The city that I live in feels very much like a small town despite its population of nearly 200,000 people. Everyone in the arts & culture scene knows everyone else, which makes it very difficult to find unbiased journalism when it comes to gallery shows in the city. When the only arts writer in the city happens to be best buds with everyone else, you seldom come across a disparaging review of an opening – particularly when its warranted. Some art sucks, and I think its okay to say that. I’ve found myself in this small population of creators, but have tried to remain as neutral of a party as I can, while still forging relationships with gallery owners and artists. For someone like myself that shudders at the though of networking, it has become a necessary evil which I find that I have to deal with constantly. But through this, I’ve familiarized myself with the type of art, the mediums in which they are produced, and the overall caliber that is customary in the area.
My responsibility on the local cultural council heavily involves the review of grant applications that artists and cultural event coordinators submit in order to get a piece of the money that the state budget puts in our hands to allot to people in the community. This puts me in a unique position because it allows me to see a broad range and cross section of artists in all types of mediums, and then follow their project up to its public display. Because of this process, I’ve found that I’m uniquely capable of seeing beyond what I find attractive and make judgements based on merit and public benefit rather than just on what ever I think is ‘cool’ at that moment in time.
I really believe that these experiences are key in shaping my ability to write about the arts culture scene in the city in an open, honest, and unbiased way. I really look forward to getting out, attending more events and writing about them here, while also trying to analytically unpack a lot of what I think is wrong or could be done better within the community based on experiences from other areas. At least, that is where I’m going to start. Who knows exactly where I will end up from here.