Sheron Roberts on tue 20 may 03
After reading Roly Beevor's post this morning I was ready to flash back =
a reply. However, given the nature of communication through the written =
word, via the internet, and the inability to discern as person's intent =
or mood, I decided to mull this over and wait until I returned home to =
reply. So after dealing with 11 dogs today, and their people (the dogs =
are great, the people, well, well, let's move on), coming home to a =
mentally challenged son who suffers from seizures, a husband who has =
emphysema and a diabetic dog, (yes, she gets two shots of Humulin L, =
daily), I am ready to reply to Roland.
Roland wrote in reply to my post:
"....it is difficult to break into the established leadership and =
because people are lazy as because nobody wants to offend the existing =
leaders or upset the system."
This guild has been incorporated for 20 years. I have been a member for =
7. When I joined I was immediately elected secretary. When it was =
discovered that I could design and publish brochures, bulletins, =
mailings of any kind needed, do digital photography, etc etc etc. the =
whole kit and kaboodle was dumped into my lap. When my term was up I =
insisted that some one else take the office, Great, the membership =
elected me president. When my term was up I refused to be re-elected, =
so I was elected secretary. And round and round we go. We have gone =
the committee route, and all the members said yes, we will serve, but =
not on this day or this day or that day. Anyone planning a show knows =
how difficult it is to pull dates together, delivery of entries, meeting =
with a judge, who more likely than not comes from out of town, hanging =
the show and the opening reception.
"new ideas" =20
God please bless us with new ideas.
"letting new people do things."
God please send us new people, or light a fire under the old ones.
"Offend the current leadership?"
For god's sake, OFFEND ME.
The last show I spoke of, I was asked if I could help with the food for =
the reception, I said yes. Our newest member, who happens to be our =
president, volunteered to take on the whole reception, pointing out that =
I was doing all the correspondence, as well as other things. I gladly =
accepted her offer. The other three hung the show and helped stamp =
invitations.
All five of us worked together to pull off a pretty good show. Giving =
artists in two states and 6 counties an opportunity to show their work =
and maybe win a little money.
Do we complain to the other members? Every chance we get. Their reply? =
Well, maybe next year. Should we kick them out? No we need their =
membership money.=20
Roland wrote:
"So is the friendship more important to you than the future of the =
guild"
I am not sure how you mean this, should I drop out to give some one else =
a chance?=20
My reply: see all of the above,=20
I would walk out in a heartbeat, but for the guild's sake I do stay. Not =
because I crave the position, or the attention or whatever the hell you =
may be implying, but because my four friends need me. As you can see I =
have plenty to take care of at home, including a pottery studio. But my =
contribution to my guild is not just for 4 or 5 people it is for the =
artist community where I live, and then some.
Our next project, the topic of last night's meeting was beginning life =
drawing classes for the public once a month. The biggest problem so =
far, finding a nude model. =20
Any takers out there???? :)
Sheron in NC
Roly Beevor on wed 21 may 03
Dear Sheron
I'm sorry if my post came across as critical of you personally. The point I
was trying to make is that Mel is not necessarily right; it is possible for
institutions to perpetuate themselves, but it may require harder work, and
less short term success, than letting things run their course. A guild may
have a natural life expectancy just like an animal.
And yes, I did make that provocative remark to get a rise out of you.
Actually, as you say, it is not just your friendship with the other four
that keeps you there, its the artist community where you live. Because you
are one of the rare people who turn up, and actually get things done, you
get put upon (as they say, if you want to get something done ask a busy
woman). You do it because you think it is important, and while the lazy
majority will take all the benefit they wont lift a finger. Unfortunately
no amount of complaining will make the slightest difference. However it is
a mistake to think that they don't appreciate it (even if they rarely say
so). We are all grateful that people like you have the energy and skill to
make things work, so please don't go off and form a one woman guild, at
least until you are sure you are ready.
All power to you.
Now what is this message from Janet about? Is she teasing us, are her
friends teasing her, or the Arts Council of England (Celfyddydau Cymru
wouldn't be so foolish), or was it just a bad dream?
