Artsy Schmartsy

The return

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 03:02:00 +0000

Tomorrow I turn 42.

42 is one of those birthdays you really need to be reminded about. Up to a few days ago, I had simply forgotten that it was time to have another birthday. This is one of the key reasons a fellow has a family...so they can remind you that you'll be getting cake and that you're not getting any younger.

As I reflect upon my 41st year, I can't help but look back on the last 365 days with a bit of ennui. As I look at this blog, and it's former activity, I know where a lot of that ennui comes from.

I used to write. I used to follow through on writing. During my 41st year, I did a lot of talking about how I wanted to write more, but when I think about the past year, I think about a lot of talk without walking the talk. 41 was a year that I chalk up to learning that follow through has not been my strong suit.

I'm taking a small step today because I'd like to get back into the writing habit. Showoff that I am, I need to talk about that publicly, so if anyone does come across this blog, please look at me and validate my writing existence.

I've set a little challenge for myself this year, and I'm asking anyone within reading distance of Artsy Schmartsy to help me stay honest on this one. I've vowed to do at least one piece of writing for the next 365 days, and I've chosen the sweetest, most intimate bit of writing I can think of: the handwritten note.

Looking back at 41 I also realized that too much of 41 was spent with my face in a screen. Too often I found the excuse, "I'm too busy to write!" getting in my way while I had plenty of time to explore the innermost crevices of Facebook. Facebook crevices are dirty, I tell you, dirty. That all changes now (Well, it did on September 1 when I started this actually.)

I chose the handwritten note because it's easy. No fuss, no muss, and I can do it anywhere on any piece of paper. I also know that my daughters like getting mail, so for at least two days my writing will make someone happy.

Here's how you can help me with my 365 days writing challenge: Ask me to write you a note!

I'm asking you to simply send me an e-mail to jonathanwest@artsyschmartsy.com with your name and address. I'll then put you down for a note. I'll warn you now, I'll be asking you to write me back. Face it, everyone likes to get a note.

42...we're gonna get real.

The Easter Humbling

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 03:51:00 +0000

When I was a lad, my mother would write limericks that my brother and I had to follow before we found our Easter baskets (a combination of candy and popular presents of the day...I recall a pair of Mork from Ork suspenders one year).

Always wanting to keep up with my mother, I have striven to try to keep the same practice alive for my children.

For this reason alone, I hate my mother.

I hate her because I now know I will never be the writer that she is. Have you ever tried rhyming something with sofa? My mother can do it while I fall absurdly on my face.

Tomorrow when my family gathers for Easter dinner, my mom will read my tawdry rambings and pat me on the back applauding my efforts. It's easy to do when you know that you are the master and that you will forever be untouched on the Easter limerick front.

If you have any doubt of my failings, I humble myself (prostrate, if you will) with the following (remember, it's like a scavenger hunt):

Wake up, wake up, and scratch your head

No lounging about all day in bed

Some furry scamp with a poufy bottom

Forces you to use your noggin’

No worries there, you gals are smarties

Your knowledge deserves many parties

But cheering comes when you figure out

How clues like these won’t make you pout

Read along and you will find

A treasure that will blow your mind

Journey on, look for an egg

It’s right beside a red chair’s leg.

That’s it you’re all done with the test

Lay down now you can take a rest.

Nah, I’m just joshing you a little bit

The next clue will make you have a snit.

The paper with the new information

Is in Sammy and Sally’s changing station.

Easy, yeah, I know that one was lame

But now it’s getting hard, this game

So far you’ve been totally relaxed

It seems in your favor all has been stacked

Put on a coat, pull on your shoes

You’re gonna need to search for outdoor news.

Extra, extra, please read the fine print!

You girls need to find another hint.

Perhaps there’s more than just one, confess I will

If I made it too easy, there’d be no thrill

Go back from whence you came again

Look where you may find a pen.

You’re probably feeling very cool

I hear you both excel at school

If you’re feeling like you have some hunch

Then look where one might pack a lunch.

I can’t fool you two, try as I might

In a battle of wits, you’d win that fight

You deserve your reward at this early hour

You’ve done good, now hit the shower.

Again you’ve done it, you’ve won the day

I knew there’d be no other way.

If this little search has got you stressed

Please realize how much you are blessed.

Your love and kind hearts mean so much

You give many smiles to those you touch

Share and love each day of the year

And together you shall have no fear.

You both can help others feel as they should

By always being kind, true and good.

Next year I’ll be back with more things to share

Of my coming riddles I say one thing: BEWARE!

Hippity hop to you both,

E. Bunny

Easter Reflection, The Restart

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 13:45:00 +0000

Five years ago, my life changed pretty dramatically when I decided to stop being such a jerk and start giving my life a little moral center. For me that meant becoming Catholic. I've questioned that decision everyday since as all my moral guides in the process said I would, but still I have the root of something to believe in (forgiveness and love are pretty good things I think) when I even consider doing the dumb things I used to do when I was fairly much of a dumb ass jerk.

I'm not gonna get into the messy details of what it was I used to do the made me such a bone head right now. Don't worry, though, I'm actually working a book now about some of that, and you'll hopefully someday be able to pay good money to learn about all the dirty things I've done.

But Easter has been a pretty reflective time for me ever since I ate the wafer and drank the wine five years ago. More than anything, it's a time to reflect on what has been and what may be.

I've not written a lot on this blog in the past months because I frankly I felt I had run out of things to say. There were dramas in Milwaukee relating to the theatre world that had seemed to have muted, the world was seeming to right itself in terms of the economy improving and the possibility of health reform happening, and I had the inclination to learn how to play the ukulele, Rex Winsome had decided to move to Philadelphia. Everything seemed to be getting into its proper place.

But, I have to admit, I kind of miss the action, and as I've been at rest, I've realized there are still things that are driving me nuts. Things I hope to have a dialogue with you all online.

