I intend to major in studio art, and took ID 242 largely in concession to the importance of entrepreneurship and communication skills. This course’s ACE requirement forced me to think more of administrative policies and outreach. I will describe my proposal in more detail at the end of this post.
I’m naturally an insular person, so it was personally fulfilling to talk with so many people over a developing white paper proposal. I find myself seriously wanting to see my proposal become real, so I can see it affect my school with my own eyes. Maybe that is indeed a narrow topic, with little hope of state or federal effects, but I do think that personal passion for civic work greatly helps the chances that any project will actually get through. So I think I’m very content to look toward more local, small-scale, institution-focused action in the future… Although, if I become an artist myself, I still might have to look into governmental grants and other larger pictures, to further my own work.
The arts and democracy are symbiotic. Art helps people discuss complex and difficult topics (like racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, ageism, and so much more). I think art is more visceral, personal, and applicably symbolic than jargon-filled academic or political talk. Therefore, since democracy relies on the intelligence and communal duty of all citizens, artistic engagement helps democracy. Meanwhile, democracy helps the arts through promoting diversity- through funding, artist contacts, and promoting widespread arts access. If art is too controlled by censorship or strict patronage, then many stories will not be disseminated and heard with a fair chance. Remember that the spirit of democracy is not just strictly political, but present in how people run and manage all of their communities.
My art-walk really demonstrated how art can seep into our daily lives and the landscape without us realizing it. Downtown Sacramento is bustling as a state capital, with monuments, murals, and fountains alongside its important buildings. Art is not just decoration. It expresses history, a community’s identity, and who the community members hope to be.
Notice the food truck in the background of this public fountain! Normal citizens really do get good views of public art.
As we consulted with diverse art professionals and policymakers from Washington, D.C. and Northfield, MN, I was pleasantly surprised by the consultants’ supportive, friendly, accessible attitudes. I’d been under the impression that people in important and large institutions are so overworked, they don’t have the time to become too personally invested in individual outside collaborations. However, as I especially noticed when we talked to Randy Cohen and Krystal Klingenberg, some workers undertake far-reaching jobs with both personal and professional gusto. Cohen had prepared an aesthetically polished and informative slideshow on the Americans for the Arts. Klingenberg actively discussed many logistics behind the exhibits, such as balancing physical museum space and finding unusual stories behind music objects. I could really tell that these people are at their “lofty” jobs for a good reason!
In general, our consultants’ college studies and work experiences often informed their work even if their positions were mostly administrative. For example, Roger Ideishi from the accessibility portion of the Kennedy Center used to work as an occupational therapist, which is not usually directly connected to art making or discourse. However, his experience is obviously connected to the question of how to accommodate diverse arts access.
As for me? I find that my studio art classes have less to teach me about the context surrounding art- students operate within a small art-making bubble, not with professional projects and contacts. Meanwhile, humanities have given me some experience with theology, philosophy and medical ethics, creative writing, and other areas of knowledge.
I served on the college’s SIRC (Student Inter-Religious Council) for a year as representation for the nonreligious, and learned quickly how important it is to respect others’ opinions no matter how passionate my own views. I also learned how much work it takes to more fully understand the other side’s perspective. I think that, in a pluralistic world and in the context of democracy, my experience on the SIRC taught me useful lessons.
I also took an English course called “Rock [Music] and Romanticism”, which connected classic Romantic and Transcendentalist writings with both older and more recent rock music from diverse genres. My English course taught me how to examine broader topics with fewer assumptions, because each author and music artist had their own messages and stories. My Museum Controversies course emphasized the importance of institutional critique and progressive, optimistic thinking toward making the arts fairer and more vibrantly diverse.
Where have all the insights, consultations, and new ideas from ID 242 led me for my white paper proposal?
I enjoy “thinking of the big picture”, which made the idea of working with the federal government very exciting to me. Our scheduled consultants were already basically aware of this class’s expectations, and primed to help students in accordance with the spare time their jobs afforded them. Furthermore, our consultants’ institutions commonly already have exciting ongoing plans and projects, which students could easily use as a point of entry into their own specific proposals. However, once we started planning and writing our white papers, I learned very quickly that I prefer “working in the small picture.”
I shot off in my own direction, trying to connect two local institutions (St. Olaf College and Fifty North, the local senior activity center) using no outside funds or initiatives. It can be difficult to synthesize concrete plans for larger clienteles and projects, and we were always under crunch time.
I plan to create an internship at Fifty North that will work with St. Olaf to create and advertise college activities that engage Fifty North clients. The intern will act as a docent for the Flaten, specifically serving the local seniors. The intern will arrange at least one presentation event, alongside Fifty Northers, that examines the aging process and how to age healthily and fulfillingly. They will also work with Fifty North’s own newsletter and online pages to inform clients of specific events and what they can expect to learn and discuss.
I felt very engaged and busy as I consulted with new contacts, which included the Fifty North lifelong enrichment director, a St. Olaf professor who works with Fifty North, a St. Olaf research librarian, the Flaten Art Museum director, the St. Olaf communications and media department, the St. Olaf Piper Center for funding, and even the Minnesota State Arts Board for COVID accessibility advice. At one point, the Flaten director told me that the museum could not likely accept main responsibility for my proposal, but I was not discouraged- they recommended another contact, and off I went sending more emails like usual.
Overall, I was extremely pleased by ID 242. The consultations were fun, diverse, informative, and inspiring. The white paper project was a lot of work, but I know the real world works through endless beauracracy and contacting lists, and getting things done takes diligence and patience alongside the initial big ideas.