Letters From the Creative Bureaucrat, September

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 the column as published in the September issue... (pick up a copy of The Noise, too).

Perhaps Flagstaff loves the arts a little too much. In fact, I wonder if our collective love of the arts makes it difficult for us to hear honest, and critical, feedback.

Don’t get me wrong. I am an arts guy. I work in the arts, love the arts, and advocate for the arts. I believe in supporting the arts and surrounding myself with art. I believe that everyone should own art (and they do, whether they recognize it or not). I respect Flagstaff a great deal for the support that is showered upon the arts community.

Art is a highly subjective field. When an artist creates a work, they never know if one person will like it or another person will hate it. Oddly enough, there is more agreement about what is bad art than there is about what is great art. Case in point, there is an entire museum dedicated to bad art: the appropriately-named Museum of Bad Art (MoBA). I dare you to check them out online and then declare of any of those works “good art.” But I already know you won’t. We can usually agree on what is bad.

But great art? That’s another story altogether. Some of the finest museums and galleries display big-time exhibitions with established artists, and many people will wander through these displays, saying things like “I don’t get it.” Art critics, professors and artists themselves usually do not agree on “great art.” Often, once an artist gains critical mass and popularity for quality work, that’s when other artists tend to write them off (although they may be lying to themselves).

Here in Flagstaff this dynamic is the mirror opposite. The artists in our community support the other artists here. A new exhibition opens anywhere and it is met with high words of praise. A new artist comes on the scene, and his/her work is welcomed as ‘the next great thing.’ Art events, such as festivals, fairs, plays and the popular ArtWalk, are met with enthusiasm and high regard. Musicians are revered.

I’m not suggesting this is a bad thing. I believe artists deserve praise for being bold enough to imagine, create and deliver a vision into the world. Even if we may not like the work, the artist deserves praise for courage. And I believe that emerging artists need praise the most, because as they are new to the scene, they are most at risk to walk away from it. I believe all of this is true.

Where, though, is there room for critical commentary? The media in a small town like Flagstaff is stuck. They can’t get away with writing a critical review of any art. In a town where media and artists hobnob at the same events, and see each other on street corners (or on Facebook), how can you give a work of art a challenging review without being met with scowls?

While I love that the arts in Flagstaff are supported, there is unfortunate outcome to this. It’s difficult for an emerging artist, or any artist, to receive critical feedback that will help to develop his/her craft. University level classes can help with this, but what of the artist who is long since removed from school? If an artist is producing ordinary work, showing in a few spaces around town, and caught in the web of positive affirmation that exists in Flagstaff, how will the artist improve the scope of his/her work?

I’m not suggesting we change the dynamic all that much. Flagstaff has a good thing going for it. But I do recognize that critical feedback is essential to an artist’s development. Artists must seek outside input – from artists, gallery owners, and others in other communities – and specifically ask for critical comments. And they should remember that the critical comments are far more valuable than the praise.

I suggest that we all have the courage to speak our minds about what we see, what we like and what we don’t like, in constructive ways. After all, an honest assessment of one’s work can provide the real fuel to shake things up and make great art. Even if we do disagree about what is great.


Cheers,
JT