So, I've been plotting a couple of things. And for those of you how have known me from my days as the Artistic Director of Bialystock & Bloom, here's a little teaser: BIALYSTOCK & BLOOM RETURNS SOON! (Kind of, with a new name, but the same 'tude, and a different approach, so I'm actually sort of lying to you, but I can seek forgiveness for that because as you all now know I'm Catholic)

The good Catholics out there will know (or the bad ones like me) that the time after the day we search for colored eggs and cram our mouths with jelly beans and ham is actually called The Easter Season. It's that time in the liturgical sense when everyone who had gone through that whole drama with the Jesus kid looked around and said, "Holy shit. Now what?"

That's what the Easter Season means for me this year.

"Holy shit."--I have an idea.

"Now what?"--I hope you can join me on the next big ride.

More musings, more announcements, more fun and games, and more trying to save the world from crummy ideas (well, maybe actually creating a couple of crummy ideas in the face of fighting that fight, too) are to come right here at Artsy Schmartsy. Thanks for sticking with me. I think we've got good stuff to do together real soon.

Making it in right at the wire...

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:21:00 +0000

...i me. Said I'd be back in December, and I am a man of my word.

Thanks for a great year. So much to reflect upon, and so many folks who have done extraordinary things this year to help me have a super twelve months.

I hope to share more thoughts in the coming year, and I hope to finally learn to play ukulele.

For now, peace. And let's all try to be a bit more like Ukulele Mike, okay. Here's a taste.

My proposition to graciously walk away from Milwaukee Arts Board Funding...the reactions, and a challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:08:00 +0000

Yesterday I posted an entry called Milwaukee Arts Board Funding...shut it down.

Today, I got several reactions to that post. Many of them were on Facebook, and since I know many of you don't read Artsy Schmartsy through Facebook (though you can by becoming an Artsy Schmartsy Fan), I thought I would share some of these thoughts.

And then I'll offer a challenge.

Here's some thoughts:

I do completely agree with taking a bold, active choice that
a) changes public perception on artists' presumed 'sense of entitlement'
b) show a generosity and awareness toward the entire community's needs
c) show solidarity amongst all arts groups

If I was smart enough to come up with a-c, I sure ain't smart enough to discover what it adds up to.

And some more:

I think society is best served when people advocate for things that they sincerely believe should be. Sincerity, in my opinion, is the most effective way to shape public values, and the best strategy for garnering lasting change.

If, given the totality of our city's financial challenges, you honestly believe that funding for the arts should be eliminated in favor of core social services, then I applaud your bravery in suggesting so - particularly on an arts focused blog.

But, candidly, it doesn't feel like that's your point. It seems like you're saying that there should really be significantly more city funding for the arts than there is - and that, if the only option is the small (and, now, decreased) amount that's being offered, then we should just turn it all down. It seems like you're suggesting a petition to eliminate city funding as a strategy to ultimately increase city funding. If that's your point, then it strikes me as disingenuous and (perhaps even more importantly) unlikely to succeed as a strategy.

Many thoughtful and intelligent people believe that any public funding of art is a mistake. And their arguments are not without merit. When I look at totality of the issue, I don't happen to agree with their point of view. But I don't think we do society - or our (my) side of the argument - any service by walking away from the debate. At the risk of being repetitive: if we believe there should be public funding, we should say so; if we believe there shouldn't be public funding, we should say that; if we think the funding is too low, we should say so.

Public policy is complicated enough as it is. Balancing "basic needs" and "higher needs" is complicated enough as it is. The best strategy to achieve what we believe is best for society is to acknowledge that complexity and then make reasoned and persuasive arguments for whatever we truly believe. And then to keep on doing so. Because none of this has ever been easy, and it never will be.

And even some more:

What's with the "our turf, their turf" analogy? Is there a football game planned between the arts community and the firefighters? I wouldn't know who to root for as I support both! I don't have the answer to the City budget problems. I don't have the answer to my own budget problems.

Playing the sacrificial lamb of the budget process IS radical, but is it smart? Not in my opinion.

The arts help to make Milwaukee a world class City...and the City knows that. in fact, Calatrava is the City's logo, The Milwaukee Government's web portal page has a photo of the MSO.

This is not about entitlement Jonathan....it's about a great place to live, a strong economy, a culturally vibrant population.

I reverse it, it IS about entitlement, but not entitlement of recognition that the arts are important, it's entitlement for the tax-paying citizens of this City that they be safe, clean, educated, have the opportunity to make a living, and as part of that living, be culturally enriched.

If I had more time, I would organize these thoughts better. But I'm at work and need to sell tickets as an effort toward keeping my organization healthy.

Smart people say smart things while at smart jobs while on Facebook it seems.

There are also people who think everything I say in my original post is 100% perfect. But why bore you with those, right?

Okay, so, thoughts out on the table. There you go.

Now, here's the challenge:

Any other ideas?

(And I will accept that "keep advocating that the arts are important" is an idea, but I will also confess that I don't think it's a very good one. If we take the Arts Board as a case study, that's exactly what has been done over the past several years. And all the advocacy and working to convince City Hall that the Arts Board needs more money is a good thing has resulted in cuts to the budget year in and year out. Tenacity or insanity? I'm throwing no stones, I'm just saying.)

Milwaukee Arts Board Funding...shut it down.

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:32:00 +0000

Yep. I think the Milwaukee Arts Board should be shut down, squashed, decimated, totally drained of funds.

No, I'm not looking to be marked as that guy who never wants to work in the Milwaukee arts scene again. I'm trying to point out some radical alternatives.

To fight for an already marginalized fund so that it can remain marginalized and the pitiful little pot that it is seems like a waste of energy to me at this point.

The people who are making this fight right now are exclusively artists. Granted, I was not at the public hearing last night at City Hall, and I applaud my fellow Milwaukee artists who were there. But, and I know 99% of the artistic community is going to disagree with me on this, I believe we are fighting the wrong fight on this Milwaukee Arts Board issue.

The city budget is a mess. Cuts need to come all around. Many will argue that my suggestion of eliminating the Milwaukee Arts Board fund simply takes arts and culture out of City Hall completely. Guess what folks, outside of Michael Murphy and Nik Kovac there are no great arts advocates in City Hall. Sometimes you really need to burn something down to build it up and make it better, and that's my thought on this whole thing.

