NPAniC
My name is Zack Winokur. I'm a delegate from The Juilliard School in New York. I'm a dancer.
It has been a curious experience, this first day at NPAC, or as someone aptly renamed it at breakfast this morning NPAniC. Thrilling to navigate the hallways where it seems much of our world has gathered. The first days climax for me is the caucus. We are asked to accomplish a herculean task in an insanely compressed amount of time. This pressured environment is a battlefield, but in a way remarkably poetic. I facilitated a table. The situation was odd for many reasons. First, it was an empowering experience for me and perhaps strange (one person scoffed upon seeing my red facilitator ribbon) for those sitting at my table that I, at 19, would be facilitating a conversation with 9 other people at least 10 years older than me about the future of arts in America. And this age gap far from went away. But thankfully it became an important facet of the discussion that unfolded: not only interdisciplinary, but intergenerational. What i found truly odd, however, was how the conversation, the caucus (the focus of the convention) is so far removed from the practice of art making. In fact, for me, as a young artist, this whole convention, in a fascinating way, is characterized by absence. The absence of young people, absence of a majority of artists, absence of time, absence of visual artists, absence of owners of alternative performance spaces (gallerists, for example). Of course, if this convention included all those absent, it would be an entirely new, entirely different convention. It is not the point of this convention.
posted by Zack Winokur.
It has been a curious experience, this first day at NPAC, or as someone aptly renamed it at breakfast this morning NPAniC. Thrilling to navigate the hallways where it seems much of our world has gathered. The first days climax for me is the caucus. We are asked to accomplish a herculean task in an insanely compressed amount of time. This pressured environment is a battlefield, but in a way remarkably poetic. I facilitated a table. The situation was odd for many reasons. First, it was an empowering experience for me and perhaps strange (one person scoffed upon seeing my red facilitator ribbon) for those sitting at my table that I, at 19, would be facilitating a conversation with 9 other people at least 10 years older than me about the future of arts in America. And this age gap far from went away. But thankfully it became an important facet of the discussion that unfolded: not only interdisciplinary, but intergenerational. What i found truly odd, however, was how the conversation, the caucus (the focus of the convention) is so far removed from the practice of art making. In fact, for me, as a young artist, this whole convention, in a fascinating way, is characterized by absence. The absence of young people, absence of a majority of artists, absence of time, absence of visual artists, absence of owners of alternative performance spaces (gallerists, for example). Of course, if this convention included all those absent, it would be an entirely new, entirely different convention. It is not the point of this convention.
posted by Zack Winokur.
About
Be sure to check in all week for continuous blogging from NPAC. Attendees from across art forms and job functions report on their conference experiences. Comments from the convention and beyond are welcome!
Reporting from NPAC:
Amanda Ameer - web manager, NPAC
Sarah Baird - media and public relations executive, Boosey & Hawkes
Joseph Clifford - outreach and education manager, Dartmouth College Hopkins Center for the Arts
Lawrence Edelson - producing artistic director, American Lyric Theater
James Egelhofer - artist manager, IMG Artists
Jaime Green - literary associate, MCC Theatre
James Holt - composer; membership and marketing associate, League of American Orchestras
Michelle Mierz - executive director, LA Contemporary Dance Company
Mark Pemberton - director, Association of British Orchestras
Mister MOJO - star, MOJO & The Bayou Gypsies
Sydney Skybetter - artistic director, Skybetter and Associates
Mark Valdez - national coordinator, The Network of Ensemble Theaters
Amy Vashaw - audience & program development director, Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State
Scott Walters - professor, University of North Carolina at Asheville
Zack Winokur - student, The Juilliard School
Megan Young - artistic services manager, OPERA America
Please note: the entries posted by the attendees above represent their personal impressions, not the viewpoints of the organizations they work for.
About this blog From April 1 through June 9, 2008, weekly entries will be posted here by some of the performing arts community's top bloggers. This 10-week intensive blog will serve as a unique forum for digital debate and brainstorming, and both the entries and comments will be archived for use at the live NPAC sessions in June. New entries will be posted every Monday morning. Please note: the views expressed in this blog represent those of the independent contributors and participants, not the National Performing Arts Convention.
