Author: Phillips, Anthony

Publication Year: 1974

Media Type: Book

Summary:

The author outlines the discussion that were held at this seminar on funding the arts. He makes the following conclusion: Despite the overwhelming urgency of the financial problems which are afflicting all aspects of the arts, a kind of optimism pervaded the closing sessions of the seminar. There was an almost unspoken but generally shared understanding, linking the many points of view expressed by participants of different backgrounds, that the real enemies of culture are other than lack of money.

Abstract:

The author outlines the discussion that were held at this seminar on funding the arts. He makes the following conclusion: Despite the overwhelming urgency of the financial problems which are afflicting all aspects of the arts, a kind of optimism pervaded the closing sessions of the seminar. There was an almost unspoken but generally shared understanding, linking the many points of view expressed by participants of different backgrounds, that the real enemies of culture are other than lack of money. Public apathy and official myopia, the self-defeating greed and monolithic cynicism of the consumer society, the unimaginativeness of educational traditions, the self--indulgent isolation of many artists--all these are the powerful weapons of true counter-culture. The danger is less that our great cultural institutions will collapse from financial bankruptcy than that a combination of short rations and superficial prestige will drain their life-blood. (p. 21)

CONTENTS
Introduction.
How real is the economic danger?
Traditional culture and the new art forms.
Raise or spread: Centers of excellence or dissemination of opportunity?
The private sector.
An arts constituency.
Artistic independence and political interference: an official culture?
The role of education.
Help for the creative artist.
Conclusions.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Creative Economies