They held a birthday party for Abraham Lincoln at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford last week. The birthday boy showed up, in the person of the suitably tall and lanky Howard Wright, a West Hartford schoolteacher. Children squealed in delight at the sight of Honest Abe in his stovepipe hat, and the resultant celebration included gooey birthday cake and a confectionery speech by M. Jodi Rell, governor of Connecticut.
While Gov. Rell made her remarks, she stood in front of a wall of paintings by Rene Magritte, Joan Miro, Yves Tanguy and Salvador Dali. The larger backdrop to the event was a recent report by the nonprofit group Americans for the Arts, which estimated that as many as 10,000 arts organizations could disappear nationwide in 2009.
This is, of course, due to the severe economic downturn and residual cuts in government and corporate funding. The arts, as we know, always take a back seat to the weapons manufacturers, oil companies and Wall Street bottom feeders in this country.
The Wadsworth itself has not been spared in this economic downturn, as has been well reported. One might be tempted, then, to say that Abe's birthday bash was surreal in more ways than one. Gov. Rell only added to the surrealism by waxing blissfully eloquent about the positive role played by the arts and by their institutions like the Wadsworth and its affiliated Amistad Center for Art and Culture, which just installed the exhibit "Lincoln: Man, Myth and Memory" at the museum.
"The arts are such an effective way to teach us about the world and our history," gushed Rell, seemingly oblivious to the thrashing her latest budget administered to the arts. "That's what the arts do—bring history to life. I wish we had had more hands-on art like this when I was growing up."
The surrealism was so thick at Abe's bash that I could have sworn I saw the hands on one of Dali's melted clocks going backwards toward Gov. Rell's girlhood. The arts, indisputably, do all the things Rell says they do, and more. They inspire, provoke, vex and dignify. As pure vestiges of the human spirit, they don't know boom times or lean times; they will exist in some way regardless because to stop them would be to stop human civilization itself.
However, the arts are most important during lean times. This message was written on the faces of the schoolchildren at the Wadsworth last week. Wow, an art museum! Abe Lincoln, the governor, Frederick Douglass, Pablo Picasso, cake, respect, civility, community, acceptance, love.
The casualties are piling up even as we speak. The Connecticut Opera shut down operations two weeks ago after 67 seasons. Recently the Baltimore Opera declared bankruptcy and even the Metropolitan Opera in New York City has severely cut its operating budget and programs. A recent survey of art museums across the country found most have lost at least 20 percent of the value of their endowments. The Guggenheim Museum has cut 10 percent of its budget, the Denver Art Museum will cut 15 percent, the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass. shed 19 percent, and Mass MoCA, in North Adams has cut 8 percent from its programs and may have to cut staff. Brandeis University recently announced that it will sell its renowned art collection.
The conservatives, who have long ago lost all credibility in these matters, will of course chatter on about "if they can't pay their own way, they aren't worth having around" or "if we cut the arts, then we won't get any more Piss Christs or chocolate-covered Karen Finleys."
Against such ignorance, the arts community itself may have to get more creative, perhaps share resources and collaborate on projects. TheaterWorks Hartford stepped up after the Connecticut Opera went under, and is offering to honor Connecticut Opera tickets previously purchased by CO subscribers for their choice of any two upcoming TheaterWorks productions over nearly a two-year period. TheaterWorks' Steve Campo played down the impact on his troupe's bottom line. "Sometimes you just do the right thing," he explained.