Roland
Janet Kaiser on thu 22 may 03
I'll let you know when they have developed their group further and they
tell me more about it. However, I reported their "concept" in all
seriousness. They have been up and running for some months, so I have no
doubt it is working at this stage. As artists, I am sure the application of
their lateral and creative thinking is valid and could be very
beneficial/pertinent for all of us at some point. Only time will tell. I am
not holding my breath, on the other hand I would not dream of dismissing
such a concept out of hand! Shame on you if you do, Roly Roland!
WHY do groups of ARTISTS (of all people) get stuck into the boring old
committee rut? How to get out of such organisation (with the agreed "types"
who end up doing/not doing all the work) was one of the primary concerns
they wished to address. As far as I can see, the success of their mission
will depend heavily upon the commitment of each individual involved, which
would need to be tested in some way before admitting anyone new into the
group. Which brings us back to a selection process... All sorts of
questions that need to be resolved along the way.
But NEVER get me going about the Arts Council of Wales ACW / CCC Cyngor y
Celfyddydau Cymru... They could not organise a piss-up in a brewery, let
alone have the imagination to support a group of artists on something as
elementary as finding a better way to organise themselves than the current
system, which is really not suited to "creative" types. ACW have, after
all, been repeatedly reorganising THEMSELVES for the past 10-12 years and
are still fart-arsing around using huge resources which could have been far
better spent on ART and ARTISTS, without any visible success to the outside
world. THEY are the BAD DREAM!!!
Sincerely
Janet Kaiser - mutter - mutter - mutter...
*** IN REPLY TO THE FOLLOWING MAIL:
>snip<
>Now what is this message from Janet about? Is she teasing us, are her
>friends teasing her, or the Arts Council of England (Celfyddydau Cymru
>wouldn't be so foolish), or was it just a bad dream?
*** THE MAIL FROM Roly Beevor ENDS HERE ***
**********************************************************************
TRUTH is too precious to tell every fool who asks for it...
****** This post was sent to you today by Janet Kaiser *******
The Chapel of Art / Capel Celfyddyd
8 Marine Crescent, Criccieth LL52 0EA, Wales, UK
Tel: ++44 (01766) 523570 URL: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
**********************************************************************
Roly Beevor on fri 23 may 03
Whoa Janet
I'm not dismissing what these artists are doing, their sincerity, or the
idea that their way of organising themselves may be interesting and suit
them. However to say that this is a "serious study into the logistics and
dynamics of working within a group" and "awarded a substantial grant from
the Arts Council of England for looking into ways of developing a community
art group" surely defies belief. What does the Arts Council know about
social dynamics or organisational psychology? What do these artists know
about social science research. If you told me that the SSRC had funded a
group of sociologists to superglue themselves to tables as a work of
performance art I would be equally incredulous. Surely it is not in the
Arts Councils remit to fund this 'research'?
OK so our taxes probably funded all those people to ride naked on the
escalator. Is truth really so much stranger than fiction?
I went to the village hall computer committee meeting last night.
Apparantly DEFRA will pay for farmers to be trained in bookkeeping and form
filling, and will pay them to get someone else to do the work they missed on
the farm. Here comes the gravy train! So we started discussing getting a
dedicated satellite so that we can all have broadband, and ended up choking
in our beer imagining the cockup the Council would make, and the reports in
the local paper.
Please keep us up to date on social research, laughter is healthy.
Roland
signing off for half term in the Lakes, hoping not to go mouldy
Janet Kaiser wrote
> I'll let you know when they have developed their group further and they
> tell me more about it. However, I reported their "concept" in all
> seriousness. They have been up and running for some months, so I have no
> doubt it is working at this stage. As artists, I am sure the application
of
> their lateral and creative thinking is valid and could be very
> beneficial/pertinent for all of us at some point. Only time will tell. I
am
> not holding my breath, on the other hand I would not dream of dismissing
> such a concept out of hand! Shame on you if you do, Roly Roland!
