is a time to take a few deep breaths and batten down the hatches.

Recent studies on New York’s creative sector have established that the arts are a key asset in the city’s economic portfolio. Culture Counts: Strategies for a More Vibrant Cultural Life for New York City (2001); Creative New York (2005); and The Arts as an Industry: Their Economic Impact on New York City and New York State (2007) provide ample evidence that the diverse number of cultural institutions, arts-related businesses, and artists in New York generate employment, attract tourism, and enhance the city’s quality of life.