Just a few of the beautiful sights from our time in DC…
As I sit down to reflect upon my time here in Washington DC, I’m overwhelmed by all that there is to think about. Our class had a multitude of experiences, all of which contributed to my deeper knowledge of the course topics.
Democracy and the Arts has demonstrated the variety of ways I am able to apply knowledge from my academic and artistic studies at St. Olaf to my current community.
In fact, I was already able to directly apply my knowledge on a local level through writing my policy proposal. Through compiling this document, I was able to take what I had been learning through the readings, site visits, and conversations, and use it to (hopefully) benefit the Owatonna Public School District. Our visit to Americans for the Arts was especially instrumental in aiding my argument for a music program to be implemented at the Alternative Learning Center in Owatonna. Before coming to D.C., I knew that the arts are beneficial to participants and to the community, thanks in part to my studies at St. Olaf. However, I didn’t have the tools and data to support my claims until our meeting with AFTA.
Perhaps the most significant way in which my time in D.C. has impacted how I will apply knowledge to my community, is through my future vocation.
Every time we met with someone this month, I was gaining insights into their vocation. I noticed little things that, together, gave me a fuller image of what a job like theirs might entail. I noticed how people carried themselves, how passionate they were about their work, or even their work attire. These were clues for me to see what types of people fit into these vocations, or what the vocation demands of its workers. I heard about so many new vocations that I’d never even considered before! While 99% of these I do not have an interest in doing, through the process of “crossing things off the list” of possible vocations, I became more and more convinced of my future vocation.
This leads into the next area of growth I experienced from my time in DC, which is how my own attitudes and beliefs have developed, changed, and strengthened as a result of working within and learning from the diverse communities and arts constituencies of Washington, D.C.
My belief that there is no such thing as “too much art” has been strengthened in some ways, and challenged in others. First, it has been strengthened through the vast majority of organizations that we have visited. We viewed and experienced more art in this month than what many people will experience all year, and yet, I never got sick of it (unlike my sentiments towards public transportation or paying $7 for a latte). Second, I realize that the notion of never having enough art is more complex than I thought before this course. I began to see this early on in our month, during our Attucks Adams tour. Our tour guide Tim spoke openly about how public murals are a double-edged sword. In many cases, they can be uplifting and provide beauty to neighborhoods. On the other side, however, they can commit further damage, such as gentrification. Through experiences like this one, I see how the power of art must be handled with thought, and balanced with encouraging the production of art.
Learning about the concept of individuals having a “civic identity” is something new that I gleaned from this course and our time in D.C.
We observed how politicians, artists, and citizens choose to live out their civic identity. These experiences have aided me in knowing what my civic identity might look like. I grew in my knowledge of civic activity as a whole, but now it’s a matter of asking myself what that might look like for me in my life, and how I will choose to form my civic identity. Before this trip, I hadn’t ever thought of civic action as a choice. I thought of it as something for other people, namely politicians, to partake in, but not something that I could get involved with. I now know how accessible “big” ideas in the civic sphere are to everyday people. Civic action isn’t limited to participating in a civil rights movement, although it might take form in that. It could also look like a policy proposal, an email to a senator, or participating in a march. I can’t wait to be more than an observer with the interaction of arts and democracy in my local and state communities. I can now choose whether I want to engage in civic action, not just be concerned with how I will react to policies. I now know that I could be the leader of one of those movements, policies, or bills. Time and time again in D.C, I saw how one solo voice for civic action isn’t always heard, but that one solo voice can spur many on to action toward a goal.
Given all of the experiences I’ve had in D.C. this month, I would like to see local communities go to greater lengths to spur on local artists in their work.
While it would be amazing for our federal government to be more involved in directly funding local-level artists, I have witnessed how many government institutions are choosing to fund other federal organizations that can give to these local artists. By the time the funding reaches these artists, it is a select few who are impacted. This is why local communities need to take supporting their artists more seriously. I would love to see local governments fund concert series, gallery exhibits, dance and theater performances, and other arts-based events for their constituents.
If I have one point I would like to drive home to readers of this blog about the relationship between democracy and the arts as I understand it, it would be this: democracy is powerful; the arts are powerful.
Participation in neither are off-limits to any person living in the United States. Those who choose to engage in our democracy carry power, as do those who choose to participate in any type of art making. I have witnessed the exponential power that the arts and democracy hold when they join forces through places like Washington Performing Arts, Atlas Theater, Attucks Adams on U Street, and the Kennedy Center. Whether it’s locally, federally or somewhere in between, I hope we each find our way to get involved in the power.