If you haven't read the Journal Sentinel's story about the public hearing please follow this link. The basic plot of that tale is that artists showed up in good numbers, but those firefighters (also facing big cuts) were the ones who really made some impact.

I also received a recap and call to arms communication from Christine Harris and The Cultural Alliance today. I took note of this item in the e-mail I received with particular interest:

One avenue we need to pursue better is getting people from other walks of life - particularly businesspeople, or teachers, or students - to speak out. We are in the field, but when people not in the arts directly speak, it makes a much stronger voice. So please think about who else you can bring along in this advocacy. Meanwhile, communicating with the Mayor and your Alderman is a very good idea.

A great idea that jumps out at me in this is to get more people from outside of the arts to speak out for the arts. So, here's my three point plan to start to do that:

Call the Mayor.
Tell him we don't want any Milwaukee Arts Board money.
Tell the Mayor to give whatever would have remained in the Arts Board Fund to the firefighters.

You want to get new allies, you have to sometimes play on their turf. I would like to believe that the world does not function under the quid pro quo philosophy, but the realist in me knows that it does.

If we choose not to accept any money from The City of Milwaukee for Arts Funding, we've actually changed the conversation, and taken control of the future of how we want our city to recognize and support the arts in Milwaukee. And perhaps, a few more firefighters will be attending Gallery Night and the Sunday matinee of SMELL OF THE KILL.

(Please, throw tomatoes at will.)

Arts Funding hoo ha...why I think this discussion is beyond absurd

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:23:00 +0000

I have received the following news in a myriad of messages, e-mails, carrier pigeon flybys, rocks through windows, note passed in the hallway between class, and other even more clever means of delivery:

The Mayor's budget proposes to reduce Milwaukee Arts Board funding from last year's $185,000 down to $50,000! We cannot lose this precious city funding for our stellar arts groups.

We need your show of support at the Mayor and Common Council meeting THIS COMING TUESDAY, October 13th 6:30 pm, in Council Chambers at City Hall.

Slug me in the gut for what I'm about to say if you're so inclined, but here goes: WHO CARES!

The City of Milwaukee Arts Board Budget has for years been embarrassingly minuscule. It is time to shovel that fund squarely into the ground and bury it so we can snub our collective noses at city funding and say, "We don't need ya!"

This mental grab for pennies that we in the non-profit arts business live under makes us all prone to histrionics over what is absolutely a hugely punitive and absurd proposed funding cut. Losing 75% of one of the city's smallest budget items is ridiculous beyond measure, but the energy we may all exhibit on this issue might be better spent looking at even greater change.

Here's one of the lessons I've learned about life from THE WIRE (all of life's lessons are in that show, folks, you just need to watch it obsessively like me). If you really want to fix the world, if you really want people to go to plays, attend concerts, and get jobs where they might have the salaries that would make them eligible to write big fat checks for your next art installation, shovel as much money as you can into fixing schools.

You may have heard that the mayor and the governor think the school system needs radical change. "Tru dat" is what I have to say as a Milwaukee area parent who has toured several Milwaukee Public Schools in the search I conducted to choose a safe, inspiring school for my children to attend (a charter school is what I chose, chartered through UW-Milwaukee, not MPS).

I don't advocate taking money away from the arts, and the level of insanity on this proposed cut only highlights how marginalized City Hall has made the arts feel for years and years while tourism is heavily promoted to Milwaukee with the proud boast that we've got a great arts and culture scene here.

This funding dilemma is a call for the entire Milwaukee arts community to finally stop reacting to getting hit in our privates again and again and consider some real activism in terms of putting the cultural plan for our city (when we actually have one) a little higher on the food chain for our local political engine.

I'm forced by the fact that I really like the guy to post this letter from Alderman Michael Murphy:

As you may already know, under Mayor Barrett’s proposed budget for 2010 the Milwaukee Arts Board will lose approximately two thirds of its funds. The Mayor has recommended cutting $110,000 from the 2009 allocation of $160,000. The subsequent result of this action will also be a loss of $25,000 matching grant dollars from the Wisconsin Arts Board.

I am clearly opposed to such a cut; the largest reduction in any department. This proposal would result in a total loss of almost 75% of the board’s funds. I thus encourage you to attend the Joint Public Hearing being held by the Common Council and the Mayor on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 6:00 PM in the Common Council Chambers, Third Floor, City Hall, 200 E Wells Street, to share your concerns. As many factors are taken into consideration when determining the next year’s budget, it is important that the Common Council hear your voices in opposition to the Mayor’s budget.

I look forward to seeing you at the hearing to support art in the City of Milwaukee. If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to call me at 286-3763.

Sincerely,

Michael J. Murphy
Alderman, 10th District

I'm not encouraging you to not weigh in on this matter, and Michael Murphy is one of the smarter allies to have on your side (please, please, please run for Mayor!) but I'm also suggesting that if any level of this funding is restored, it is in no way a victory. The time is now to think bigger than restoring a six figure cut to an already tragic little arts funding pool and work on the real problem of getting more of our city's own population to believe in and support the arts. Our theaters and galleries are not full on a consistent basis. When that happens, you better believe there will be some more powerful allies on the side of arts and culture in Milwaukee that know how to get attention in the Mayor's office. Until then, we are all just trying to drain the ocean with a straw.

Windfall Theatre...new stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Yes, Mark Clements has great hair, but we will have to wait to see how he combs it. So, this weekend, this might deserve your attention.

Truth be told, I know nothing about this other than Windfall Theatre is doing it, it's a play I haven't heard of before, and I like that Windfall Theatre does plays that I haven't heard of before.

Check out their website for specs and stuff.

SPRING AWAKENING tonight...how confused and horny will I feel?

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:58:00 +0000

Okay, tonight I see SPRING AWAKENING.

I'll see girls like this one...

Dudes on top of girls like this...

And much jumping as far as I can tell. See, girls jumping...

Boys and girls jumping...

Dolphins and cows jumping...

Okay, the dolphin and cow are not in SPRING AWAKENING, but isn't that cool?

The question is, "Am I going to be more confused and horny going in, or less?"

