Try this one: when I’ve become really frustrated with, say a megalithic corporation, for example, and I can find no way to break through the empass, I simply close by politely informing them (them being usually personified by a public relations person of some sort), first that on their best day they’re about as good as the government, and then that even though I’m an impoverished artist, that compared to their exorbitantly overpaid CEO, whose life work, on the day after he’s laid to rest, will most likely be run through a paper shredder, my life work will outlive me by decades, perhaps even centuries. For me, at that point the proverbial glass does measure, at least slightly over half full.

In all honesty folks, American’s don’t need art, they only need celebrities. They don’t need voices, trained for decades to produce the most exhilarating sound imaginable, they only need American Idol. They don’t need dancers, trained for decades to execute the most exhilarating moves imaginable, they only need Dancing With The Stars. They don’t need there children to be educated to the sublime nuances of Mozart, they only need them to get the “Mozart Effect” so their stimulated intellectual development will carry them through medical school at the head of their class and enrich them beyond all expectation, thereby positioning them to support ma and pa lavishly in their old age.

And voi-là! There it is. Finally we have arrived at a tangible economic raison d’être for supporting the arts. Exactly what we’re being told we have to do. NOT support the arts because they sublimely nurture our humanity. NO, support them for the “Mozart Effect,” and how rich it’ll make your kids. In the Capitalist Paradise it’s all fundraising all the time.

Great to meet with you yesterday! Thought I would take a minute a put down a few of the points and such that we talked about, knowing that your blog reaches a considerable base. Unfortunately Erik was out of town,and I errored the date, so I missed the meeting. So here goes.

My partner, Erik Schneider and I moved here about a year ago. As many of you know, he opened Quality Pictures. After looking at other cities of similar profile (Memphis, Cincinnati, Austin) we were head over heels on our way to Portland. Many factors contributed to this, but overwhelmingly we felt this city had the potential to become a world wide destination for the creative arts.

What will it take to make this happen?

- Corporate and civic involvement, most likely;

- A change in the attitude that “money is the root of all evil”, without question;

- Embracing a competetive atmosphere that illuminates the highest achievements of individuals and the community at large, through critical media analysis, definitely;

- A setting down of individual needs and working for the empowerment of the whole, by recognizing the market place for what it is, even if you don’t benefit directly, essential.

- Grants and hand outs are necessary on some levels but they are not sustainable solutions. Far too much energy is spent on trying to squeeze it out of institutions, corporations and civic bodies. By embracing the market place for what it is, opens up potentially millions of avenues of support, on all levels. From the artists on Alberta getting what they want for their works, to the Nike exec. who can afford the $5 million painting and donate it to PAM.

-It seems that provincialism (hippie isolationism) served Portland well over the past 50 or so years, but as the the O pointed out a couple of weeks ago this city is going to double in population in the next twenty years (and not because Portlander’s are going to procreate like rabbits). Without some evolution of this provincial attitude, it could easily become the wet blanket on Portland’s “Creative Capacity”. And then whats left to civic pride, giant sports corporations, that dangle ever larger golden carrots, and get the public to fund it. Then tout themselves as community leaders.

So lets conclude with sports. The teams are taking the field, Portland is up first, will we send somebody to the plate that will swing for the fences, or will it be somebody who hopes they don’t throw the ball, unless on their terms, and then fully expect to win the game anyway?

I was at the meeting too and was intrigued to say the least but came away feeling that Sam knows where he’s taking this. He will need the total support of the creative community to make this work and that will no doubt be moderated somewhat by his overall political intentions….much work to be done.