Oink oink.
It’s me again, SPACES’ money-grubbing development manager. It seems like everyone I talk to these days has cash on the brain. Some are resolving to save more in 2010, and others are stressed about paying off holiday credit card bills. I flip on the radio after a long day of begging for funds, and all of the stories obsess over the economy in general.
The same holds true here in the gallery. We’re topical. Get a load of this:
One of our current exhibitions, Art Work: A National Conversation About Art, Labor, and Economics, reflects on artists who work amidst depressed economies and how that impacts artistic process, compensation and artistic property. Fortunately for SPACES, Art Work was funded by Lauren Rich Fine & Gary Giller and the John P. Murphy Foundation.
Our next exhibition, ” … in a most dangerous manner”, takes its title from a passage in Karl Marx’s Das Kapital:
Talk about centralisation! The credit system, which has its focus in the so-called national banks and the big money-lenders and usurers surrounding them, constitutes enormous centralisation, and gives to this class of parasites the fabulous power, not only to periodically despoil industrial capitalists, but also to interfere in actual production in a most dangerous manner — and this gang knows nothing about production and has nothing to do with it. [emphasis mine]
Need I mention that this exhibition includes work that – in one way or another — touches on capitalism and/or economic collapse?
SPACES brings Northeast Ohio artists a chance to build on their creative capital through SPACELab, a forum for experimentation that comes with a small $tipend (emphasis on small). We’re accepting applications now through March 31!
And while all of the lovely programming folks at SPACES make their hard-earned dollars organizing art, I get mine filling out hundreds and hundreds of questions for the Ohio Cultural Data Project. It’s due January 15, and funders claim that it will streamline the funding process for participants, as well as provide valuable data for demonstrating the economic impact of the arts in Ohio.
And finalllly … I can’t forget to mention the talented artists in Cuyahoga County who are receiving Creative Workforce Fellowships. These awards were announced last month by the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture here in Cleveland. Talk about a cash infusion! Congratulations!
Wishing all of you a prosperous 2010!
~ posted by Sarah McGreer Hoyt, Development Manager
Filed under: call to artists, Cleveland, Guest Bloggers, SPACES Funders & Donors, "... in a most dangerous manner", art funding, Art Work: National Conversation About Art, Artists, Cleveland, Community Partnership for Art and Culture, Creative Workforce Fellowships, John P. Murphy Foundation, Karl Marx, Ohio Cultural Data Project, SPACELab
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