Howard Sherman: “While there are those in the visual art community who have called for inauguration day, on January 20, to be met with an art strike, asking that institutions be closed in protest, I’m glad to say I’ve not seen the idea gain much traction in the performing arts community. Indeed, in addition to maintaining their performance schedules, some organizations are throwing open their doors, as places of respite and refuge.”

“The discussion around such efforts has shown some of the typical – if muddied – ways people talk about the arts intersecting with politics. On the right, a common theme is that celebrity protests are only going to ensure Trump’s re-election by making his supporters feel condescended to. On the left, cultural anti-Trump efforts are being taken as examples of the kind of bold truth-telling Democratic operatives should mimic. Both frames prize electoral impact – policy influence now, voter persuasion for 2018 or 2020 – over all else. Which is a strange way to think about art, a form of communication that exists to do what other forms – political, commercial, journalistic – can’t.”

“If there was one place where the Obama administration was consistently ahead of the curve, it was in the cultural sphere: over eight years, the White House served as a staging ground for countless artists, intellectuals and activists, especially those from communities of color, especially cultural producers from New York, long exiled from [institutional] Washington.” (includes audio)