The
State of the Arts
By Jen Eberbach
Reprinted from
The Ryder Magazine (Bloomington, IN) September 2007
Our little town is filled to the brim with enthusiastic artists and arts organizers.
Local and visiting art lovers will not find a lack of ambitious exhibitions and events at Bloomington’s large number
of galleries, museums, festivals, performance spaces and alternative spaces. However, the state of the Bloomington arts scene
is also brimming with economic and social challenges, psychological divisions and a feeling that our community can do a better
job of reaching its full potential.
Ed Van Sande, who has served as the Interim Director of the Bloomington Area Arts Council, says that he has “never
seen an area with this kind of population, which is relatively small, that has this much going on.” He states; “We
are by far and without question the leading region within the State as far as the density of the arts, the number of artists,
the number of arts organizations, the amount of programming, and per capita the amount of dollars that the arts generate in
our local economy.” However, he thinks that the Bloomington community needs to do a better job of “maximizing
our opportunities,” which would include “creating more economic opportunities for artists” in order to “keep
them in town.”
Overwhelmingly,
artists and arts organizers face varying degrees of financial struggle and many are left to take on other jobs in order to
have the freedom to continue working in the arts. Jaime Sweany, owner of Wandering Turtle Art Gallery and Gifts, explains
that “although Bloomington has a wealth of talent, the economy has not kept up the pace,” she states. “Artists
are struggling to make ends meet." Commercial galleries like Wandering Turtle, which support local artists, rely on sales
in order to function. Although Sweany is grateful of the patrons who come in to view art, she has noticed that many “don’t
buy,” in part because “people think art is a luxury,” she states.
The need exists to re-evaluate the place that the arts and the art market inhabit
within the greater community and economy – and the benefits that art brings to the proverbial table. Prima Gallery Director
Marcy Neiditz claims that economic challenges in the arts community are in large part due to “the value of art in American
culture.” She is “concerned with the lack of funding for the arts, as well as cuts in art education programs,
“and sees a connection between these issues and the economic stability of commercial galleries. Looking to the future,
she asks; “Is there going to be a consumer culture that will support art?”
Some would say that Indiana University is a dominant force, affecting the state
of the Bloomington art scene. This is not only due to the shear number of people IU brings into the city during the school
year, but a psychological division between the local and IU communities – frequently defined in terms of ‘town-gown.’
This division goes beyond parking issues the geographical distance, entering into conversations about educating IU students
about what is going on downtown and encouraging more local residents to support the efforts of University exhibition spaces.
To some extent, local and University venues are locked into doing their own thing, as far as programming goes – which
has the potential to alienate. However, the town-gown gap raises complex questions about how to strengthen the feeling that
everyone is a part of Bloomington.
Despite economic and social challenges, the uniqueness of Bloomington is keeping many individuals in town, including
those who run alternative or local community-based projects. However, many members of the arts community have had to find
creative ways to keep the creative output in Bloomington high – whether this is achieved by individuals within the arts
community working together to plan and fund events, or local restaurants and business establishments lending out space for
artists to exhibit their work.
Your Art Here organizers Julie Hardesty and Brad Wicklund explain that finding permanent venues for public art installations
has been a challenge. However, the project has successfully sponsored art on community-run billboards, commercial billboards
and on Bloomington Transit buses, and they are debuting a newBillboard 101 on the corner of Walnut and 6th Street
(Space 101) in conjunction with the Art Hospital’s annual $5 Painting Show, which takes place on September
8. “We have to go one on one and talk to people who have companies and businesses that we want to deal with,”
states Hardesty. Wicklund, an artist involved in planning visual arts programming at the Art Hospital, emphasized the usefulness
of creating “individual relationships” and the need to have the “support of the community.”
Miah Michaelsen talks about her vision for
B.E.A.D.
Major initiatives
that have been set forth by Mayor Mark Kruzen’s Economic Development Department aim at creating long lasting affects
on the city. The creation of B.EAD (Bloomington Entertainment and Arts District), which the Mayor announced in May of last
year, has fueled provocative conversations within the arts community and between the art and business communities about how
to develop downtown and create opportunities for everyone.
The plan involves promoting and supporting the development of downtown Bloomington in a way that encourages the City’s
growth as a center for arts, culture and entertainment. Through focus groups, research, and feedback from members of the arts,
entertainment and business communities, the City is developing a strategic plan to encourage development in the District and
conversation between different sectors of society. Initial projects have been inspired by the creation of B.E.A.D, including
the incorporation of regional art into the newly dedicated Baker Place Building and Art Gallery. However, since the City is
in a strategic planning phase, the arts community is waiting to see the extent to which B.E.A.D will affect the state of Bloomington
arts.
A main feature
of the project is the creation of a map that divides downtown into what the City has termed “character areas,”
which will be connected by an improved B-Line trail. Information on the characteristics of the “character areas”
and more information on the B.E.A.D initiative are available through the official website,” at http://bloomington.in.gov/bead/.
Assistant Economic Development Director
for the Arts Miah Michaelsen relates; “There’s quite a bit of groundwork that’s already been done.”
She explains that “focus groups and stake-holder groups have happened well in advance, so that they could put together
a scope of the District that really matched the needs of what the artists, organizations and the community wanted and needed.
So, I think it’s very realistic in this way. I think people’s expectations are realistic.” She emphasizes
the importance of “marketing and supporting each other,” as well as “tourism, reminding people that arts
are a huge part of our local economy, and getting our local community to invest in that.”
She relates that the City has done a lot of research into how Districts in other
cities provide “economic incentives to their artists and their arts organizations and to new businesses relocating”
One major need amongst individual artists in the community is “affordable living space, close to the District,”
as well as “studio space,” according to Michaelsen.
She also sees a need to encourage people to consider the value of art in society
and says that, in the future, she would like to see the creation of an “Artist’s Bill of Rights” or some
kind of “statement about how we should value the work of artists and the arts in their community and about living wage,
and about the support of that, and how we need to put artists at the same level that we put other professionals in this community.”
Jen Eberbach is the public relations
gallery assistant at the School of Fine Arts (SoFA) Gallery and a freelance art writer for the Ryder and various publications
in Bloomington. She has hosted several community-based projects in Bloomington and worked as an Intern for the Indianapolis
Museum of Contemporary Art (iMOCA) and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. She completed her M.A. in art history with a focus
on contemporary art at IU, in 2006.
