Galleries and museums are only viable with support from artists, the public, and a strong collecting population. Major collectors are the backbone of our museum boards, but what we also need are fields of grassroots buyers who learn that owning original art adds a tremendous value to the quality of their lives. As for galleries, more of them mean larger amounts of artwork shown. With encouragement and a little competitive spirit, artists are pushed to do their best work and we benefit from a higher level of quality as the bar is raised.
Collectors and community dialogue supply that vital commodity: feedback. For example, collectors buy, giving reinforcement to artists and emerging artists can be mentored by established artists. An active community arts voice insures success by dissemination of information in the form of printed media and Internet resources such as SDVAN. SDVAN is founded on the principal of encouraging these exchanges and is starting a new feature, Picked RAW Peeled which will reveal artistic events in more detail. Too, the mushrooming of collector clubs all over San Diego can build a larger social network with peer education in the arts while at the same time supporting artists monetarily and proudly.
Art fairs like the one in Miami/Basel could become a standard feature on our events calendar. The fair could encourage art collecting, showcase our art organizations, and attract cultural tourism. Let’s start by focusing on emerging artists in the first year of the event.
Youth and education are fundamental. Teaching art as parents and volunteers, in most public schools, makes it obvious that we need a consistent and comprehensive arts education curriculum for every institution. Go talk to your son or daughter's principal now or write a letter to your school's superintendent, asking for more art. Creativity knows no unemployment.
Article comments
1 - Joanne Huspek
Good plans for an area that is one of the most arts encouraged around.