Galerie sztuki

Eyes over the border

November 7, 2008

Dear malarstwo.org,

Now that it’s finally over we can talk about it. Believe me, Canadians
were paying attention, and now that it’s a done deal there’s a bit of
street dancing up here. But, goodness knows, Barack Obama’s got a lot
on his plate.

Of interest is Obama’s cultural program. He’s apparently been working
on it for a couple of years, since long before his nomination. For a
guy who writes poetry and consults with Bruce Springsteen and Jay-Z,
it probably came naturally to form that panel of active professional
artists to advise him.

Obama wants to increase funding for the National Endowment for the
Arts and change the Federal Tax Code for artists. He has ideas like
sending out “Artists Corps” to underprivileged schools and communities,
expansion of public-private partnerships to increase cultural education
programs, cultural diplomacy and the inclusion of foreign talent,
less inward-looking xenophobia all ’round, as well as health care
for artists.

Obama also backs Senator Patrick Leahy’s “Artist-Museum Partnership
Act,” allowing artists to deduct the fair market value of work given
to charitable institutions. We might hope that this enlightenment may
shine on fundraisers too.

Here in Canada, if you want to donate your painting to raise cash for
a favorite charity, you can get a “tax receipt” all right, but the
government wants you to pretend you sold the work, take the amount
into income, and then deduct it. The result is a wash–extra paper-
shuffling for accountants, misery and dismay for both artists and
charities. We don’t get no respect, eh?

Positive change in this last area would do wonders for charities.
Fundraisers would attract better, more valuable, art, raise standards,
and relief would be given to perpetually beleaguered artists. Think
of the value to educational institutions alone.

Canada–that great nation somewhere north of Detroit known for its
regular, south-sweeping cold fronts, is watching carefully. So are
our American cousins. “It is unprecedented,” says Robert L. Lynch,
CEO of “Americans for the Arts,” a Washington-based arts advocacy
group. “No presidential candidate in recent times has addressed
cultural issues in such detail.”

Best regards,

Robert

PS: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some
other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change
that we seek.” (Barack Obama)
http://quote.robertgenn.com/auth_search.php?name=Barack+Obama

Esoterica: Government involvement in the arts is like the porridge
in the Goldilocks–Three Bears story. It has to be “just right.”
Obama is brainy enough to get the support going toward education so
that young people begin to know and appreciate the arts once more.
Then, perhaps sometime later, free enterprise can truly kick in–yep,
it works in the arts too. Lest we forget. Oh, and by the way–
Congratulations, Barack Obama.

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