Vermont: The State of the Arts (2013)

In the fall of 1980 while traveling on a Eurail Pass in Germany, I ran into a fellow traveler from Poland named Josef.

We were at a Biergarten in Cologne and despite his lack of English and my lack of Polish, we quickly discovered that two or three liters of Germany’s finest greatly facilitates any conversation.  It wasn’t long before I learned Josef was in the process of completing his doctorate in political science at a “Uniwersity” in Poland, and as the evening wore on, he shared with me, quite vigorously, his views on the future.

“Computer is key.  With computer I speak Harward. I speak Berkeley. I speak Moscow. I speak Beijing.  Uniwersity professors everywhere speak computer.  Have access to same informations.  Without informations we are like dinosaur.  Strong in what we know, wulnerable in what we don’t.  Informations is key.  Informations change world.  You watch.”

Well surprise, surprise…within 10 years a Polish Pope had supported a Polish union leader in helping to facilitate the downfall of the Soviet Union. I always wondered about who, exactly, Josef was and what he did for a living...

The longer I live, the more I realize how essentially correct Josef was in his broken English.  Information is key.  Information does change the world.

I work in a field, however, that often frustrates those seeking information.  It’s not that the arts aren’t studied, and it’s not that the arts don’t have a measurable value.  And it certainly isn’t that artists and those that support artists don’t have the same level of passion that my friend Josef did.

But, for those of us in the arts, the challenge is discerning which information matters and which does not. 

Even today, after nearly 50 years of the National Endowment for the Arts and the cumulative investment of billions of dollars, society still argues about the value of public funding for the arts.

I’ve gotten fairly good at making this argument over the years.  The difficulty I have, however, is with grant-making organizations like large foundations and even the National Endowment for the Arts whose applications invariably ask questions like How do you evaluate your programs and services? How do you know if they are successful or not? What specific things do you measure that serve as indicators for success?

The smug answer is “The public value of supporting the arts is self-evident.  Humans have supported art-making of all types since long before the Paleolithic Republic of Gaul gave its first Art in State Cave grant to a spectacular cave artist named Pablo P’Lascaux some 17,000 years ago.”

This “art for arts’ sake” response works for arts supporters, but tends to isolate them from everyone else.  The truth is, there really are things that we should do, and that we should do well because the bulk of the money we spend comes from tax-payers all over the country!

So as my old friend Josef might ask, “what informations do you have?” Well, that’s a simple question with a somewhat complicated answer.

Our five-year Strategic Plan is pretty clear on two things.  One is a focus on arts education and the other is a focus on marketing and promotion.  One is in deep trouble and the other offers us the best opportunity and most engaged allies at the state and local level in years.  But to do both, we need resources, a plan and clear outcomes that can be used to see how well we do.

Let me start with the resource question first.  According to our plan, we gave ourselves two years to develop and successfully make the case for matching National Endowment for the Arts Funding 1:1.  As I hope all of you know by now, we beat that benchmark by a full year. Thanks to you and hundreds of advocates from all over the state, the Governor and legislature approved a 26% increase.  This increase means that for the first time in our history we do not have to use our own grantee’s funds as match. 

This is good news for several reasons.  We can now begin to unpack the many issues surrounding the delivery of a meaningful, sequential, and integrated program of arts education in our schools even as we start a new collaboration with the Agency of Education to develop an operating plan that balances student and school needs against the state’s (and our) capacity.

We can also help our partners at the Agency of Commerce to infuse their marketing and promotion efforts with much more timely information about the arts and culture.  Remember, as Josef said 33 years ago, “Informations change world.”  At the very least, we hope better informations about the arts will change Vermont by bringing an ever-greater number of cultural tourists to explore our treasures.