And will I be ready to talk about sex with my seven-year-old and three-year-old or will a good hand off to my wife on that one be in order?

Stay tuned...

Mark Clements likes musicals and so do I!

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:18:00 +0000

You've heard about this from other sources, right? Mark Clements is the new Artistic Director of Milwaukee Rep! (Exclamation points are necessary with the announcement of new hired or newly fired Artistic Directors in Milwaukee, I've come to learn.)

Here is Mark Clements:

No, that's not Joe Hanreddy with a couple of extra inches of hair and a leather jacket (nice, Mark Clements, nice), but they could play brothers in some television sitcom about Artistic Directors of regional theater companies kind of like Slings and Arrows (which would never get made in the United States, so we'll simply have to dream about that at this point.)

There's also a video available of Mark Clements speaking. Here that is:

Here's a few things I can tell about Mark Clements right now:

Mark Clements wants to give 100% (he says that in the video)
Mark Clements really likes this place (he also says that in the video)
Mark Clements knows how to ride a Harley (he does not say that in the video, but I did read it in a press release and I tend to believe those things)
Mark Clements has great hair (Have you seen the video? Mark Clements DOES have great hair.)

But the big thing that I have learned about Mark Clements in the 37 seconds it took me to Google his name and find his website at markclements.net, is that MARK CLEMENTS LOVES MUSICALS!

I LOVE MUSICALS, TOO! MARK CLEMENTS I LOVE YOU!

Okay, slow down Jonathan, I need to get to know Mark Clements and his fabulous hair and musical theatre tastes, but I'm fairly interested in the fact that everywhere Mark Clements goes musical theatre follows.

Hmmmmm......

Could the future of Milwaukee theatre being getting a little bit more of a back beat with Mark Clements coming in to helm Milwaukee Rep? Time will only tell, but for now Mark Clements must finish directing OLIVER! in Philly before we all start to find out what Mark Clements is going to do as the Artistic Director of Wisconsin's biggest theatre company.

Welcome aboard Mark Clements. I suggest Groom for Men on St. Paul for all your haircut needs. I'm told they'll give you a beer with your trim. Mark Clements looks like he might enjoy himself a beer or two.

RedLine?

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:03:00 +0000

Did anyone go to this?

Was it fabulous? I soooooo wanted to go. Tell me what a loser I was for missing it!

Michael Kaiser want you to do some planning, and I want to be inspired

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:23:00 +0000

You must believe me when I say, "I adore what Michael Kaiser has to say."

That said, I can't quite put my finger on why after hearing him speak at The Overture Center in Madison yesterday that the overwhelming feeling I have now is one of frustration.

I heard many of my colleagues talk of how inspired they are by the gospel that Michael Kaiser is preaching as he does a 50 state tour to talk about Arts in Crisis in the good old U.S. of A. I think Michael Kaiser is doing the world of arts producers a whole heap of good. He is a brilliant speaker, uses personal anecdotes to great effect, and produced more than one laugh from the crowd assembled in the Capitol Theater yesterday.

Still, I can't feel inspired by all the talk generated from the discussion yesterday. Not yet. No, no.

I agree with Mr. Kaiser on almost every single point that he addresses on how to deal with arts in crisis. I could go on and on and give you the rolling details of his talk, but I encourage you to check out Lindsay Christians' very fine encapsulation of the day at 77 Square Arts (and read her often, because she just does damn fine work). Rather than recap, I will offer my own anecdotal perspective.

If you want one big take away from what Michael Kaiser has to say, it is this: PLAN COOL ART. Boil it down, and that's what the man is saying.

This is where the sad part comes in for me. Have we as a nation of consumers, and I as one of the dropped-on-their-head-and-so-chose-a-life-in-the-theatre-producers-of-stuff-dramatic strayed so far away from the basic guiding principle that doing cool art is what people want to see? Really? Someone should kick my ass if this is the real truth.

Many years ago (okay, not that many) I produced a play called PSYCHO BEACH PARTY. It was a gimic play, and I did it because my theater company needed some cash. We gave away beer, filled the cast with sexy talented kids, and threw in a few drag queen cat fights and my mom in her stage debut for good measure.

What I really wanted to do was figure out a way to produce THE BLACK RIDER, a Tom Waits musical. Imagine that, huh?

The PSYCHOs in swimming suits brought in some bucks, but not nearly enough, and folks who saw it wanted more of that kind of stuff. But I wasn't having it. The trick didn't really work. It was the first play I recall having produced that despite its carnival atmosphere, I didn't really think of as "a cool event" (though I adored the whole company and the free beer).

The lack of a plan for my grabbing at straws project was the harbinger or doom in so many other respects in my role as a producer of plays for a scrappy little theatre company that thought they could. So I could be a case study for Michael Kaiser.

The thing I have to come back to is, "It is no one's fault but our own," that this arts crisis is actually an arts crisis. Its real, it's hard, and it's kind of unbelievable that we're all walking around with our tongues wagging screaming "Horrible economy! Horrible economy!"

Maybe I've just been doing this too long, but I'm no longer inspired by the common sense that Michael Kaiser preaches. I take nothing away from those who are inspired by the words being said by this incredible man in each of our 50 states in the coming months. Indeed, I wish I had that purity of heart to think in that manner. I'm disenchanted enough to think that the folks who really, really need to listen to Michael Kaiser still have cotton in their ears.

Communication can be a hard and annoying thing to do. Often I find myself thinking, "I'll just ram this through, because it will be so much easier to get this done," when considering something I need to accomplish as a theatrical producer. Yet, I know, because I have been that "ram it through" kind of operator in the past, that the better decision is the one that comes when people feel they have a vested interest in the success of a planned move.

I had the opportunity to ask Mr. Kaiser a question yesterday, one about the role of social media in our world. Mr. Kaiser mentions that he has one rule when he comes in to lead an institution: THERE WILL BE ONLY ONE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE ORGANIZATION. I applaud this contention, and understand and embrace the merits of that forthright stance with a zealot's passion. When I asked Mr. Kaiser how you enforce this practice in a world that operates on the Web 2.0 (or 3.0 depending upon where you think we are) mentality that the social interaction that people have via the internet in community places like Facebook and Twitter, I prayed and hoped for an answer.