Janet Kaiser on sat 24 may 03
Aren't you, now? Well there's very interesting Boyo Bach, because it
certainly sounded that way and you followed up with a pretty convincing
repeat performance! Indignant outrage about where the funding is from,
whilst slagging the concept as only being relevant to the initiators, was a
pretty thorough thrashing in my view.
And IMO standing in a pub putting the world to right through the bottom of
a glass is one reason why life is so messy... There would be a little less
talking and lot more action if we seriously wanted to change the way things
work. Why do you think Margaret Thatcher extended licensing hours and
Gordon Brown has not raised taxes on alcohol in all these years? Keeps us
all laughing, sneering and whining in a controlled environment instead of
knocking at doors asking awkward questions, demanding answers, reform and
action. We have thus become a pitiful "cannot do", instead of a "can do"
society.
Does it really matter who is subsidising this research, experiment or
whatever else you want to call it? Is it so important which "gravy train",
pot of gold or available financial resources are used? It is all from the
same source (domestic and European), whether administered and distributed
by DEFRA (=3D Department of Farming & Rural Affairs for you guys outside
the UK), the Arts Council, the European Union or even -- god forbid -- the
economic development or some other dusty, fusty, stagnating local council
department/committee. Maybe CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) would be more
appropriate, seeing they are serious artists, as well as bar room
philosophers AND wannabe social engineers? As a chocolate company has
funded the most extensive social research project in the UK for over 100
years, why not? Add more letters CAMRAAACAC: The Campaign for Real Ale and
Active Community Artists Council.
If we as ARTISTS are hidebound about which institutions are the "right"
ones for us to deal with and can only think inside the boxes presented to
us, where are we all going for goodness sake? I cannot but think you are
totally out of touch! Everyone has to play the system to succeed these days
and since administrators, accountants and other bean counters started
running every aspect of public life from hospitals to schools (instead of
such old-fashioned concepts as matrons/doctors, teachers/headmasters) as
well as all other institutions, associations, quangos and NGOs with
"cost-cutting efficiency" their only mantra, I can only applaud anything
which shows a glimmer of alternative thinking on their part. It certainly
is very late in the day and we can only hope this represents some serious
change in policy. Not just a flash in the pan or a disguised bid to
re-train artists as bean counters or -- horror of horrors -- accountants to
be given art credentials and artist status! Eeeekk! What a horrible
thought!
But seriously, have you ever thought how much public money has been wasted
on failed projects to date? All were properly planned and audited with the
blessings of the men in suits, but were spectacular failures wasting
billions. An example: if the money spent on that wretched, immoral
Millennium Dome had been distributed amongst all the professional artists
working in the UK, each and every one would have received =A35,000 to
create a proper memorial in their own community. This little community of
fewer than 2,000 population would have benefited to the tune of at least
=A320.000... Much more come to think about it. I forgot to include the
professional musicians and composers who live here. The International
Potters Path is the only millennium project which was undertaken in the
whole area and we were turned down for funding because it was considered a
"private initiative" by the Arts Council. Interesting, eh?
Maybe the Arts Council has woken up to the fact that they should do a bit
more than simply keeping the administrators and accountants happy with
their business plans and projections, by doing a WHOLE LOT more to support
ARTISTS in what they undertake both as individuals and in groups. Putting
more resources at their disposal rather than wasting money keeping MBAs in
fancy officers telling artists what they can and cannot do, by deciding
what the Arts Council will and will not fund. Less expenditure in the long
run, but a lot more "value for money" and "accountability" within the
system, whilst keeping certain anti-art newspapers and the public bar rooms
around the country happy... Oh, yes... And giving REAL support to
independent artists. What bliss!
I am sure Avril, Jacqui and others could chip in here from a UK
perspective... Avril and Jacqui are both very ACTIVE members of regional
Potters Associations which do a lot of good, but they could do a great deal
more for their membership with increased and more appropriate support from
the Arts Council. And I am sure if they heard of a way of involving more of
their various members in the running of their groups through such
initiatives as the one I described, they would be absolutely delighted
about that too.
Yes, maybe it is an attempt to re-invent the wheel, but who can tell?
