A couple of weeks ago I was invited back home to Toronto to attend the Canadian Youth Arts Network Forum wherein a group of about 40 young artists were brought together with various leaders in the cultural and creative industries and policy advisors. We discussed ways to strengthen the youth arts sector and our common predicament under this government among other things. It was a really interesting meeting of minds and practices, and a lot of critical information, expertise, and advice were made available not just to the youth delegates of the conference, but to the leaders and advisors as well. It was the fortunate situation of us mutually needing a better sense of the others’ perspective.
There has been much made of the business argument for the arts. As artists, we’re fortunate that it’s within the mandate of institutes like the MPI and that they’ve made the kind of point that might resonate with our current federal regime: the arts are drivers of regional income. They help people make money – that’s a compelling argument to Conservative values. Another potentially persuasive argument to Conservatives or those of any political persuasion is the outreach potential of the arts to two oft neglected groups that I hope to hear addressed in the upcoming debates: youth and the homeless.
In both cases, the arts have shown themselves to be the most effective tools to affect the lives of youth at risk or otherwise, and the homeless as well, particularly in urban environments. This is on target with much of the latest research and theory on cities. Prof. Adam Krims’ latest work, Music and Urban Geography theorizes about how music affects and has affected the tremendous physical upheaval that urban and ex-urban space experienced in the modern, post WWII era. One of his most interesting observations is the way in which the city has moved toward design intensity which he defines in the introductions as “the tendency in advanced societies for products and services to owe much of their value to aspects of design and informational content, and for design and informational aspects of products and services to develop rapidly.”
As young people and (sub)urbanites, the bar has been raised as far as our tolerance and expectations of design. The simple fact is that unless the content of our products and services appeal to this heightened design sensibility, they are disadvantaging themselves with respect to young people as well as urban populations who are native to this design intensive era we occupy. The value of art has never been higher. It’s no surprise that, at the international level, the UN has acknowledged hip hop’s outreach potential with their Messenger of Truth program. At the local level in Toronto, programs like Sketch make this point more poignantly than I ever could. Even at the most crass level of pop culture in these media-intense times, not supporting your ability to compete in the arts is like surrendering your access to the interest of the youth contingent, at least.
If the arts are understood to be the most effective outreach tool for affecting change in youth, then by cutting funding for the arts are we diminishing our ability to communicate with our young people? What is the potential fallout of a less engaged youth population? If arts programs are helping those without homes get on their feet and contribute to society then why do we not understand contributions to the arts as “investments” rather than “funding”?
Much will be said at the debates, but it will be more important to see what our politicians actually do.
And now as always, some music.
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:30 am
Excellent points, in many areas. There is a great deal of evidence in youth development literature (much of it conducted by Richard Halpern) that suggests young people working in “apprentice-like” programs along with adults who are working in such fields is of immense value.
How so? The answer is actually in direct relation to your very question at the end about “the potential fallout of less engaged youth.” There appears to be a correlation between such relationships, increased propensity to achieve positive outcomes and the opposite for negative outcomes, especially for young people aged 16-24 who are out-of-work and out-of-school.
I believe, the problem also lies in what you seem to be suggesting about the effects of a decreased ability for individuals to pursue work in the arts. Viewing contributions to the arts as “funding,” and instead as “investment” is something I also find problematic. However, I am also concerned with the level of significance “market forces” may have on certain creative types ability to pursue their craft when cities face high costs-of-living and demographic changes that follows.
In other words, if artists who wish to pursue their craft struggle to do so because it is not the easiest sell, nor involve the lowest-risk for businesses that could “invest,” what would that mean for the need of apprenticeship programs that have shown to help at-risk youth?
A good example I can give is DJing with its long roots to hip-hop and underground arts. In New York City, based on my own observations and informal interviews, it appears quite difficult for most to earn any kind of a living from their performances, unless they are already a household name or engaging in the most commercial form, but even they have a hard time getting a foot in the door. A recent study found that nearly all performing artists struggle to find performance spaces or afford the cost-of-living here.
How will we then be able to find professional musicians and artists to model for young people who wish to create music and art if the “market” does not even allow for such professionals to survive? New York City has seen significant demographic changes over the past 10-15 years where we have for the first time seen an increase in the white population, significantly increased costs-of-living, and neighborhoods that are changing at a lightning’s pace.
If New York City, at a grassroots level, is not able to support its own residents’ interest in pursuing arts because of “market forces” what are the potential consequences for young people who grow up under such conditions, and New York City’s as a center for new forms of art?
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:48 am
Great post. I didn´t know the book you mention about Music and Geography, I will try to take a look. In fact, yesterday I posted in my blog about the links between Rock and Music, addressing so many songs using a city name as title or songs that mention concrete urban places and even how some cities have become the epicentrum of musical movements.
I think it is a good way to star explaining how cities have a strong creative power.
October 6th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Hey guys, thanx for contributing to the exchange!
Isaac – your preamble and question raise very interesting questions. What we’re getting is an inversion of the demographic situation that contributed very strongly to creating Hiphop and the underground arts that you’re alluding to. Considering the fact that they have become the predominant modes of art used by youth, who knows what the erosion of that demography will bring about?
Young people already look beyond their localities for artists to model after in the broad sense, but without local influence it’s very difficult to move from, say, emulating in your basement to performing on stage. I certainly know that I depended on my personal network to show me how to make money and a living as a DJ. No matter how much I may have practiced my technique by myself, I could not have entered “the market” without those local examples. In places like NYC where the real estate prices in the core are high, look to the peripheries for those creatives. It’s an interesting situation where they might service the city, but live outside of it – not unlike corporate commuters. The physical urban infrastructure and the implications/effects of those on artistic practice can’t be beat, but the prices certainly can.
Manu – I checked out your blog and did a bit of translating. We agree on more than one point, including the importance of place in art. In fact, many of the interrogative positions that you occupy in problematizing Rock and Music were the same ones that I launched my study into Hiphop and the City. If you’re interested, definitely check out last week’s blog. It got a bit heated, but there was good discussion that you might find useful!
November 7th, 2008 at 3:03 am
@Kwende Kefentse: I checked your post and there was such a huge amount of ideas in the comments! Nice to keep in touch. Thee is a new point in my personal of yes/no reasons to start writing my blog in english.