He admitted he had none. Sigh. I wish the smart guy in the suit onstage had all the answers.

It pointed up something else that I struggle with daily, and this is the way that we all relate to one another in what the strategizers like to talk about as the new creative economy. This creative economy has a new meet up spot. The days of relationship building over a scotch and some talk about the great art being done at a particular company aren't gone, but they certainly have changed when a whole segment of our society wakes to start thinking about what their wittiest Facebook status update can be. The master plan for this kind of community building seems to grow more and more elusive to me as new iPhone apps are created and Steve Jobs recovers from a liver transplant to get cracking on the newest Apple game changer.

Plan, plan, plan artists and administrators. Do it often, do it with a long view into the future and do it without fear. Do it because it is your life's work, and do it because people really like cool art. They really do.

One thing I wish I had asked Michael Kaiser (and something the group of artists and arts administrators in the room maybe had lodged in the back of their heads) was, "How many hours a week do you work on this stuff?" In defining a state of crisis, I believe you need to envision a state of success. Success as an arts administrator should, in my very humble opinion, never mean 70 hour weeks and an inability ever sit with your family and talk about dumb stuff over a meal you make together. I would like to know how many hours a week Michael Kaiser works, because though I envy his sheer brilliance, I don't aspire to ever have the type of calendar he must keep.

I've rambled. A bit more than I thought. It's so hard to fundamentally agree with everything the messenger says, and yet not get that kicked-in-the-gut feeling by that messenger's rhetoric. I pray that arts administrators, artists and boards drink the Kaiser Koolaid and start planning projects that make the world think that arts kick it hard, and kick it often. Just don't let the public know that it's being done of the basic equation of GOOD ART+GOOD MESSAGE=GREAT COMMUNITY.

Michael Kaiser in Madison...

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:31:00 +0000

Was fairly cool. But I'm itching a little from it all. And it's not just because I didn't get to eat any of my favorite Madison custard (Michael's, if you are curious) on the way home. It's really because I'm not sure I heard anything more than common sense for an hour and a half today. The fact that we've gotten to the point in the arts world where a 50 state tour is warranted for common sense talk is alternately frustrating and hopeful Frustrating because we in the arts producing world have in some way been culpable for our own crisis, inspiring because there really are some pretty reasonable ways to fix it.

More thoughts later, now on to the custard in my own fridge.

I have a man crush on the new NEA Chair

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:21:00 +0000

The former NEA Chair, Dana Goia, was a poet (and he worked for big business, too, presumably writing haikus during his coffee break).

Not Rocco Landesmann. Our incoming NEA Chair is a Broaday impresario. And one of the most sought after pitchers in the Broadway Show Softball League.

Look at that arm. Clearly he's throwing heat. I suspect he learned that form as a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (yep, seems that he might be one of those raging liberals, too).

Rocco Landesmann by all accounts is one of the more curious picks to lead the National Endowment for the Arts. Curious in the sense that it makes so much freakin' sense that it's outrageous that it possibly happened in Washington. But outrageous things like a national conversation about public health seem to be sweeping the nation these days.

We now have an NEA Chair who believes that the arts deserve a "place at the table." I am not making this up. I wish I had attribution on that statement, but I promise I've heard him say it and I'm not just dreaming. I give a big thumbs up to that statement because I believe the same thing. Arts+table setting=good thing. You put arts at the table, they show up, they have good manners, and people are so glad they are there to buffer the other table guests like national defense and anything coming from Timothy Geithner and his friends at the Treasury

That the NEA Chair is a pitcher for the Broadway Show League is no silly, little stupid thing. He also wanted to buy a major league baseball team a few years back and no o. He hired Rose O'Donnell to sing in public. This is a guy who takes some chances.

That's the thing that impresses me most about our new NEA Chair. He is not afraid to make his opinions known. He's not afraid to get a little dirty (you don't stay clean being a Broadway producer, folks), and not afraid to do a few things that people might have opinions about. Like him or hate him, he's gonna make sure a lot of people know that we still have a National Endowment for the Arts and that it is a pretty relevant part of our national cultural rep. By the by, our new NEA Chair didn't sit by and wait for someone to suggest him as a possible candidate for the job. By all accounts, he raised his hand high and said, "Pick me, because I'll kick open some doors."

And let's face it, having an NEA Chair named Rocco is just kind of tough and it's time that the arts looked as buff as Michelle Obama's biceps (do not get me started on that one, do not)

Stimulus money awards for arts groups fearing downsizing in WI

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 02:36:00 +0000

Today, there was an announcement about awards given to Wisconsin arts groups through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Huzzah to the winners.

The Business Journal mentions that our own Governor Jim Doyle believes "the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds will be used to support arts programs throughout the state by funding artistic directors, gallery curators, volunteer coordinators, artists and directors of education. The grants preserve a total of 28 positions."

(Take away whatever you want from my font bolding and bigging.)

Here are the winning organizations and their award amounts:

Walker's Point Center for the Arts, Milwaukee $15,000
DanceCircus Ltd., Milwaukee: $10,000
Theatre Gigante Inc., Milwaukee: $15,000
Kanopy Dance Theatre Inc., Madison: $25,000
Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra, Milwaukee: $15,000
James Watrous Gallery, WASAL, Madison: $25,000
Madison Ballet, Madison: $25,000
Madison Creative Arts Program Inc., Madison: $10,000
American Players Theater, Spring Green: $15,000
Folklore Village, Dodgeville: $25,000
Kids from Wisconsin, Milwaukee: $10,000
Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend: $25,000
South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center, South Milwaukee: $25,000
Festival Choir of Madison, Madison: $15,000
Musical Offering Ltd., Wauwatosa: $10,000
Florentine Opera Company, Milwaukee: $25,000
Francis Hardy Gallery Inc. of Door County, Ephraim: $20,000
Milwaukee Children's Choir, Milwaukee: $8,500.

Super duper all of you troupers.

I notice that Kids from Wisconsin are on this list.

Hmmm, says I.

