CD: Five things I would add to the Cleveland scene... hmmm. I'm mostly focusing on the "art scene," since that's where I'm coming from. Number one would be more good and challenging art galleries. Cleveland is so lucky to have SPACES, Zygote Press, MOCA, and Bill Busta's gallery projects (forgive me for leaving anything out), but there is definitely a need for more, especially innovative commercial galleries. It's hard to build the art-community's critical mass when things are so few and far between. A lot of the immensely talented artists in the area sort of run out of venues - and steam - once they've shown at the few places that are available to them. I also think that the Cleveland Institute of Art should get moving with a graduate fine arts program. We'd have more talented artists moving to the region at a stage in their lives where they're more likely to stick around and invest in the community instead of running off somewhere else immediately, which is what a lot of students do once they've gotten their BFAs. More arts coverage, some on a national level. I guess this means more (Cleveland-originated) solo shows, too, since that's what Art in America and all those fancy magazines want to cover. And everyone should donate money to keep Angle magazine going strong. Cleveland's really lucky to have such a great publication (the Chicagoans I've shown it to are jealous). A good shop that sells independent comics, zines, and editioned artist-made books. There are some incredible, talented creators living in Cleveland working in these fields, but there's not any shop that specializes in the artier, weirder stuff, which would support local artists' work as well as inspiring them and exposing the public to more of this kind of affordable, beautiful, challenging artwork. For everyone to stop being so self-deprecating about the city and take pride in what they have. Make the most of the resources and the affordability the city has to offer. And go see $5 indy films at the Cedar Lee every chance you get!
CF: Where do you go for information about the local arts?
CD: The Free Times, Angle, Cool Cleveland, SPACES Gallery
CF: Have you been involved or have you followed the push for public money for the arts? Where should the local arts community go from here?
CD: I was involved in that push, especially through working at SPACES. There is such a need for more arts funding, especially since the usual funding that was already in place seems to have bottomed out for everyone recently. I think we should focus on stabilizing the existing arts organizations before going nuts with funding individual artists. My artistic coming-of-age came after the NEA stopped funding individual artists, and I guess I'm generally surprised when it turns out I can make money at what I do. My parents are musicians and always worked other jobs to support the art/music they needed to make. Cleveland needs arts funding, but I don't know about some of the tradeoffs we've been asked to deal with in exchange for that funding. Maybe there are less sleazy ways to support our arts community.
CF: Would you join an artists' union and pay dues if one were available?
CD: I'd need more information on that, I guess. It'd depend on how much the dues were, what the perks were, etc. I definitely think the arts community needs to connect with itself a little more. It's so spread out and segregated into little groups-- there's not much of a forum for critiquing each others' work, for writing about the work that's going on and getting the local papers to publish it, for making events more visible to the non-arts community with better marketing, and so on. That stuff doesn't have to be expensive, it just requires more of a community.
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