But what will we measure? Where arts education is concerned, our biggest challenge is finding out what data is currently collected.  Our primary strategic objective is to support educational activities particularly in the pre-K through 12 cohort that have arts-enriched/arts-integrated curricula and programming.  Why? Because we want Vermont to be known for turning out civic-minded citizens who recognize and appreciate the arts not only for their intrinsic value, but for the value they offer to communities.  We further assert that learning in the arts is a critical path to success for all students.  So what will we measure and how?

We are giving ourselves until the end of this calendar year to fully answer this question.  I will say, however that the 2 to 5-year Outcomes that we articulated in our Plan are already starting to happen.  We have identified key partners and are actively working with the State Board of Education’s Education Quality Standards Committee to ensure that the arts are an integral part of how Vermont defines a “college-ready” high school graduate. Furthermore, we are working very closely with the consortium of local agencies in Burlington to develop and refine a significant body of knowledge about arts integrated curricula using the Integrated Arts Academy (formerly known as the H. O. Wheeler School) as a model for best practices.

As for what we will measure in the area of marketing and promotion, it’s important to understand first what our strategic objective is.  We support communities that collaboratively engage the arts sector in their promotional efforts about their local economic vitality and vibrancy because the arts are not only a valued tourism draw, but they also serve as a significant attractor for new business development. We will measure increases in the quality and number of materials that the state uses to market and promote Vermont through the arts (most of which we hope to provide), but we will also look at and report out on the significant amount of data collected through the Pew Trust’s Cultural Data Project.

The CDP, as it is called, is an information-gathering protocol that is designed to do what the IRS Form 990 could only dream of doing:  provide consistent, comparable data across the range of nonprofit arts organizations on things like employment, solvency, in-state and out-of-state attendance, management efficiency, trends, and comparison analysis.  We expect our first report on this to drop sometime early this fall.  And so far we are pleased that more than 100 organizations are participating, of which nearly 60 so far have submitted at least two-years’ worth of key operating and financial data.

And what of the outcomes?  We have given ourselves two years to figure out how to work with a variety of state departments, most of which are in the Agency of Commerce and Community development.  A draft Memorandum of Understanding is already circulating that outlines how we hope to become better engaged in promoting Vermont’s cultural assets.

But there is one more important point I want to make.

Sometimes the most important things we do don’t appear in a strategic plan or a Memorandum of Understanding.

No one expected that a series of quiet conversations in 1997 between the then-new Tourism Commissioner and the equally new Arts Council Director would result in a robust Cultural Heritage Tourism Toolkit that remains as relevant today as it was when it was published in 2001.

No one knew in 1999 that a single session at a day-long arts conference would result in something as huge and dynamic as the soon-to-be-completed (finally!) Danville Project.

Our 2001 plan did not include a line directing us to have lunch with Warren Kimble in 2005 and ask him to come up with the Palettes of Vermont.

But all those things happened, and I like to believe they happened because we, the Council and the arts sector in general, are flexible, responsive, and imaginative—and not rigidly tied to a strategic plan.  So I have to ask:

What are we doing today so that in another 15 years the Arts Council’s Executive Director can look back and report on some unexpected outcome that we didn’t identify today because we couldn’t describe what success might look like, much less explain its outcomes and outputs? Where is the next generation of Cultural Tourism, or Danville, or Palettes projects going to come from? How will we know whether and how much to support them? How will we improve our odds of success?

I believe that at its core, the value of the Arts Council is not just in what it can measure, but in what it does to position itself to take advantage of opportunities that are at present unknown.  More importantly, the value of the Council is really more about the quality of the work done by the artists, arts organizations, and arts educators we serve.  In that context, and to stay relevant over time, I believe we need to search outside of our comfort zones.

