I don't go to early morning breakfast meetings now, but I broke that rule Friday for a probing and vivid hour of talk about the arts in our city.
It's a story with triumph and risk.
It's a story with triumph and risk.
Take that first part - Seattle is the #1 American city for the number of cultural choices per capita; it beats New York, Los Angeles, Chicago. See the photo here - just one page of a Times insert listing hundreds of artistic events between now and the end of the year. I sit on the board of Town Hall, one iconic space that will offer this season alone more than 400 talks, musical performances, and cultural forums.
The risk - evident in the best question of the morning, from Seattle Symphony Executive Director Simon Wood, asking "Where is the next generation of Seattle philanthropists?"
It's the dead-on-point question because no matter how popular an art institution may be, it needs big money to survive; it needs people who can write six-figure checks. Wood, for example, must raise $11 million a year just to keep the symphony on the stage. That's not coming from crowd funding, nor from $25-$100 contributions.
It's the dead-on-point question because no matter how popular an art institution may be, it needs big money to survive; it needs people who can write six-figure checks. Wood, for example, must raise $11 million a year just to keep the symphony on the stage. That's not coming from crowd funding, nor from $25-$100 contributions.
And that question is aimed directly at the generation now crowding into the rising buildings of South Lake Union - the tech millennials. Are they drawn to the arts? Do they value a vibrant art culture? Will they write the big checks of tomorrow?
If not, who will?
If not, who will?
The other big question of the morning dovetails with something we all know - the rising cost of any kind of space, from homes to business offices to art studios.
Where, the question asks, will the artists of now and tomorrow find practice rooms, studio space, even housing, that is affordable. One artist who spoke has given up her paintbrush to work full time on finding buildings and spaces - once abundant in Belltown, Pioneer Square, Fremont, Ballard - for working artists.
It asks another question - do we want working artists as residents of our urban center (and if yes, what will it take to make artistic space affordable?)?
Where, the question asks, will the artists of now and tomorrow find practice rooms, studio space, even housing, that is affordable. One artist who spoke has given up her paintbrush to work full time on finding buildings and spaces - once abundant in Belltown, Pioneer Square, Fremont, Ballard - for working artists.
It asks another question - do we want working artists as residents of our urban center (and if yes, what will it take to make artistic space affordable?)?
There was much more, worth every minute even with the usual ghastly food - with one larger question looming over the hour:
If we are, and it seems so, in a golden age of culture in our town, can we sustain it?
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