Milwaukee's Creative Coalition needs more artists, fewer suits
What we'd like to see done for the arts in Milwaukee (if the local group is still listening)
Bay View's Paper Boat Boutique And Gallery is one of many independent galleries that have closed in Milwaukee.
I don’t know what I expected to find when I attended a meeting of The Creative Coalition at The Italian Community Center a couple weeks back. Mimes serving sculptural petit fours on handcrafted platters while performing strange and artful dances? Body painting and pony-tailed poetry slams? An angry Mike Brenner crapping on the Fonz statue in effigy? I know I didn’t expect a room full of people in suits, a PowerPoint presentation, and well-prepared networking speeches between the palming of business cards.
Suits are fine, but a big deal was made about how independent artists were invited to this meeting after being shunned from The Kre8 Kamp summit. It's likely that the few artists who did show up felt alienated by the stuffiness of the conference. But that didn't keep them from voicing their concerns, even if nobody was listening.
But first things first: There was free food, and that's the reason my artist friend was hell-bent on getting there. Providing free food is a good move—artists are starving, as we all know. And as far as these things go, the food wasn’t bad. There was crunchy salad, which I nibbled on silently as I listened to my tablemates say things like, “Well, you’re just the guy I need!” and, “Attorneys are members of the creative class, too.”
That’s when my inner conflict began. The meeting, however misguided, was exciting, and yet I wanted to stab my salad fork square into my eye. It’s wonderful that at least 150 people cared enough to gather in a conference hall and talk about the arts in Milwaukee. But I wanted to fork my eyeball because, well, we were just talking. And while we were talking about the arts in Milwaukee, and while we were talking about talking about the arts in Milwaukee, and while were tweeting about talking about arts in Milwaukee, five aldermen at City Hall prepared to "cancel" a perfectly reasonable public art project because they did not like it. (Props to Ald. Bob Bauman, who told me, "I supported the project. I thought it was innovative and creative.")
The blame for this debacle—there's another hearing scheduled for 8 a.m. on Tuesday, April 14—doesn’t lie entirely at the feet of The Creative Coalition, but it does call into question just what the hell this organization is doing. Not paying attention, that’s for sure. Not involving local government, either. Instead, we talked about “brand strategy.” I heard this phrase no fewer than five times from multiple people. Worried we were headed toward some sort of cheesy, soulless, and all-encompassing tagline (“Creativity—wow!”), I pointed out that by marketing the arts with a brand strategy, we could run the risk of watering it down. The creative endeavors of the people in our community—and the people themselves—are very diverse; how is it possible to tidily package and deliver it? More, why would we do that?
Imposing a marketing plan is not the way to nourish the region's art scene. Instead, why not let the scene develop naturally by supporting the folks who create art? If people like Faythe Levine didn’t have to work day jobs, a flourishing art scene would present itself, and this elusive creative economy—and its many dollars—would follow. But I fear the people running the show aren’t listening to the folks on the ground, and are mostly concerned about funding the cultural big guys, like The Milwaukee Ballet and The Milwaukee Repertory Theater. The survival of those cultural institutions is definitely vital to the region, but mapping out a cultural strategy without including the street-level artists is shortsighted.
I'd have wrapped it up here, but I'm nosy. I was unable to attend the arts-focused Spreenkler meet-up on April 8, so I visited panelist Mary Dally-Muenzmaier’s blog, Cricket Toes, to see if there was any word, and found a lengthy comment from Christine Harris, president and executive director of The Cultural Alliance Of Greater Milwaukee. Harris states that politicians were invited to the meetings but didn’t show up. Then she has some biting words for the coalition’s detractors:
“The bitching and moaning about what is not working right here, what we are not doing like others, and what should or shouldn't be done is doing virtually nothing to productively move the agenda forward. Stop the whining, and get your butts around the table to make a difference.”
Gulp. Isn’t the “bitching and moaning” in effect coming to the table? Input and concern count, and Mary Dally-Muenzmaier’s appearance at the Spreenkler meet-up was participation. Why shut down the conversation this way? And what, exactly, is the agenda?
Harris also says, “I am going to stop listening to all of the whining that isn't constructive commitment and start paying more attention to, and shouting about, what is great about our creative community.”
That, I guess, settles that. Kids—all you wacky artists and musicians and playwrights and whatever else it is you think you are—you are “welcome at the table,” but please, keep your mouths shut.
