Every week (nearly) I converse with a group of artist and photographers via the internet. We have our own chat room and members can also video chat via iChat which is pretty cool. There are about 38 members total (its by invitation only), and the group consist of artist from all parts of the US.
This weeks meeting was surprising, since we had nearly all members present... usually there are only 20 on average. However, it was no surprise that the basic conversational topic was the US Presidential election. The general consensus was that Bush was the Anti-Artist. Again, not surprising. It seems that creative people in general were not inclined to vote for Bush since he has not done much for the art community in general since he's been in office. A few members pointed out the lack of funding for school art programs and cut-backs for museums and such. I have to admit they have a point.
The members of the Art Group are artist that have tons of work in museums and galleries, so a lot of their opinions have some merit. For instance, large companies that used to be patrons of the arts are no longer interested... keeping their money for more important things, like lining their own pockets. CEO's buy old art at auctions for the wrong reason... just to show their compatriots that they can afford a million dollar piece of art. Not for its artistic value, but rather for bragging rights. This is a sad state of affairs, with no solution in sight.
Will the next 4 years of the Bush administration spell the death of art? Well maybe not the demise of art, but it certainly will take a hit. Not even Bushism can kill the spirit of art. So relax my children. Your day will come and your creativity will at last be appreciated.
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