Investigating and creating new and innovative organisational skills, which
could later be shared with other groups of artists and makers, would be
doing The Arts far more good than "investing" money in some very dubious
projects of limited worth, with few long term benefits. But if no one even
tries to push the boundaries and experiment... Well, it will be our loss
and shame on us for not even trying or supporting those who are.
What does the ARTS COUNCIL know about the "social dynamics or
organisational psychology" of ARTISTS you ask? Could it be that they have
funded this project to find out? It may just have been one of those
fundamental questions everyone has overlooked and never addressed in the
mad rush to spend millions? All frittered away on capital expenditure
whereby the ARTISTS were mostly excluded, is it not high time for the Arts
Council to get back to basics?
As organising artists is similar to herding cats, maybe the Arts Council
would like to find out if it is at all possible to turn them into more
social animals? Or perhaps they have funded so many groups and group
projects which have failed in the past, the Arts Council is very excited by
this innovative idea? The concept that there could be a valid and workable
alternative to systems past and present? It will need artists to show them
the way, because like all other solitary animals unaccustomed to being in a
troop, they will have to find ways and means of constructing a NEW social
order. IMO that sort of creativity is only possible if artists are totally
engaged and I cannot think of a more appropriate body to fund such research
and experimentation as the Arts Council! How is that a problem?? Maybe even
the Arts Council has access to qualified advisors and consultants, but why
should they need them when a NEW CONCEPT applicable only to ARTISTS is
being investigated? I simply cannot understand your concerns.
I thought I was a cynical old witch, but you have certainly taken my breath
away! I just hope the wet and windy weather forecast for your weekend in
the Lake District helps to blow some new perspectives into your head! Mould
will only build up if you sit still and remain wet in an enclosed space --
you will be quite OK if you either dry out quickly or keep on the move!
Avoid the pubs too... A lot of people up there were badly hurt by foot &
mouth and are still in need of all the help DEFRA or anyone else can
legally give them within the constraints set by their political masters, so
don't insult the locals with your "gravy train" rhetoric. Form filling is
an essential skill for the very economic survival of many individuals in
this topsy-turvy world, so farmers no doubt rejoice someone has taken heed
of their needs, however much you may mock.
Sincerely
Janet Kaiser - who just loved the concept of all those naked bodies riding
up and down the escalators in a famous London department store...
Consumerism in the buff! Consumers revealed in all their vulnerability... A
wonderful work of conceptual art!
*** IN REPLY TO THE FOLLOWING MAIL:
>Whoa Janet
>
>I'm not dismissing what these artists are doing, their sincerity, or the
>idea that their way of organising themselves may be interesting and suit
>them. However to say that this is a "serious study into the logistics and
>dynamics of working within a group" and "awarded a substantial grant from
>the Arts Council of England for looking into ways of developing a
community
>art group" surely defies belief. What does the Arts Council know about
>social dynamics or organisational psychology? What do these artists know
>about social science research. If you told me that the SSRC had funded a
>group of sociologists to superglue themselves to tables as a work of
>performance art I would be equally incredulous. Surely it is not in the
>Arts Councils remit to fund this 'research'?
>
>OK so our taxes probably funded all those people to ride naked on the
>escalator. Is truth really so much stranger than fiction?
>
>I went to the village hall computer committee meeting last night.
>Apparantly DEFRA will pay for farmers to be trained in bookkeeping and
form
>filling, and will pay them to get someone else to do the work they missed
on
>the farm. Here comes the gravy train! So we started discussing getting a
>dedicated satellite so that we can all have broadband, and ended up
choking
>in our beer imagining the cockup the Council would make, and the reports
in
>the local paper.
>
>Please keep us up to date on social research, laughter is healthy.
>
>Roland
>signing off for half term in the Lakes, hoping not to go mouldy
*** THE MAIL FROM Roly Beevor ENDS HERE ***
**********************************************************************
TRUTH is too precious to tell every fool who asks for it...
****** This post was sent to you today by Janet Kaiser *******
The Chapel of Art / Capel Celfyddyd
8 Marine Crescent, Criccieth LL52 0EA, Wales, UK
Tel: ++44 (01766) 523570 URL: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
**********************************************************************
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