I recall recently standing in a park where a certain Managing Director of a certain opera/musical theater company in town recently told a group of artists that a replacement for one of the many artists who had withdrawn from the upcoming season at a certain opera/musical theater company in town because of outrage over the elimination of the the artistic staff of said opera/musical theater company because of the perils of the economy is a former Kid from Wisconsin.

Those Kids from Wisconsin are good at everything it seems.

Congrats to everyone on this list, and good luck to everyone who applied and didn't get funding. Keep fighting the good fight everyone.

join my posse for a trip to Madison to hear Michael Kaiser speak about how to save The Arts in Milwaukee

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 02:28:00 +0000

Okay, Michael Kaiser isn't coming to Madison to talk about how to save the arts in Milwaukee alone. But one can dream.

I'm not suggesting that the arts in Milwaukee are in need of saving. I am simply advocating for a good group of art loving citizens from Milwaukee to join me in Madison on August 24 to listen to Michael Kaiser, President of The Kennedy Center, as he hits the state capitol as part of his cross country tour to talk about Arts In Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative.

This is a chance to take part in a symposium given by a guy who decided that the arts in America were approaching crisis stage and that his job as President of The Kennedy Center was to organize a way to advise struggling institutions how to do good, respectful, trusty worthy, community building turnaround. Sounds like a good thing to listen to, don't you think? (That's right, I'm pointing a finger at you, you know who you are.)

I would love to organize a carpool group to Madison that day. Maybe we could even have a little supper after the symposium at some quaint Madison bistro like State Street Brats or some other swanky joint.

I you'd like to be part of my posse, shoot me an e-mail at jonathanwest@artsyschmartsy.com by Friday, July 24 and I'll send in a collective RSVP. If you choose to go alone, make sure you tap me on the shoulder at the Overture Center that day. Here's the details:

Arts In Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative
Symposium with Michael M. Kaiser
President of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and author of The Art of the Turnaround

Monday, August 24, 2009
2:00 – 2:45 pm Book Signing with Michael Kaiser
3:00 – 4:30 pm Symposium

Capitol Theater
Overture Center for the Arts
201 State Street
Madison, Wisconsin

Kaiser addresses the challenges facing non-profit arts and cultural organizations today through fundraising, building more effective boards of trustees, budgeting, marketing, technology, and other areas pertinent to maintaining a vital organization during a troubled economy. The Madison event is free and is part of a 50-state tour.

Books will be available for purchase.

Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative is funded by Helen Lee Henderson and Adrienne Arsht.

To register for this symposium, RSVP to info@overturecenter.com with your name, affiliation, number of guests in your party, and phone or e-mail contact. No phone reservations accepted.

Remember Janet Zweig? She wants to help make you a Thousand Dollarnaire!

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:30:00 +0000

I threw in with everyone else on the Janet Zweig public art affair some time back. You may recall that this talented artist almost had her great public art project cock blocked in Common Council committee world. "Nah!" said the art lovers of this community and Zweig's project is shuttling forth quite nicely.

To that end, the artist contacted me and others to post information about how you can become a part of her public art project. This is a pretty fine deal, too. If your idea is one of 15 selected to be represented throughout her exhibits, then you get a thousand clams.

Put on your thinking hats and show your pals and business associates that all the hullabaloo about Milwaukee being a creative hub isn't just lip service.

Here's the details:

Idea competition!

$1,000 honorarium to each of 15 winners or winning teams

Your observations and ideas are wanted for "Pedestrian Drama" a public artwork by Janet Zweig, a series of animated plays displayed on flip signs along East Wisconsin Avenue.

Just tell us a story of a pedestrian encounter you've seen on the sidewalks of Milwaukee.
We are looking for tales of remarkable and remarkably unremarkable pedestrian encounters.
We are looking for stories of amusing or quirky interactions that are "pedestrian" in both senses of the word.

If your idea wins, it will be developed into a short play consisting of two or more people interacting on the sidewalks of Milwaukee. With your consent, your idea may be combined with other winning ideas in order to complete one play. The plays will be developed in collaboration with Milwaukee actors, dancers, and directors. They will then be translated into short animated films for display on one of 5 flip-sign kiosks attached to light poles in downtown Milwaukee, beginning in 2010.

Each of 15 winners or teams of winners will receive $1,000 and will be named on the kiosks. If two or more stories are merged into one play, the winners will share the $1,000.

For details, examples, and how to apply, please go to :

www.janetzweig.com/PedestrianDrama.html

Liar, liar. That's me!

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Fri, 29 May 2009 02:02:00 +0000

Today I was kind of called a liar. Kind of because it was an unattributed source on Daniel Goldin's blog for Boswell Book Company.

Seems a nice lady came into the shop and complained to him about my book "Milwaukee's Live Theater." I take it from the blog post that Daniel put up today that the nice lady thinks I'm a boob. She's pointed out some inaccuracies in my book to Daniel. Daniel wrote about the encounter on his blog (which you can go to by clicking the many link trails I've peppered into this paragraph), but didn't mention what the lady takes issue with vis a vis my book. I'll just assume it's everything, right down to the spelling of my own name.

I'm not gonna deny the lady her day. I have also found a couple of mistakes since the book's publication. I wish i could go back and tinker with just one or two things. Nothing glaring, just a little more support and explanation.

Well, I'll put the lady who thinks I'm a pathological slob at ease in case she's worried that I'm the literary equivalent of Wikipedia's explanation of the Franco-Prussian War (I think they claim something about a dispute over salad dressing--oh, look at that, there I go lying again). I'm pretty sure that my future as a writer has little to do with the absolute truth. My goal for getting this book published was to create as thorough of a story on the history of live theater in Milwaukee as 222 pictures and 18,000 words allowed (Arcadia Publishing has it down to a science folks.) I also had an ulterior motive: to just be published. I hope to be published again someday, but perhaps the next book while be based on a collection of half truths and personal exaggerations of real life stories sort of like the ones all the super successful writers we all know and love put out for us all to lap up and enjoy. And hopefully the next one will be funnier than my first because, let's face it, lying through your teeth is a scream.