NPAC - the National Performing Arts Convention - will take place in Denver, Colorado on June 10-14, 2008. "Taking Action Together," NPAC will lay the foundation for future cross-disciplinary collaborations, cooperative programs and effective advocacy. Formed by 30 distinct performing arts service organizations demonstrating a new maturity and uniting as one a sector, NPAC is dedicated to enriching national life and strengthening performing arts communities across the country. Click here to register, and we'll see you in Denver!
The Authors Jaime Green, Nico Muhly, Kristin Sloan, Jason Grote, Jeffrey Kahane, Eva Yaa Asantewaa, Greg Sandow, Hilary Hahn, Tim Mangan, Paul Hodgins, Richard Chang and Andrew Taylor!
Contact us
Blogroll
Surplus
Nico Muhly
The Winger
Jason Grote
InfiniteBody
Greg Sandow
Hilary Hahn
The Arts Blog
The Artful Manager
Nico Muhly
The Winger
Jason Grote
InfiniteBody
Greg Sandow
Hilary Hahn
The Arts Blog
The Artful Manager
AJ Blogs
AJBlogCentral | rssspecial
Program Notes
the blog of the National Performing Arts Convention
culture
the blog of the National Performing Arts Convention
About Last Night
Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City
Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City
Artful Manager
Andrew Taylor on the business of arts & culture
Andrew Taylor on the business of arts & culture
blog riley
rock culture approximately
rock culture approximately
CultureGulf
Rebuilding Gulf Culture after Katrina
Rebuilding Gulf Culture after Katrina
diacritical
Douglas McLennan's blog
Douglas McLennan's blog
Flyover
Art from the American Outback
Art from the American Outback
Mind the Gap
No genre is the new genre
No genre is the new genre
Rockwell Matters
John Rockwell on the arts
John Rockwell on the arts
Straight Up |
Jan Herman - arts, media & culture with 'tude
Jan Herman - arts, media & culture with 'tude
dance
Foot in Mouth
Apollinaire Scherr talks about dance
Apollinaire Scherr talks about dance
Seeing Things
Tobi Tobias on dance et al...
Tobi Tobias on dance et al...
jazz
Jazz Beyond Jazz
Howard Mandel's freelance Urban Improvisation
Howard Mandel's freelance Urban Improvisation
ListenGood
Focus on New Orleans. Jazz and Other Sounds
Focus on New Orleans. Jazz and Other Sounds
Rifftides
Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...
Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...
media
Out There
Jeff Weinstein's Cultural Mixology
Jeff Weinstein's Cultural Mixology
Serious Popcorn
Martha Bayles on Film...
Martha Bayles on Film...
classical music
The Future of Classical Music?
Greg Sandow performs a book-in-progress
Greg Sandow performs a book-in-progress
On the Record
Exploring Orchestras w/ Henry Fogel
Exploring Orchestras w/ Henry Fogel
Overflow
Harvey Sachs on music, and various digressions
Harvey Sachs on music, and various digressions
PostClassic
Kyle Gann on music after the fact
Kyle Gann on music after the fact
Sandow
Greg Sandow on the future of Classical Music
Greg Sandow on the future of Classical Music
Slipped Disc
Norman Lebrecht on Shifting Sound Worlds
Norman Lebrecht on Shifting Sound Worlds
publishing
book/daddy
Jerome Weeks on Books
Jerome Weeks on Books
Quick Study
Scott McLemee on books, ideas & trash-culture ephemera
Scott McLemee on books, ideas & trash-culture ephemera
theatre
Drama Queen
Wendy Rosenfield: covering drama, onstage and off
Wendy Rosenfield: covering drama, onstage and off
lies like truth
Chloe Veltman on how culture will save the world
Chloe Veltman on how culture will save the world
Stage Write
Elizabeth Zimmer on time-based art forms
Elizabeth Zimmer on time-based art forms
visual
Aesthetic Grounds
Public Art, Public Space
Public Art, Public Space
Artopia
John Perreault's art diary
John Perreault's art diary
CultureGrrl
Lee Rosenbaum's Cultural Commentary
Lee Rosenbaum's Cultural Commentary
Modern Art Notes
Tyler Green's modern & contemporary art blog
Tyler Green's modern & contemporary art blog
Leave a comment