Artist at work.
If we write about gear on the blog people jump into the comments and take me to task for concentrating too much on the mechanics and not enough on the "art" of photography. At one level that's fair. I should write more about the art of the art. Like K.B. Dixon does in his book about photography, "Too True." But the problem seems to be that so many people who are enamored with photography lack the educational background that provides us with a commonality of information needed to share ideas about pure art. Though everyone assumes they are experts about technical parameters of camera equipment they frequently fail short when it comes to art history, photo history and the role of criticism. I'm not going to make much of an argument today about gear versus art, as regards photography, but I would like to broach the subject of actually supporting art and art venues.
As a point of reference the average U.S. family spends about $70 per month on streaming services. That's about $840 a year to stream mainstream programming, etc. But the average U.S. family that actually pays for a museum membership ( a tiny, tiny percentage of the general population) spends less than the equivalent of one month's video streaming charges on a year's worth of museum membership fees. About $65 per year.
An interesting fact is that the majority of budgets for most museums goes to educational outreach which is mostly aimed at K-12 students. We talk a lot about supporting the arts but really, when it comes right down to it, those "classy" shows on Disney Plus and those "riveting" action movies seem to mostly take precedence.
B. and I are members of the Blanton Museum and pay $100 a year for the privilege. It's a great museum. Not quite world class but an above average regional museum that brings in great traveling shows and wonderful off the beaten path exhibits. The same for UT's Harry Ransom Center. The same for the Art Institute of Chicago. The same for the Austin Contemporary Museum. And Fort Worth's Amon Carter Museum (Thanks again for the groundbreaking original presentation of Richard Avedon's show, "In the American West"). We spend a lot more on museum memberships than we do on any combination of streaming services. Is there a direct, financial benefit to us for memberships? Only if we attend often instead of paying as we go.
Are there intangible benefits? You bet. There is something completely different about seeing art face to face, well displayed, intelligently curated and highly accessible to our individual experience. Different than seeing small scale reproductions on a video screen. Or worse, on a phone screen. And quite often the act of curation provides us, the audience, with an introduction to an artist or their work that we might have never discovered on our own.
But in addition to museum memberships there is the opportunity to support art in other ways. I recently got a note from a small, local museum that is hosting a show of an old friend's photographs starting January 2026. Most shows in museums are financially supported by philanthropists in the community so it's not unusual for a small organization to send out a request for individual show funding. I like the artist's work. I like the artist. He's got three kids in college. He's a life long artist. His show can use a financial boost to pay for things like framing, the logistics of artist talks, an opening reception.
We decided to become supporting sponsors for his show to support his work and the work of a very accessible venue in the community. Our donation isn't much in the grand scheme of things but hopefully our early infusion will prod more people to support the show. But it feels good to know that in some small way we are helping make a really good show of photographic images, by a life long, dedicated artist, come to fruition.
Maybe more concrete support of the arts should take pride of place in our plans over just arguing about some aspect of "Art" on web fora and blog commentary. It sure would be different...
Just a thought as B. and I head over to the Blanton Museum to savor the Baroque Art show this afternoon.
Since we're talking about "art."
2 comments:
I live in an "art desert". Our main museum has been mostly shut down for renovations for the past number of years. The only photography "art" show I can remember coming to Calgary in the last number of years was a collection of Diane Arbus images. When I was actively selling, I hate to use the term, "fine art"photography I couldn't give it away here. Unless it had barbed wire fences and coyotes no one was interested. My main markets were the EU and Japan plus a few lovely people in New York city. I gave up on the whole thing 20 years ago. I hate to be crude but unless you are prepared to blow some notable art critic or gallery owner you will get no where in North America.
I love museums! I can spend hours and hours in them. They feed the mind, body and soul in so many ways. Unfortunately I would have to travel thousands of miles to visit any with notable collections. To feed my artistic soul I have many books on art history and take university online art courses.
I find it almost impossible to have a meaningful conversation about art with 95% of the photographers I run into. It's a sad commentary on the state of photography. I suppose I shouldn't be to harsh since 99% of photographs taken these days are simply to record an event and/or harvest as many "likes" as possible. My Instagram feed included. No art there!
I do enjoy the one percent of images I see where it's obvious the creator knows there is more to creating photographic art than following the simple rules of composition.
Eric
God, that sounds bleak. You should move to somewhere like NYC where there's a museum or gallery on every block! I have one friend who, I guarantee you isn't trading sexual favors, who has managed to get entire portfolios purchased and into four or five different museum collections in the last few years... And he's not necessarily an outlier here in Austin.
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