WINDOW DRESSING
Posted in STATE OF THE ARTS on March 19th, 2008 by Michael Mehl
Simply said:
Engaging artists as window dressers for civic boosterism is always a losing proposition, both for the artists and for the city.
ON PHILANTHROPY (From 2004)
Posted in STATE OF THE ARTS on March 13th, 2008 by Michael Mehl
What is the single, most fundamental problem facing the development of art programs and the long-term stability of cultural organizations?
If you answered Lack Of Funding, congratulations; your choice reflects sentiments shared by approximately ninety-five percent of cultural organizations and administrators, whom although altogether comprising a small and elite segment relative of the general population, hold sway, for better or for worse, over a large percentage of the cultural decisions that are made in this country; decisions that ultimately have a tremendous impact on our national psyche. Most of these gatekeepers, tastemakers and fundfunnelers -the people who make up the rules which govern the cultural lay of the land- are deeply vested in mostly ineffective methods of public and private philanthropic funding.
THE HOUSE HOTTIES
Posted in THE POLITY on March 7th, 2008 by Michael Mehl
She’s never one to let me down.
In full compliance with an iconic religious archetype mentioned in a past blog of mine, Hillary opted to play the Mother Mary card, airing her Red-Phone-Nuclear-Showdown-In-The-Middle-Of-The-Night TV skit. It seems that this asumptio personae went over well with Hispanic voters in South Texas, mostly women, who, finding time away from religious devotions turned out in force to sway the electoral tide in Hillary’s favor. Yet, for all their fervor and elective convictions, these soulful ladies seem to live in sleepless fear of the Big Chupacabra In The Sky; their kids dreaming away, blissfully unaware of dangers lurking in the dark.