Title: DirectorReport2008-10-30.doc

 

Programming:

Activity	Date	Title	#s
Exhibition	Sept 30-  Oct 11	Friends of Photography	30
Multimedia	Oct 1	Trail Mix produced by Random Access Theater [RAT]	8
Exhibition	Oct 3	Reception for FoP	20
Jazz	Oct 4	Lola Danza	8
Members	Oct  9	first impressions … Volunteers night hosted by Setheyny	30
Local Bands	Oct 10	Avenue A, Mike Ryan’s band	40
Exhibition	Oct 14-  Nov 8	Zine Art Mike Dailey [Lowell], DeiX [NH], Gareth Hinds [Boston], Gina Kamentsky [Boston], Heather Noecker [NH], OUtlET [Lowell], Hans Rickheit [PA]	6
Local Bands	Oct 17	Salvation Army Benefit produced by Josh Taylor & Mira	40
Cabaret	Oct 18	Drag Nation 2nd Annual Halloween Ball produced by Jamie Malone	40
New Music	Oct 22	Illusion of Safety + Sickness	3
New Music	Oct 23	Crank Sturgeon	3
New Music	Oct 24	Birdorgan	12
Local Bands	Oct 25	Hollywood Lies produced by Mat Barletta	45
Workshop	Oct 26	Circuit Building with Jessica Rylan	10
Reception	Nov 1	Zine Art
Multimedia	Nov 1	INTransit v4: Got Glitch! DVD release party

            

Exhibits - As with Friends of Photography, I hung & lighted the Zine Art Exhibit, all 70+ pieces. It took me most of the first week of the exhibit. As a result I missed the Lowell Cultural Council submission deadline for XFest. This may or may not be a good thing. Funding for XFest is not a big deal; it will support itself this year. Submitting grants to the LCC, while Mary Ann is both a 119 Board member and a LCC member, creates the perception of a conflict of interest. The LCC is our only ‘reliable’ local source of funding and we have missed our chance for this year.

 

 

I realize that I’ve hung almost every exhibit this past year (Setheyney hung “in a state of Flux”). Working alone it takes me 4- 5 days to hang and light an exhibit. Ergo, I have reworked the exhibition schedule for 2009 as follows –

 

 

            Jan 6 – Jan 31              Curated Exhibit

Feb 10 – Feb 21          Guerilla Exhibit

Mar 3 – Mar 28           Curated Exhibit

Apr 7 – Apr 18            Geurilla Exhibit

Apr 28 – May 23         Astrodime Transit Authority’s Cyberarts Exhibit

June 2 - June 27           Curated Exhibit

July 7 – Aug 1              4th Annual Members’ Exhibit

 

 

This covers the rest of the year including 5 curated exhibits, each 4 weeks long, and 2 guerilla exhibits, each 2 weeks long. There’s a week between the closing of one exhibit and the opening of the next exhibit. The week of XFest, Feb 27 – 28, is clear. Two of the curated exhibits are set and available for sponsorship - ATA’s Cyberarts Exhibit and the 4^th Annual Members’ Exhibit. Mary Ann has additional info …

 

Soundscape project – the letters to U Mass Lowell went out last week. They were sent to the chairs of the departments of Music, Art and American Studies; to Community Outreach, Broadcast Communications, and the office of Academic Affairs. Jed and I plan to attend the Association of Record Production conference at UML later this month -

http://www.artofrecordproduction.com/content/view/59/95/

 

XFest project – I have an organizing committee including Brett Cromwell [music writer, Lowell Film Collaborative], Andy Jacobson [Brew’d Awakening], Eric Sack [Lowell Telecommunications Corp], and Amy Sifferlen [WUML]. Charlette R-C is interning as administrivia assistant. I will email invites to the artists next week. The lineup will be set mid December.

 

The Creative Economy:

The class reviewed Richard Florida’s definition of the Creative Economy. Basically this is the bourgeois bohemian or ‘bobo’ model of urban revitalization. It includes renovating ‘old mill buildings’ and looks for the existence of a healthy gay subculture. Florida is for small cafes, alternate music and performance venues, ethnic restaurants, Frisbees and bike trails. He is anti large stadiums and ball parks, box stores, fast-food and franchised eateries. He thinks high-tech, innovative opportunities for employment in small, cutting-edge start-ups are more important than good schools and low taxes.

 

Next we examined New England Foundation for the Arts definition of the Creative Economy. This definition is so broad that includes just about everything. It includes video rental stores, advertising agencies, and jewelers. In order to actually find something to measure it ignores the majority of fine artists, those who support themselves by waiting tables or other low-paying service job. However it does make a strong case for institutional support of the arts. The report cites Minneapolis St Paul as an example. Because of strong support from the state, city, university and local foundations; and institutions such as the Guthrie Center and the Walker Center, the twin cities have developed into a major center for contemporary theater and dance.

 

After reviewing these definitions of the Creative Economy, it became obvious that measuring the creative economy is a central issue. How do you measure the impact of a small non-profit like 119 Gallery on the local economy? NEFA thinks you can calculate this by tracking ticket sales, restaurant sales, parking fees, etc. Like Florida they propose some sort of multiplier based on the organization’s income. If for example we sold 100 tickets for an event and received $1000 as income, then the impact on the community is $1000 * 1.5 = $1500. It’s easy to see how this approach appeals to accountants. It’s also easy to see that it complete misses the ‘real value of art.’

 

Finally, we reviewed the Lowell Plan report on the Creative Economy. We had 2 guests, Rosemary Noone and LZ Nunn. Rosemary reviewed the history of arts and cultural planning in Lowell beginning with National Parks and ending with the Auburn Group report. LZ explained that the City’s approach is to ‘partner’ with existing institutions. She mentioned Lowell as ‘Festival City.’

 

Bob pointed out that the only real Lowell festival was the SE Asian Water Fest, which receives no support from the city. He also pointed out that the Tsongas Arena and LaLacheur Park bring little or no money to the city. We discussed the Arts Zone that effectively excludes younger artists and Lowell’s diverse, ethic population (it had to be redrawn to include Western Avenue Studios). We discussed the Smith Baker Center. Bob pointed out that Lowell already has cultural assets – it’s blue-collar history and ethnic diversity – that are not being effectively leveraged by the City. We talked about the idea of supporting small, member-run non-profits throughout the whole city. Rosemary got the idea; LZ didn’t.

 

It might be worth developing this model at this year’s board retreat.

 

Education Program:

Jessica Rylan’s Circuit Building Workshop was a huge success. Mary Ann has photos for Facebook. Jessica entertained everyone with a rambling description of her circuit, which included comments on the history of electronic music, electrical theory, mathematics and philosophy, ethics and culture. Mike Fun answered most of Jessica’s questions (What is Euler’s equation and how does it model the underlying nature of reality?). Mike Dailey was hung over. Andrea soldered random components together. Joe Brown sat next to and was somewhat distracted by Ilene Ros. Jessica and Nate helped everyone cleanup their boards. Every student successfully completed their own touch-sensitive, battery-powered noise generator and enjoyed takeout lunch from Tepthida Khymer … the Creative Economy at work 8^)

 

Lowell Telecommunications and Axiom Gallery requested the Basic Video (Art) and Sound Art classes. I have completed both classes at the LTC and will meet with Axiom next week. LTC asked me offer the same classes again in December. We should schedule Artists’ Talks and Workshops related to current exhibits and events.

 

We need to follow up on “first impressions …”

 

 

 

Prepared by: Walter Wright, Executive Director