When asked what the Council does, most people respond that it gives money to artists, arts organizations, and arts educators.  Giving away money is what we have always done, and (in all likelihood) will be what we continue to do in the future.  But this work, while time-consuming, is not hard.  It does not stretch us to look beyond our comfort zone.  Here are some things that surely will:

·       Preparing Vermont to become known as the most accessible arts state—the most welcoming to people with disabilities—in the country

·       Embracing new Americans (especially people of color) and help them to assimilate on their terms to their new home here in Vermont

·       Helping people and institutions physically and psychologically prepare themselves for an increasingly warmer climate with increasingly violent weather

To address these, and many other, issues, the only thing I can think to do is to set a large table and welcome to it a broad array of state, state-wide, local and community partners from all fields with a stake in these and other issues.  Our combined wisdom and knowledge will surely steer us towards solutions tomorrow that none of us on our own could possibly imagine today.  It’s messy, non-linear, and somewhat contradictory to Josef’s “information-will-fix-it” world-view.  But that’s the way the arts roll sometimes.

For now, those of you who are interested in the health of your state arts council, rest assured: we are of sound fiscal mind and body, expected to finish out the current year with a very small surplus all due in no small part to the stellar group of people who respond to your calls day in, day out all year long—the amazing staff of the Vermont Arts Council.  Thank you.

The Official Start of Summer

This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend and it is, according to lore, the “official” start of the New England summer season.  In Vermont, we start celebrating the summer as soon as the last of the snow leaves the shady spots and the daytime temperature climbs above 40 degrees.  Thus, for many of us, “gearing up for another amazing summer arts season” has been in full swing for about a month now.

In virtually every corner of the state, in every nook and cranny throughout the length and breadth of the Green Mountains, along the highways and byways that capture the minds and hearts of both residents and visitors, you can find almost any kind of cultural entertainment you like. But it is the Memorial Day Weekend Open Studio tour and Bennington Mayfest that, for most people, signal the start Vermont’s most vital (in economic terms) tourist season.

Having just celebrated its 20^th anniversary in 2012, the Open Studio tour (organized by its founder, Martha Fitch, director of the Vermont Crafts Council) will showcase more than 240 artists and artisans in their studios throughout the state.  It is considered by many to be one of the best reasons to visit Vermont since it allows visitors from near and far to get to know their favorite artists/artisans in person over the years.

Bennington Mayfest, is organized very differently.  Designed as a one-day festival, the setting covers just a few blocks of downtown of Bennington and showcases artists, artisans, and food vendors in stalls and tents, all in a family and pet-friendly environment.  Now in its 28^th year, the Mayfest might have the bragging rights where longevity is concerned, but Open Studio tour covers a lot more ground and showcases many more artists.  Each event, however, in its own way successfully showcases the variety and talent of Vermont artists and craftspeople.

And that is just a small taste of a few things that are on tap for the next couple of months.  For a complete guide to what is happening not just in the visual arts but in the performing arts let me simply suggest you keep an eye out for the Times-Argus’s Summer Guide to the Arts which should be dropping as an insert in the May 24^th issue.  If ever there was a reason to get excited about the next few months, this is it.  From classical to folk/traditional concerts and festivals, to amateur and professional theater offerings all over the state, the Times-Argus’s guide is one of the few pieces that I keep handy.  A copy on my desk at work, a copy in my car, a copy or two at home—it serves as a constant and handy resource that helps me plan my summer.  Don’t miss it!  In fact, check out a few things that interest you and invite some friends for a visit.  First on my plate? The Burlington Discover Jazz Festival.  But that’s possibly the subject of another whole post…

Enjoy!

Off to a Great Start!

Spring has blossomed. Pollen has rendered any outdoor activity impossible and so, for now, I am trying to focus mainly on indoor activities.

Last Saturday, for example, I attended a really wonderful production of Lost Nation Theater’s Ransom at the Montpelier City Hall Theater.  Even though the pollen count finally caught up with me I was delighted with everything about this Broadway-worthy production.  Despite my intermittent sneezing and snuffling (which I like to think provided added echoes of the Civil War battlefields that formed part of the through-narrative of the work), the 20-or-so performers brought to life the letters of Ransom Towle, a native of West Roxbury, Vt. Serving as an officer in the Army of the Potomac through some of the most difficult years of the Civil War, Towle was wounded, recovered, and eventually lost his life during the Peninsula Campaign.

