What Art?
by
Senator Kathleen Vinehout
“Art has the power to fill spaces in our souls that
nothing else can,” said Alan Nugent, owner of Abode Art Gallery in
Stockholm. I recently had an opportunity to learn about art and its
impact on Wisconsin.
“Art
has the power to transport, transform, to call and excite. I see this
every day when people come in my gallery. People talk about being
revived and rejuvenated. They feel things they haven’t felt in a
while,” Alan said. “The other day an 80-year-old farm woman came in
and viewed a painting of the countryside. The painting took her back
to memories decades old.”
Alan
loves art. His passion is palpable. His drive is the matching of art
created by someone he knows with a new owner moved by the creation.
“Artists put into their work their passion for the
natural world,” he explained. “How often do we get to do something
that creates an emotional response?”
Stockholm, a small community along the Mississippi
River, is one of many communities that experienced an art renaissance
in recent years. New businesses and tourists flock to the picturesque
community nestled below the bluffs. The center of Stockholm is the
Wide Spot Performing Arts Theater, named for the wide spot in the Big
River. Alan and his partner renovated this historic opera hall.
“We
have a visual art gallery,” he said. “But writing is the most powerful
form of art and the hardest to understand. At Wide Spot the most
interesting performances have been spoken words; poetry and
readings.”
Through the Arts Board, Wisconsin supported the work of
Wide Spot with a small grant to assist in the first season of “Going
Coastal” a podcast radio show. “A tiny bit of seed money creates a
community,” Alan noted. The seed blossomed into many profitable
tourist businesses.
“Arts
and tourism are utterly intertwined. They cannot exist without each
other,” Alan stated.
Across the nation, states are vying with each other to
snag more of the tourists’ dollars. Arts tourism has become
the new buzz word. Communities are looking to attract those who spend
money as tourists; they are more likely to be over 50 and looking for
good food and culture.
Fortunately, western Wisconsin has become a destination
for many tourists. They are drawn to its natural beauty like the Great
River Road which was voted the “Prettiest Drive: Ultimate Summer Road
Trip in the United States”. Tourists are also drawn to communities all
around western Wisconsin for the emerging cultural scene.
Wisconsin makes small investments in developing art and
tourism through the work of the Wisconsin Arts Board and the
Department of Tourism. Alan is a member of the Board of Directors of
Arts Wisconsin, a nonprofit organization promoting state funding for
the arts.
“We
advocate for the arts as a way to build communities and economies,”
Alan explained. “This funding allows people to create, to think
outside the box; to build something they would never be able to do
otherwise. The funding tends to show exceptional return on the state’s
investment.”
Wisconsin historically ranked in the middle of the pack
in state spending for the arts. But this commitment has waned,
especially in recent years. A study just released by the National
Assembly of State Arts Agencies ranks Wisconsin arts funding 48th in the U.S. with only
fourteen cents per person spent on the arts.
Minnesota ranked #1 with $6.31 per person invested in
the arts.
This
huge disparity is a drag on Wisconsin’s economy as hundreds of
thousands of dollars go from Wisconsin to Minnesota. “They have it and
we don’t,” Alan said. “We are trying to reverse it by people coming
here [to Stockholm] but we are a grain of sand.” The lack of funding
means many projects never get off the drawing board.
“This
shows how important it is for each individual to step forward and support the
arts. Otherwise we won’t survive,” Alan emphasized.
What
can you do to support the arts? Come to the Stockholm Art Fair
Saturday, July 19th from 10am to 5pm.
art schmart -- why should I support someone else's ideals of creativity and blah blah blah. Slave laborers in china can airbrush elvis on black canvas and make little statues of crap.
ReplyDeleteSo what makes any of this better?
Are you really that stupid???
Delete