This is also a reminder to come to Boswell Book Company next Wednesday at 7pm to hear me talk about the history of live theater in Milwaukee. You may use the occasion to hang on my every word or heckle me mercilessly for my shoddy research and demented distortion on how things meant down drama wise in old Milwaukee town. Here's the low down:

Jonathan West Speaks (or lies, depending upon how you look at it) About "Milwaukee's Live Theater History"
When: 7pm on Wednesday, June 3
Where: Boswell Book Company, 2559 N. Downer Avenue at Webster Place

Not dead...yet

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Wed, 27 May 2009 12:50:00 +0000

I never intended to take a month plus long break from mouthing off on Artsy Schmartsy. Things just got in the way.

I prepped my raised garden boxes for eventual planting. I don't rightly know how farmers do it day to day. I guess the promise of the juice from a tomato dripping down your chin from a chomp you take right after plucking a Roma straight from the vine has something to do with it. And it's fun to be dirty. (In every single way, if you know what I mean.)

I also went to New York City for 28 hours or so, saw a bunch of friends, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, ate ice cream and cheeseburgers at two of my favorite places in the world, dreamed about all the things I didn't quite finish in the city I called my home for close to six years, and saw a super production of WAITING FOR GODOT with Bill Irwin, Nathan Lane, John Glover and John Goodman. John Glover is now my drooling aphasia inspired hero.

My wife has continued to train for an iron man triathlon, and I have continued to take notes on how this effects our family dynamic and what it means about my ever enthralling relationship with the stunning lady who married me. She finished her first marathon in 4 hours and 21 minutes, a full hour and two minutes faster than the one I ran several years ago. Having since sworn off these organized athletic events, it didn't mean much to me to be beaten by a girl. That's why I've now downloaded the application to the New York City Marathon. Try as I might, a life in front of the television is not in the cards for me.

There's also the job.

No more on that, really. It's a great job. Nuff said.

But the one thing that I hadn't anticipated that tends to take up a lot of my time these days is promoting my book, "Milwaukee's Live Theater." I'm not going to dwell on promoting it here on Artsy Schmartsy, but I did want to alert the book-loving world to a few new signings on the horizon. I sign the books, talk about live theater in Milwaukee, kibbutz with anyone who likes to kibbutz, and then talk about a new project I'm tackling (more on that in a minute). Here's the readings/signing I have on the horizon that I hope to see folks attend:

Wednesday, June 3 at 7pm (Boswell Books on Downer Avenue)
Friday, June 12 at 7pm (Barnes and Noble at Mayfair Mall)
Saturday, June 13 at 2pm (Sam's Club at 77th and Calumet in Milwaukee)
Thursday, July 16 at 5:30pm (Sunset Playhouse in Elm Grove)

The new project is something called "Your Live Theater Story." And rather than bore you here with details on that, visit the new site I set up for that at www.yourlivetheaterstory.com.

No more month long breaks...I hope. Nice to be back. This is a very nice place.

Hear me yap about "Milwaukee's Live Theater" tomorrow on Lake Effect

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:39:00 +0000

Tomorrow there's a special books edition of Lake Effect on WUWM. I've been told by Executive Head Honcho Mitch Teich that my conversation with him about "Milwaukee's Live Theater" will air towards the end of the show. They're talking about serious books, summer beach type reading, and my book. Perhaps my book falls into the "good read for the bathroom" variety. Listen tomorrow and find out. Better yet, buy the book.

(F.Y.I, "Milwaukee's Live Theater" is sold out at Boswell Books on Downer! Don't worry live theater book fans near Downer Avenue, they have ordered more.)

You can help shape the Milwaukee Downtown Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:41:00 +0000

Okay, so we all flared up over the Janet Zweig flap, and then the arts community (well, really the whole community) won a major victory when 12 Alderman voted to keep the project chugging along, and 2 Alderman showed that they will vote nay because it's their civic duty to be short sighted on this matter. I'm allowed to be a little snotty about this--I was in council chambers, I saw Aldermanic short sightedness.

To avoid further flaps, it's time to do preemptive strikes. This week the Department of City Development is holding a Downtown Plan Workshop. The intention of this workshop is to allow residents of Milwaukee to give input on how they think Downtown Milwaukee should look, feel and function. Sounds like a good time to say, "Hey, the arts need a place in downtown Milwaukee, and we can help out with that." We being the arts community.

I plead previous unalterable plans this week, but I hope to share my thoughts with some moles who can attend. Here's the details for you:

Downtown Plan workshop
Thursday, April 23, 6 - 8 pm
Todd Wehr Conference Center
MSOE campus, 1047 N. Broadway

The City of Milwaukee is updating its downtown master plan to guide development over the next decade. All residents, business-owners, employees, and anyone with an interest in the future of the downtown are invited to participate in a two hour community workshop. The workshop will provide a hands-on opportunity for you to meet the downtown plan team, envision the future of downtown, and contribute local knowledge to the plan as the City strives to provide a framework for development that encourages investment and builds a unique sense of community and place.

You can also find out more by visiting the City of Milwaukee Department of City Development Website.

I also need to give a shout out to Radio Milwaukee for tipping me off to this one on their Twitter feed. If you haven't listened to or supported Radio Milwaukee, you really should. They are quickly becoming one of the most important voices in the "making Milwaukee a better place" mission. Their arts and community coverage and support is unparalleled in Milwaukee radio. They also spin some pretty great tunes.

Do you love your daddy? (Answer is "yes" or I'll never let you out of your room)

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 13:10:00 +0000

"Do you love your Daddy?" was the first question that Dorothea was asked the other day when she was Special Person at K-5. The make-or-break question did not come out of the blue. I was the equivalent of a Star Wars action figure show-and-tell ktoschke when my eldest daughter chose to bring me in to share as the "special thing" part of the honors of being special person for the day. The other honors include opening doors and being first in line for marching through the hall. Being special person in K-5 is the equivalent of being "Concierge For The Day".

Dorothea thought I would be a good choice as her special thing of the day for three reasons. First, her special day also happened to be Pajama Day at her school. Knowing that I have many fine soiled underwear and t-shirt combos that serve as pajamas, my daughter thought I'd have clothes for the event. I ultimately decided pants would be my best option, and left the p.j.s to the kids.