As good as the leading actors were (something I tend to expect from Lost Nation Theater), perhaps the most exciting thing about the production was the skill and professionalism of the four or five children who played surprisingly important roles.  The play wasn't just about one or two relationships played out against the backdrop of the Civil War.  It was about the destiny of an entire Vermont community--one that in the space of only a few years lost the entire "flower of its youth"--and how war's impact is not just on those who fight, but those who are left behind. The children were beautifully cast, and their skill--first at playing and acting like children, and then later being forced to confront injury, madness, and even death--was as good as any I have seen in any production anywhere. 

In a few months we will note in passing that 150 years ago more than 50,000 young men lost their lives during the three days of the Battle of Gettysburg.  Those kinds of statistics tend to numb us to the reality of what that must have been like--not only for those who lived in or near Gettysburg itself, but those whose families bore the brunt of the outcome.  Ransom did an amazing job of bringing that reality into the present day and forcing us to confront the nature of man and his conflicts.

Bravo, Lost Nation Theater!  The summer arts season is off to a fantastic start...

The First Big Thank You (The Big Ask, Part 4)

A couple of days ago the Vermont House Appropriations Committee voted the Appropriations bill out of committee, and the Arts Council was recommended for an increase of $100,000 to $607,607.

While some reading this post might be tempted to be upset or disillusioned by this reduction to the Governor's recommended increase, the truth is that was the second act of a four-act drama that comprises the 2013 legislative season—at the end of which we hope to end up with an increase of $210,000, not $100,000.  So for now, my message to all of you supporting our efforts to increase support for the arts in Vermont is a very huge and heartfelt “Thank You!”

Arguing on behalf of the arts when so many important programs are seeing large reductions is difficult in the best of circumstances.  That we all have, thus far, convinced the Governor and the House that an increase is necessary (the question is now not “whether?” but “how much?”), is an incredibly important hurdle to have overcome in what is being reported as the most contentious budget battle in recent memory.

There are two more acts before this year's show is over.  Attention first turns to the Senate Appropriations Committee who needs to hear from you that you support the Governor’s recommendation of $210,000 before it votes out its own version of the Appropriations bill in a few weeks’ time.  Of vital importance is to communicate to this body of key legislators that, as it stands now, the House's recommendation will not even allow us to draw down the Federal funds that we have coming to us.

Every Senator on the committee represents dozens, if not hundreds of artists, and several, if not dozens of arts organizations.  They also represent teachers, entrepreneurs, planners, designers, and a host of others whose lives and communities are significantly impacted every day by the arts.  Drop them each a note (remember to cc zeastes@vermontartscouncil.org) sharing your hopes that they will support the Governor’s recommendation.

The final act, during which we will have a final chance to sway the Legislature's decision on our appropriation, is during the conference committee when three House and three Senate members duke it out.  But let’s cross that bridge in a month.

For now, let’s take a breath, remind ourselves--again!--that the House’s recommendation will not allow us to draw down the full amount of Federal funds that we expect to have coming to us, and  turn our attention to the Vermont Senate.On to Act III...

(break a leg!)

Experience Matters

One of my great frustrations with working at the Vermont Arts Council is the number of times in a week or a month that I have to explain what I do for a living. It’s not the work itself.  It’s because the best way to get people to understand what we do at the Council is to show them, not tell them, and I can’t SHOW everybody!

Experiencing art (engaging it, confronting it, attending it, or simply being in its presence) is frequently the only way to understand its intuitive and powerful impact.  I can talk until I am blue in the face to anyone about certain works, certain performances or artists that have elicited a visceral response so powerful that words simply fail to do justice to the experience.  Talking about it doesn’t have anywhere near the impact of giving people an opportunity to experience it for themselves.

