Foreword / Lynne P. Brown -- Introduction : Poems Don't Stay in Place : How the Arts Move and Change Us / Alberta Arthurs ; Part I : Strengthening Society. What Is to Be Done? / ; Oskar Eustis ; New York Reimagined : Artists, Arts Organizations, and the Rebirth of a City / Mary Schmidt Campbell ; Leading Institutional Change : New Thinking about Mission, Values, and Purpose / Jesse Rosen and Daniel Weiss ; The Arts Today / Karol Bercer ; Are the Arts Essential? / Darren Walker -- Part II : Benefiting the Individual. Art in Theory : An Insight from Marcel Duchamp / K. Anthony Appiah ; "Exchanging Signals with the Planet Mars" : Reading as Relationship / Edward Hirsch ; Talking of Walking / Alice Sheppard ; Why Teach the Arts : Beyond Specious Claims / Ellen Winner ; A Human Beauty, a Human Risk : The Arts Within Us / Catharine R. Stimpson -- Part III : Finding and Fostering Community. Reflections : Are the Arts Essential? / Deborah Willis ; An Urdu of the Twenty-First-Century United States / Zeyba Rahman and Hussein Hussein Rashid ; Cultural Conservatory : Living the Arts / Cristal Chanelle Truscott ; It's Who We Are / Angela Cox ; An Artist's Journey / Tania León -- Part IV : Engaging the Sciences. The Work of Art in the Age of Ubiquitous Computing / Steven Tepper ; City as Living Laboratory : Creating a New Narrative for Climate Change and the Public Realm / Mary Miss ; Unreasonable Movement : Unreasonable Thought / Elizabeth Streb ; Jazz and Consciousness / Fred Hersch -- Part V : Recording and Sharing Our Histories. Art and Consciousness from Blombos Cave to Black Lives Matter / Mariët Westermann ; Art Saved Us ... from What? / Karen L. Ishizuka ; Darkness and Light : the powers of performing / Richard Sennett ; Art Invites the World In / Carol Becker ; On the Value of the Arts and Culture in a Global Community / Jeffrey Brown ; The Arts and Global Relations / Jay Wang ; Conclusion : The Art of Gathering / Michael F. Diniscia ; Annotated Bibliography / Leah Reisman.
Summary:
"Twenty-seven contributors - artists, cultural professionals, scholars, a journalist, grantmakers - were asked this question, "Are the Arts Essential?" In response, they offer deep and challenging answers applying the lenses of the arts, and those of the sciences, the humanities, public policy, and philanthropy. Playing so many parts, situated in so many places, these writers illustrate the ubiquity of the arts and culture in the United States. They draw from the performing arts and the visual arts, from poetry and literature, and from culture in our everyday lived experiences. Every entry challenges readers to go beyond the usual in thinking about the arts and culture in the context of our challenging times"---Condensed from the publisher's description. A timely and kaleidoscopic reflection on the importance of the arts in our society. In the midst of a devastating pandemic, as theaters, art galleries and museums, dance stages and concert halls shuttered their doors indefinitely and institutional funding for entertainment and culture evaporated almost overnight, a cohort of highly acclaimed scholars, artists, cultural critics, and a journalist sat down to ponder an urgent question: Are the arts essential? Across twenty-five highly engaging essays, these luminaries join together to address this question and to share their own ideas, experiences, and ambitions for the arts. Darren Walker discusses the ideals of justice and fairness advanced through the arts; Mary Schmidt Campbell shows us how artists and cultural institutions helped New York overcome the economic crisis of the 1970s, bringing new investment and creativity to the city; Deborah Willis traces histories of oppression and disenfranchisement documented by photographers; and Oskar Eustis offers a brief history lesson on how theaters have built communities since the Golden Age of Athens. Other topics include the vibrancy and diversity of Muslim culture in America during a time of rising Islamophobia; the strengthening of the common good through the art and cultural heritages of indigenous communities; digital data aggregation informing and influencing new art forms; and the jazz lyricisms of a theater piece inspired by a composer's two-month coma. Drawing on their experiences across the spectrum of the arts, from the performing and visual arts to poetry and literature, the contributors remind readers that the arts are everywhere and, in one important way after another, they question, charge and change us. These impassioned essays remind us of the human connections the arts can forge--how we find each other through the arts, across the most difficult divides, and how the arts can offer hope in the most challenging times. What answer does this convocation offer to Are the Arts Essential? A resounding Yes.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.