Thanks Greg Sandow and MSM for saying “the arts needs better arguments”

Read my manifesto where I state:

If we keep moving on the same path, in the same model, we will get the same flawed, ineffective and frustrating results. What is needed is real change and a fundamental reassessment of the cultural infrastructure.

I would suggest, first and foremost, that as funding models shift, traditional artist service organizations will become far less important than artist advocacy organizations. Artists don’t need workshops, they need health care.

Artists who really want change in their lives, who really want to live within a sustainable arts ecology, are going to need to start focusing their efforts on organizing and advocating. We need to get involved in politics in our communities, states, regions, governments, the world – and not in an abstract way but in a focused, strategic way that puts our concerns front and center. Vague demands for government arts funding on abstract “moral” or “values” grounds will prove ineffective. We need to continue to focus on real dollars and real solutions.

Or go to any of the Cbot posts with dollar amount and demographic and stats!!! Anyhoo – we here at CBOT have been diligently working on new and better arguments; new and better models for funding and arts development. If anybody’s really interested in innovation and making things better, we’re available to consult. We’ve been in the trenches for years – not just in the 4th Estate, not just in the non-profit sector – and are eager to share our ideas.