The State of the Arts series
is about a wider vision of what is happening in the art world. At the end of
2014 we look forward to 2015 not so much with answers but with a list of
questions which I think may be important to ponder, discuss, and perhaps give
us inspiration for action.
1. The San Diego Art
Institute SDAI has a new director Ginger Porcella. She has to turn an
almost dead organization into a thriving innovative art destination. How is she
going to do this? What are the changes needed. How does she balance old
with new? SDAI has the prime location in Balboa Park
for contemporary artists and the potential to be amazing. Porcella is a highly
motivated and articulate young woman from New York. She came up with the idea of a new
job description for a staff member at SDAI: Director of First Experience. So
instead of a PR person, a fundraiser, an education director, you would have
someone who was responsible for the first impression of the institute; how is
the institute branded before you even walk into the building and how do you
first get involved as an artists or a visitor. This question of the future of the non-profit arts organizations and
how they need to change seem particularly important in the year we almost
lost the Opera and where the SD Foundation and the Commission for Arts and
Culture both have new leadership and as we struggle to establish a SD County
Arts Council.
2. Reading about 10x talent agency
in the New Yorker (The Programmer's Price), I was impressed with the idea
of Rock Stars of Tech. It is fascinating to see how creativity is so sought
after. Musician, producers, actors and now software designers all want to be
thought of now as “Artists”. That seems
to symbolize that they are innovative. As
technology and the arts are tied more and more closely together, what can we
expect to see in the future? Besides the development of new ways to make
3-d, video and multi-media fine art, there will probably be algorithms to
compute metrics for audience involvement, funding and sales.
3. This leads me to the more
specific questions of what are the new trends in commercialization of art on
line? SDVAN just joined an online second
hand goods fundraising site called WebThriftStore.
You can take all those holiday presents that disappointed you and sell them
online as a tax donation for SDVAN. They let you upload an image directly from
your phone, they even send you a shipping label when the item is sold and the
shipping is paid by the buyer. Our very successfully accessory exchange happens
only once a year when old favorites are given new homes. Now we hope you will
try this out anytime during the year that you clean out your closets. You can
sell anything so don’t forget that work of art that may not inspire you any
longer but will appeal to someone new. And if you are not the artist selling
your own work, you get a nice tax deduction.
4. A question we have been pondering for the last year, is who are the new art patrons? Or maybe we now need a new word for those who support the arts. How do we define the teams that will take the arts into un-chartered waters? Are these Artists as Art Patrons? How do we transition young art attendees into young art supporters? What do the emerging foundations look like and why should they support the arts? Social Networks with Cloud Funding are already fast becoming patrons but they don’t necessarily think of themselves in that role. When we make Cross Collaborative projects aren’t we really patrons of each other? As innovation is seen as a key economic driver, can we expect to see the Politician Patron rising?
Your can read all the past State of the Arts
addresses by Patricia Frischer at this link. Please blog back and watch for future opportunities through
SDVAN to join in the conversation.
