From TED: “Famed for enormous black-and-white portraits that are pasted on surfaces ranging from the Louvre to the US-Mexico border wall, multimedia artist JR continues to tackle ambitious projects. In this powerfully moving talk, he shares how he made a giant mural on the courtyard floor of a maximum-security prison — with the help of guards and prisoners alike — and ended up with much more than a compelling image.”
“We are at a historic crossroads — a social, environmental and economic reckoning hastened by COVID-19 and a global movement for racial equity. As arts and culture funders, we’ve seen how the landscape is shifting,” said co-authors Rocío Aranda-Alvarado and Lane Harwell. “Artists and storytellers are regrounding and reimagining themselves, reshaping arts infrastructure and systems that have never been equitable or sustainable, and working to realize the narrative possibilities to come.”
“Here are six trends we see that are shaping the future of the arts, and how funders can support and respond to them:
New voices in arts advocacy are rejecting the status quo
Technology is becoming integral to the future of the arts
The sector is building knowledge and strengthening commitments to disability arts
Artists and arts organizations are creating new funding models
Creatives are driving civic engagement and movement work
Artists are re-thinking the work of museums
“These trends — developed in a time of extreme change — reaffirm our belief in the power and promise of artists to help us process world events, imagine ways forward, and take meaningful action.”
From the Mellon Foundation, “How can the arts unify racially divided communities? Finding answers to that question was central to the founding mission of Asian Arts Initiative (AAI), a multidisciplinary arts center in Philadelphia that supports Asian American creatives and cultivates meaningful ways for them to connect with local communities through gallery exhibitions, performances, workshops, and other programming with a social purpose.”
“Like every other culturally specific, place-based arts organization, AAI is trying to learn from all that has happened. We’ve never fit into the typical curatorial model of having years to plan programming, but we’re realizing that maybe we don’t have to. As a smaller organization, we can get closer to the work faster,” said Asian Arts Initiative director Anne Ishii. “Big museums have lost time and postponed exhibitions. They’ve also had to figure out how to do social justice work that is so critical now. We lost some time too, but because what we do is already at the intersection of social justice, equity, and art, anyone we work with has a story that’s relevant to the moment.”
It isn’t easy to be a theatre company in this day and age. Not only is it a constant struggle to compete for the attention devoted to filmed media and fight to assert the relevancy of the form to outside eyes, but the pandemic hit the performing arts incredibly hard. These are just a few of the aspects that make the longevity of Caravan Stage Company—the uniquely seaworthy theatre company—such a feat and make the announcement of their final production so momentous.
The Caravan Stage Company has been creating theatre for over half a century, from its home in British Columbia to southern California to the waterways of Europe. Founded by partners Adriana “Nans” Kelder and Paul Kirby in 1970, Caravan began within the confines of its namesake, Kelder and Kirby bringing theatre to audiences via horse-drawn carriage. The novel concept for touring theatre grew to unparalleled heights in the 90s when the company set sail with their legendary tall ship, the Amara Zee, and began their journey of carrying theatre across all but one of the Seven Seas.
Two years ago saw a refurbishing of the Amara Zee back in their home of BC in advance of opening their current show Virtual Rogues. The company’s endeavours were met with many of the delays that have plagued arts institutions across the pandemic, but this year will see the company bidding adieu to their current iteration with this final production. Kelder and Kirby will be heading to the south of France after they close to start a new venture of shadow puppet plays on a smaller nautical vessel; currently, the future of the Amara Zee is up in the air.
Caravan has certainly brought out all of the stops for their final production: Virtual Rogues is an exploration of the end of humanity—the final living creatures being the titular “virtual rogues” held aboard the Amara Zee—and revolving around the sacrifice of one of the last living organisms to a massive A.I. named Zeus. Combining digital projection work across the sails, cirque performance along the rigging, and large-scale puppetry, it sounds like nothing short of a spectacle. A fitting last hurrah for this iconic theatre space and a poignant discussion to see in such an anachronistic setting.
Certainly, there is nothing quite like the Caravan Stage Company and the Amara Zee. Not only is their persistence across the decades an inspiration to any and all theatre troupes, but the sheer vision devoted to their practice is staggering. And while Kelder and Kirby clearly still have more stories to tell in their new ventures, here’s hoping that this won’t be last story for the Amara Zee.
As Philanthropy New York has been solidifying its commitment to centering racial equity, our programming and networks have evolved as well. One of YLBC’s intentions now reads, ‘building a more networked philanthropic sector dedicated to equitable, inclusive, collaborative and innovative philanthropy,'” said Donita Volkwijn, Senior Director, Member Engagement, Philanthropy New York.
“Not everyone is as lucky to have the kind of boss that operated in the values stated above. Goodness, I haven’t always been that lucky and the unlucky moments have come about largely because of how I identify. At this point, most people (at least the ones reading this piece) recognize how racism can cut people off from opportunity. What is harder to recognize is how racism denies members of the BIPOC community the opportunity to learn and grow.”