Back-to-back events last week provided a wealth of opportunities for folks in Vermont to experience for themselves the power of the arts, and for one of them, it might become a life-altering experience.

On Tuesday, March 12 Legislators returning from the Town Meeting Day break were greeted by a fabulous installation in the State House Card Room by Elizabeth Billings and Cora Vail Brooks.  Consisting of large sheets of brown parcel paper with stenciled words cut out, hung from the ceiling by clips and pins, the exhibit, “Almost,” was created to gently remind anyone who came into the Card Room, that the arts surround us, invite us in, cause us to have an unexpected(?) reaction, and leave us with a changed outlook.

Judging from the responses that we saw on peoples’ faces, and the comments they wrote on our feedback sheet, we touched a lot of people, mostly in a very positive way, and created a new appreciation for art and, yes, for the Card Room itself.  The Card Room itself was a place legislators used to adjourn to while waiting for, say, conference committees to finish their work.  To pass the time, they played cards with each other.  Today, the room is used for special interest groups to share information about their causes.  In the past, the Arts Council has had displays of grantees’ works, slide-shows of cultural facilities’ improvements that we have funded, held poetry readings, and in general shared information with folks in the building about our programs and services.

This year we gave them an experience they won’t soon forget.

On the very next day we celebrated the 8^th Annual Vermont Poetry Out Loud Competition in the Barre Opera House.

For eight years, Vermont high school students have labored to learn three poems well enough to recite them in front of their school-mates, and be selected to compete in a semifinal competition in Barre.  Finalists are selected from the 30-plus semifinalists, and the winner receives some scholarship money and the opportunity to do it all over again in Washington DC against the winners from the 52 other states and jurisdictions; and his/her school receives money to purchase books.  All very simple and straightforward, right?

Wrong.  This competition is extremely intense and yet it is among the most engaging and uplifting programs we undertake.  The mechanics are straightforward, but the results are anything but.  High schoolers of all ages and types have to not just learn a poem, but inhabit it, internalize it, and make it their own.  Then they must convey the poem's meaning and power with a minimum amount of theatrics and a maximum amount of passion and oratorical skill.  Props are occasionally used, but rarely to any great effect.  This year, the most powerful competitor (in my opinion, of course!) was the guy who barely moved, but held each of us in a steely gaze, and delivered up a stunning result—using just his voice.  He didn’t win.  Instead, that honor went to Christian DeKett of St. Johnsbury Academy and if he goes on to the Nationals and does as well as last year’s Vermont entry, Claude Mumbere, his life may be truly altered in profound and exciting ways.

The real point, however, is that more than 4000 students across the state participated in the competition.  They challenged themselves to do something far outside their normal comfort-zone.  It was far more than learning the words (which I gather is the easy part).  The students not only had to truly understand the poems, they then had to bring that awareness and understanding to the audience, especially the judges.  The judges, in turn, were looking at the difficulty of the poem, the student’s understanding, his/her ability to convey that understanding, his/her delivery, and the quality of the overall performance. 

So many critical skills come in to play for the participants.  In addition to the poem itself, the student has to consider the impact of the clothes they wear, how they approach the microphone, the tone and volume of the voice they use, the degree to which they can overcome their natural fear of being in the spotlight and being judged. 

Probably only a handful or two of those participating will go on to a career in the arts, and fewer still will become poets.  But I can absolutely guarantee that 10, 20, 50 years from now, when asked by a friend or family-member what do they remember most about high school, most will probably say, the experience that this competition gave them. 

Learning is no more about rote memorization than education is just about training.  There are times when rote memorization helps achieve a certain end and when training kicks in and enables us to respond automatically to a set of circumstances that might (as in a fist-fight) save our hides.  But learning and understanding require a deeper commitment that serves as a gateway to life-long learning.

This is what the arts can do.  This is why adding the A (Arts) to STEM instruction is so vitally important.  We can all be trained up in the specifics of science, technology, engineering, and math, but it is the Arts that enable us to learn and to live.