Plans

Thanks to all for the positive feedback on the blog. I’m glad that those who’ve chimed in have expressed support for the blog format. I share Glenn’s sentiments: the Facebook chatter tends to be distracting to me. Thanks, Grant, for the tip on the automatic updating thingie. I’ll have to look into that. For a computer geek, I can be surprisingly clueless when it comes to certain technological marvels.

Did everyone read up on the Wolf Brown Cultural Action Plan recommendations? (Summarized here. Is there a link to the full report? I couldn’t find it.) What do you all think? Ms. Biegelsen zeroed in on the racial issue, which I think is interesting.

In my quick review, the whole focus on “Coordinating the Cultural Sector” seems like a good one, but also a problematic one. “Coordination” seems like it will involve prioritization on some level and that opens the door to politics (opens it wider, I guess I should say, since this whole plan is bound to be politicized). If done well, coordination may maximize financial resources but it won’t necessarily lead to more financial resources. I like the idea of a cultural endowment but administration of such a thing is another problematic point. Of course, the Arts Council already administers the ArtsFund but I know next to nothing about that (besides it has a Flash-y little website).

I’m sure we’ll continue to hear more about this plan and its implementation. I’d like to remain as hopeful as possible about it all so I’m mostly adopting a wait-n-see attitude. In the meantime, I imagine folks involved with the Arts Council are both jazzed and maybe a bit terrified of being placed so distinctly in the center of this process.