“How did YLBC (Young Leaders Breakfast Club) come about and how has it evolved?” said Volkwijn. “In 2010, Philanthropy New York identified a gap in opportunities for members in their twenties and thirties to expand their professional and leadership capacity, build a strong peer network in the field, and navigate how they contribute to mission-driven work as younger professionals. YLBC was developed with the understanding that philanthropy is more effective when the field creates equitable opportunities for leadership and an inclusive space for relationship building, collaboration, and problem-solving.”
The hybrid event, “Are the Arts Essential?”, airs tonight at 6pm PT/9pm ET. “[Zeyba] Rahman and other thought leaders will discuss the book and how art has the power to create connections and provide hope. ”
The book, “Are the Arts Essential?,” features insight from 25 scholars, artists, and critics who wrote, “a collection of essays that highlight how the arts are a critical part of society, impacting climate change, combatting racism, promoting tolerance, influencing politics and so much more.” Zeyba Rahman and Hussein Rashid (Building Bridge Program) host the conversation.
“A sea change is underway in the world of philanthropy,” said authors Charlotte Vangsgaard and Mads Holme (ReD Associates) for Alliance Magazine, “The shift is driven partly by the cataclysmic effects of a global pandemic that has wiped out decades of developmental gains over the past few years while crowding out investment in other sectors.”
“…what if strategic philanthropy doubled down on embracing its humanist side? We would argue that it is entirely possible for philanthropists to build a deeper, more empathetic, and more contextual understanding of the communities they operate in – given the right tools and guidance. Private capital affords philanthropists extraordinary flexibility and autonomy, which can be leveraged to build a strong understanding of the human lives at the other end of their grant or donation.”
From Hyperallergic: “A new study discovered that going to museums can have myriad health benefits, such as improving feelings of depression, easing chronic pain, and decreasing the likelihood of being diagnosed with dementia.”
“It turns out that visiting a museum is good for your health: New research from the University of Pennsylvania found reductions in anxiety and depression and increases in cognitive function and empathy, among a number of other promising outcomes.”
“The encouraging findings didn’t end there: People living with dementia and people with severe mental health conditions were more cheerful, happy, uplifted, and engaged after visiting a museum, and older adults felt that their time viewing art was rewarding.”
Upstart Co-Lab, the Association of Art Museum Directors, and the Black Trustee Alliance for Art Museums released a new report, Cultural Capital: The state of museums and their investing, “a first-of-its-kind survey of U.S. museums of art and design to establish their current level of impact investing activity and profile first-mover museums exploring the integration of values, mission, and investment.”
“Our findings demonstrate there is significant room for improvement with 13% of museums engaged in impact investing compared to 47% of colleges and universities and 51% of foundations… Barriers to action include persistent questions which are easily resolved: the ability to achieve targeted financial returns; the ability to measure impact; and the availability of quality impact investing products across asset classes.”
“Everyone committed to the future of America’s art museums—including the Boards, Leadership Teams, Staff, Donors, Artist, and Public that support them—can play a part in shifting museum endowments to impact investing. We hope the findings and recommendations in this report will help usher in a new era of ethical investing for the creative sector.”
As we see more and more veteran artists enter the new frontier of NFTs that shows no signs of stopping its growth, there is a wide breadth of individuals joining the trend. From family members of Picasso stumbling their way in and out of the field to the stunts surrounding the group Burnt Banksy, artists across generations are having their work brought into this new realm. Now the legendary performance artist Marina Abramović is stepping into the ring with an NFT of The Hero.
Presented by arts platform CIRCA through the Tezos blockchain (a notably more energy-efficient alternative to other blockchains), July 2022 onwards will see the presentation of unreleased material from Abramović’s The Hero (2001). The distribution of the NFTs extracted from this unused material will be either single frames as a .JPG or multiple frames as a .GIF. More uniquely than this though will be CIRCA’s presentation of the piece across international video billboards, bringing the striking piece to audiences around the globe.
Abramović’s The Hero was a video-based performance piece inspired by the story of her parents’ first meeting. During World War 2, her father was fighting on the front lines and her mother was administering medical aid to them. Her mother fell victim to typhus and wound up unconscious in the forest, eventually discovered by her father riding on a white horse. He carried her to a nearby village to heal, and they would meet again when he was gravely injured in a makeshift hospital, only to be treated by and given a blood transfusion from the same woman he had rescued.
Despite Abramović having stated earlier that she did not see anything currently worthwhile in the medium of NFTs and highlighting the hyper-focus on the monetary value within its community, her creation of an NFT of The Hero is not too surprising. Abramović has always aimed to push boundaries—from her iconic and pervasive influence through the series Rhythm to her deeply connective work in VR on the climate crisis via Rising—and there is certainly still much to be explored in this new realm of Web3.
“Our planet needs uncorrupted heroes with morality,” the artist states, “who embody courage and bring real change. Every day in this world is a shaky, uncertain, constantly changing landscape. For CIRCA 2022, we have this white horse. This white flag. This beautiful land. We need heroes that can bring new light to illuminate us. Heroes that can inspire us to be better, and to work together, not against each other. Heroes who care.”
Without a doubt, the need for stories of heroism can be felt more than ever today. Abramović speaks of the growing terror resulting from the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, standing on the precipice of world war. And in its simple, stoic manner, The Hero stands as a symbol of peace and unity, echoing a true tale of love in the face of disaster and planting the seed for an artist who would seek to share that dream with the world.