Second, she does love me. She is six years old, so she has not yet gained the knowledge that I am simply a middle-aged man with limited skills who has no need for a comb because of a rapidly receding hairline. So her answer to the lead off question was a resounding (if not shyly stated in front of her pals) "Yes!"

The third reason that Dorothea decided I was better than a puppy (impossible, too, since the only puppy in our house is held in a tin filled with ashes) was that her special day coincided with the on-sale date for my book, Milwaukee's Live Theater.

This is where a guy like me tears up. Faced with an honest assessment of love from my kin, I did the only thing a guy can do. I got embarrassed and tried to turn and run the other way. When she asked for my participation in this storied affair, I tried to think of other things she could bring in. A stick from the yard? Some of the random solo socks that we have collected from laundry folds gone wrong over the years? Last night's stir fry? Me? Surely Mommy has written a book, right? Knowing that my wife, despite all her many virtues, would find the prospect of writing a book about as pleasurable as performing her own oral surgery, I realized I was the guy left standing with publication bragging rights in our house.

It then dawned on me that this would be one of those father daughter moments I would probably recall on my death bed someday. I know I'm going to need some good memories to nudge out all the "gin stories" that are bound to haunt me in my final moments, so I agreed to be the "special thing".

A couple of pointers for other would be "special thing" authors. When talking about a pictorial narrative with a group of six-year-olds avoid discussions of the rich tradition of German language theater in Milwaukee. You can completely pass over references to Yiddish theater pioneers The Perhift Players and Theatre X's THE HISTORY OF SEXUALITY. Just show the kids the pictures of yourself dressed in the lion costume (you'll get a special treat if you buy the book and find that picture of me--not like chocolate or anything, but a good, shiny feeling inside).

I consider this my first book signing. Without the signing part, of course. I looked into the faces of an audience who had all assembled to hear something about my book, and they walked away with a look that suggested intrigue over the fact that a man like me could actually spell or connect words together to form sentences. I assume I will get used to these looks when promoting my book to adult audiences.

It might have been Dorothea's special day, but that day will forever be one of my best of all time. I plan to write many more books (and the ones after this one will tilt to a more smart ass readership, believe me), but this event will always stick out as the best way to announce your book is on-sale. I'm the one in the picture with pants, if you couldn't guess.

Present Music gets all present-like for Gallery Night

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 12:26:00 +0000

Present Music is having an after hours gig thingee that they are saying will kind of make you feel like you're in SoHo in Manhattan. I'm guessing they're going for the 24-hour party thing, rather than the outrageous rents and ludicrous club kids roaming the streets (I can write this because I proudly like one block North of SoHo for several years in a beat up old tenament apartment I'm certain was controlled by some low-level wise guy named Nunzio).

They're billing it as The Unofficial Gallery Night After-Event. They are also getting very fancy promoting the event with videos like this:

I think it looks worth a drop by if you're one of those night owl types. Here's all the info for you late night roamers.

Join Present Music for a Gallery Night after-event at the Wherehouse in Milwaukee, WI with musical sets by Present Music and Nobot, video by Beeple, and dance with WMSE’s BTS.WRKNG.

$10, Friday April 17th / Doors open at 9pm, enjoy a free drink before 10pm, stay late.

WHEREHOUSE DIRECTIONS:
Water turns into 1st Street just south of the Third Ward. Go East on National Avenue until it dead ends at the harbor. Turn soft right and park in the parking lot.

9:00pm Doors open to video by Beeple
10:00pm Main show, Present Music vs. NOBOT
11:30pm Dance with WMSE’s BTS.WRKNG

promo video: beeple.com
more info: presentmusic.org

Coffee with The Council

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 11:59:00 +0000

You've probably heard this by now through some reputable media or social networked source (yes, even Mike Brenner is reputable from time to time), but there is a public meeting to talk about Janet Zweig's public art project this coming Tuesday, April 14. Here's the official notice:

The public art project will again be heard at a special meeting of the Public Works Committee on Tuesday (4/14) at 8 a.m. in advance of the full Council meeting at 9 a.m in Room 301-B of City Hall. It will be important for those supportive of this initiative to be present and offer their input on this project.

This is an important one. Maybe more symbolically than as a way to sway last minute dissenters onto the plus side of getting out of the way of letting this fantastic public art project actually happen, but important nonetheless.

I will be there, fueled on coffee and optimism. I hope you will, too. This is a first step in what I believe needs to be a continuing process of the arts community getting further entrenched in civic activism. It is my belief, and one I know held by other artists I have talked to on this subject, that this whole Janet Zweig flap never really needed to happen. But we were such a long way from the table to public discussion on this one in a historic sense that you almost can't blame certain members of the Public Works Committee for being so short sighted. In other words, we as an arts community are not what you might call constant voices heard around the corridors of City Hall. We get loud when we need to react, but not so much when there is early tinkering proactive work to be done behind the scenes. We need to get into the kitchen and start learning how they make the sausage, folks.

One of the ways that we can avoid these types of situations in the future, is for the artistic community to take more of a stake in public debate and assistance on other civic issues that aren't solely arts related. Think of the respect and leverage we gain as an organized community of creative types if we also lend voice and support to things like public education, commuter rail, and residential recycling programs. And, hell yeah, we need to fight more for a prevailing public assumption that big ideas in arts and culture are ultimately big wins for Milwaukee.

I hope that room 301-B of City Hall looks like a clown car on Tuesday morning. It's time to represent, and represent in a reasonable, supportive manner that shows our Alderman that we are serious about this project. More bodies helps us make that case.

If you want to catch a cup of coffee post meet-up, I'm always game for coffee. Tap me on the shoulder as we're going out of Room 301-B, flush with a sense of victory and civic pride.

(By the by, I've heard from Alderman Zielinski (my guy, good guy) and Council President Hines. Add them to the "I Support Janet Zweig" list.)

Shipoopi - The Music Man

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan West) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:05:00 +0000

This is for Iowa! Nice move corn and pig people!