Wrapping Themselves in the Arts

Occasionally (albeit rarely) a post nearly writes itself. . . .

The New York Times recently ran an article about Venezuela’s famed El Sistema becoming a political football: Music Meets Chávez Politics and Critics Frown. The LA Philharmonic’s current tour of Venezuela with native son conductor, El Sistema graduate, and classical music phenomenon Gustavo Dudamel has raised the issue of who gets credit for El Sistema. Socialist President Hugo Chávez has been taking every opportunity to take political advantage of the program. His critics are objecting vociferously. And Dudamel and El Sistema founder Jose Antonia Abreul say they just want Argentina’s children to make music.

The point of the article, as intended by the writer and the NY Times editors, is political controversy in Venezuela, populist socialism (and a cantankerous leader) versus the opposition.

To my obsessively one-track mind, the story is something vastly different. Venezuelans are arguing about who gets to claim an arts program. Let me say that again. An entire nation is up in arms because politicians are trying to take political advantage of an arts program. I’m almost tempted to say that a third time, but I won’t.

The beginning of my pilgrimage to a focus on community engagement began during the culture wars in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s when politicians were either running away from the arts or running toward them with an axe. The only broad-based political dialogue about the arts was how horrible they were and how politicians had to protect the public from them.

So what’s up in Venezuela? El Sistema is an arts program that directly touches the large majority of the nation’s population. It has improved the lives of many, it is easily understood as valuable by the rest. Through both, it has become a source of pride for the nation.

I often say that when something is seen as valuable by a majority of the population, that thing will inevitably enjoy huge support–public and private, financial and moral. El Sistema in Venezuela proves that point.

When the arts in the U.S. are similarly seen as valuable in the lives of the majority of our population, the same will be true here. (Even touching a significantly large subset would do so.) To get there takes arts programs that set out to involve that majority. This can never be the result of passive hope that “they will come.” It comes from active pursuit of a “we will go” course of action.

Effective cultural policy stems from broad-based awareness of public value.

You may now write the rest of this post yourself.

Engage!

Doug

Venezuela Flag Photo: Some rights reserved by Guillermo Esteves