Grand Divisions

Tennessee Equality Project seeks to advance and protect the civil rights of our State’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons and their families in each Grand Division.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Arts policy in the news

Michael Cass reports that Metro Parks and the Metro Arts Commission are getting along again after past arguments about who has final approval authority in matters of public art.

Speaking of the arts, as he often does, Vanderbilt's Bill Ivey is interviewed by the Utne Reader. The question is interesting. What role does policy play or should policy play in encouraging the amateurs in the arts?

How can amateurs reclaim the arts? The amateur scene is very vigorous and very much alive. It is served by for-profit industries that provide all kinds of training systems, DVDs to teach the guitar, programs that show you how to paint, magazines and books that are oriented toward craft and art skills. There’s no absence of amateur art-making. What we don’t have is an elevation of amateur artwork into public policy around the arts. We’ve elevated the professional and placed the amateur in the role of being a mere consumer of greatness.

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