Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Patronizing the Arts Review

Here is an interesting review of a book on patronage. The reviewer does an excellent job giving an overview of the effects of government and the university on the contemporary American arts.

3 comments:

C. L. DeMedeiros said...

...

I never know were I'm going with some pieces " Angelight" I bought a book magazine only because of her figure,
she was blond, the dark hair is from my dog's fur.

At the very end the hair was coming out of the light bulb
and I thought was finish.

The same with the "don't run"
the spears come out of the box, giving the piece another look, less obvious.

Thanks for your feedback

Robert McDowell said...

University patronage of the arts has, since the 1970s, created an insulated cottage industry in which writers, visual artists, and musicians create art mainly for each other.

Many artists subsidized in this way lack any true connection to the larger communities and realities outside the Academy.

As a result, a lot of the art that's produced takes on a paint-by-numbers, going-through-the-motions quality that falls far short of art's goals to enlighten and entertain.

Art in general is more vibrant and more necessary when it's spiritually and intimately connected to communities beyond the Academy, and certainly beyond the government for that matter!

www.robertmcdowell.net

Troy Camplin said...

`This is precisely why I set up the Emerson Institute for Freedom and Culture. We want to create an institution that will allow the public to patronize the arts, and we will in turn use the money to patronize artists who create good, healthy art that is beautiful.