I thought this was somewhat interesting:
http://clicks.robertgenn.com/eyes-border.php
Robert Genn's Twice Weekly Letter
Insight and inspiration for your artistic career.
Dear Artist,
Now that it's finally over we can talk about it. Believe me, Canadians
were
paying attention, and now that it's a done deal there's a bit of street
dancing up here. But, goodness knows, Barack Obama's got a lot on his
plate.
Of interest is Obama's cultural program. He's apparently been working on
it
for a couple of years, long before his nomination. For a guy who writes
poetry and consults with Bruce Springsteen and Jay-Z, it probably came
naturally to form that panel of active professional artists to advise him.
Obama wants to increase funding for the National Endowment for the Arts
and
change the Federal Tax Code for artists. He has ideas like sending out
"Artists Corps" to underprivileged schools and communities, expansion of
public-private partner****ps to increase cultural education programs,
cultural diplomacy and the inclusion of foreign talent, less
inward-looking
xenophobia all 'round, as well as health care for artists.
Obama also backs Senator Patrick Leahy's "Artist-Museum Partner****p Act,"
allowing artists to deduct the fair market value of work given to
charitable
institutions. We might hope that this enlightenment may ****ne on
fundraisers
too.
Here in Canada, if you want to give your painting to raise cash for a
favorite charity, you can get a "tax receipt" all right, but the
government
wants you to pretend you sold the work, take the amount into income, and
then deduct it. The result is a wash--extra paper-shuffling for
accountants,
misery and dismay for both artists and charities. We don't get no respect,
eh?
Positive change in this last area would do wonders for charities.
Fundraisers would attract better, more valuable, art, raise standards, and
relief would be given to perpetually beleaguered artists. Think of the
value
to educational institutions alone.
Canada--that great nation somewhere north of Detroit known for its
regular,
south-sweeping cold fronts, is watching carefully. So are our American
cousins. "It is unprecedented," says Robert L. Lynch, CEO of "Americans
for
the Arts," a Wa****ngton-based arts advocacy group. "No presidential
candidate in recent times has addressed cultural issues in such detail."
Best regards,
Robert
PS: "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other
time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we
seek." (Barack Obama)
Esoterica: Government involvement in the arts is like the ****ridge in the
Goldilocks--Three Bears story. It has to be "just right." Obama is brainy
enough to get the sup****t going toward education so that young people
begin
to know and appreciate the arts once more. Then, perhaps sometime later,
free enterprise can truly kick in--yep, it works in the arts too. Lest we
forget. Oh, and by the way-- Congratulations, Barack Obama.
If you would like to read more information related to the above letter
please visit the Eyes over the border clickback
--
Scott
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