Thank you, Thomas Cott, for picking up the following blog post today in You've Cott Mail. 

Readers, click over to the actual blog post and read the comments considerably down the page. This is a very important discussion.

Commentary: "This is why our arts are in crisis today"
Posted by Michael Kaiser on Huffington Post, June 29, 2009

"American arts organizations are threatened, but it is not the economy that poses the largest threat.  It is the decision-making of boards and staffs in response to economic challenges that has much greater long-term implications for the health of our arts ecology.  While arts funding only fell 6% last year, many arts organizations are making drastic cuts to their programming.  Many have canceled performances, eliminated educational programming, shortened seasons, or closed altogether.  Others are "dumbing down" their product...to make programming more accessible (read boring).  Still more are cutting their marketing dramatically; after all, they argue, who will notice if we spend less on communicating our (reduced) programming?  These approaches...all assume that cost is the underlying problem of the arts; conventional wisdom suggests that an arts organization can "save its way to health."  But this is wrong, dangerously wrong.  Arts organizations across the world have a revenue problem, not a cost problem.... And what creates revenue for an arts organization?  Good art supported by strong marketing.... Cutting programming and marketing, the current favored strategy... ensures that future revenue will fall.  This initiates a viscous cycle; less art and marketing yielding less revenue leading to more cuts in programming and marketing, less revenue, etc. etc....  This is why our arts are in crisis today.  We can survive the current economic downturn if we keep our programming vital and work harder than ever to convey our message.  Those arts organizations who compete well will survive and recover when the economy recovers.  Those that continue to cut away at their programming are likely to become irrelevant."

  Big congratulations to Anne Jenkins, Bradley & Katherine Stolz Barber, Laura Connely, Diana Smith and other principals who had a hand in yesterday's "Stroll 'n Roll thru local art studios & galleries" in historic downtown Washington Georgia! The website's come-on, "artists demonstrations, wine, fun", was right on the money.

Bill Ronay & I started at Art Gallery La Place to see works by nearly 20 local artists. Anne Jenkins was at her best as she greeted guests and explained who was on the Art Stroll. Kathleen and Craig Gill demonstrated how they begin to design their fused glass creations.

Laura Connely's new studio & living quarters above the Gallery was a big hit with us art-y types. Our Laura can paint, make soap and candles, marvelous natural wreaths and virtually anything that two hands can do.

Bradley Barber doubled as the tram driver and took visitors out to what once was Wilkes Feed & Mill Company, and now is Funhouse Design, doubling as the home of artists Diana and Tommy Smith. The canine mayor of Washington, Hannah Barber, greeted all comers and scarfed down any crumbs that happened to drop from Diana's yummy cheese squares.

Courson's Winery (Hwy 22 btw Sparta & Milledgeville) donated five cases of their berry wines that were offered at all the stops. And most of the studios offered homemade snacks.

Back downtown around the Square, we picked the Jockey Club for lunch. I'd been hungry for local legend Joe Barnett's shrimp & grits since I'd seen the Food Channel episode where he trumped Bobby Flay at a THROWDOWN a few months ago. A poster in the window of the Jockey Club announced Joe had been there to share his recipe with the chef. And the dish was as delicious as advertised. My bowl was as clean as a whistle.

Anne Jenkins has scheduled Washington's next Art Stroll in the Fall. I'll be sure and let you know when it is, so you can plan to attend.

In the meantime, check on artscentric open galleries/studios in your community. The artists are pleased to explain techniques and show off their studios. You can see where the art you buy is made. And you get to know really, really cool people!

  This newly-refurbished gazebo in downtown Louisville marks one of the sites where slave auctions were held in Georgia. Some of the timbers in it were used in the original structure years & years ago. And there isn't a plaque or sign that I could see telling visitors what it stands for.

But before our state was formed, slaves were brought from Africa to what is now the Golden Isles and Georgia Coast to work the mighty indigo, rice and cotton plantations. When Sherman burned through Georgia, many of the plantation owners gathered their families and slaves, and went to Thomasville, Macon or Athens. After Sherman wasn't a threat and the slaves had been freed, some stayed in their new communities; some returned to the Coast.

Through the ensuing years, Geechee everywhere passed their culture - their dialect, music, art, stories and spiritual beliefs - to their children. Sweet grass baskets, dolls, quilts, cast nets, cook books, histories and folk art tell the stories of these proud citizens.

In 2006, the US Congress established the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor to recognize the important contributions made to American culture and history by African-Americans known as Gullah and Geechee, who settled in coastal regions of four states - North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia & Florida. Out of 54 heritage areas in the United States, this is the ONLY African-American area!

A commission of 25 members has been established to develop a management plan for the Corridor that will provide guidance and direction over the next 10-15 years to "sustain an environment that celebrates the legacy and continuing contributions of Gullah/Geechee people to our American heritage." To that end, the commission has set up public meetings in the four states.

I attended the first meeting at the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum in Savannah this past Tuesday evening. Five more meetings are set as follows:

Tuesday, June 9 - 6:30-8pm, at the Turner Hodge Young Community Center in Savannah

Saturday, June 20 - 11am-6pm, at the Georgia Sea Island Festival in Neptune Park on Saint Simons Island

Sunday, June 21 - noon-6pm, also at the Georgia Sea Island Festival on Saint Simons Island

Friday, June 26 - 6:30-8pm, at Sam's Memorial Church of God in Christ, 230 Blount Crossing Rd, in Darien

Saturday, June 27 - 1:30-3pm, at the Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society on Sapelo Island

The Commissioners are asking two questions: Who needs to be included for the past and future of the culture? What are the resources that most need to be protected for the future?

Do you know about the Geechee? Acquaint yourself with them on the internet, then pay a visit to the Coast. Visit the Geechee Kunda Cultural Center in Riceboro. And plan to attend the 2009 Cultural Day on Sapelo Island, Saturday October 17 from 9am-5pm. You'll get a wonderful glimpse into the storytelling, dancing, cultural demonstrations and art/craft of a very special group of people.

Robert Lee Hicks, Geechee Folk Artist