I write a monthly column in Northern Arizona's arts and news monthly publication, The Noise. My column is called "Letters from the Creative Bureaucrat." Here follows "part one" of the March issue column... tune in Monday for "part two" and the thrilling conclusion (or pick thee up a copy of this month's Noise, will ya?).

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If I started this column with the question, “What is Art?” would you immediately turn to another page and never come back? That’s what I would do. I hate that question.

And yet, I feel compelled, just ever so slightly, to go there.

Let me start at the beginning. The organization I work for hosts the Viola Awards. The Violas are like the Oscars, but for the arts in Flagstaff. For the past two years, we have hosted a glamorous gala event (well, glamorous for Flagstaff) to hand out 10 unique awards.

Last month in this space, I talked about art juries and what rejection means to the artist. For the Viola Awards, the Panel that chooses the award recipients works on a different level. Rather than selecting a variety of work for a show, they are pinpointing one artist to celebrate in each of several categories.

For criteria, we tell our Panelists to choose on the basis of excellence, considering both the work of the artist as well as the artist’s service to or impact on the community. The terms “service to community” and “impact on community” are fairly manageable when looking at the accomplishments and work of an artist or organization.

But what is excellence in art? Everyone certainly has different tastes about art. If we attempted to select winners on the basis of “art we like the most,” every Panelist would likely come up with a different name. Popularity cannot be the sole guiding factor in determining excellence, obviously. Commercial success is somewhat similar in notion to popularity. While the work of those who make a living primarily on their art certainly must be of some measure of quality, it does not always equal excellence. Working in the world of the arts every day as I do, it hurts to admit that. I wish many more artists could survive, or thrive, off of their work as their primary or sole income. But most cannot, even though they may be deserving or create excellent work.

The point is: when trying to determine which artist should receive a Viola Award, commercial success is more likely to create a fuzzier picture than to clear up the matter altogether. Sometimes great art is not altogether popular. In fact, some great art expressly has the ability to challenge people’s notions of themselves, of life, or of reality. Remember some of Andy Kaufman’s performance “pranks”? He said that he wanted his audience to have an authentic reaction – or rather, interaction – with his work. And if that meant he was making them angry, at least it was a genuine response and not just the drone of a well-mannered but lifeless – and disconnected – applause.

~to be continued...