MysTech Newsletter, May 2021

Most of all, the experience of art, especially when shared with other live human beings in real, 3-D space, makes us feel better because it brings us joy, and often inspires us to make our own works of art, beginning in our minds and souls and coming into existence—be it a song, poem, or clay pot, through the work of our own hands and bodies.  Art inspires us to create—an ability that seems undervalued in our new digital era.

I know what a difference my musical studies made in my life.  When my father crossed swords with the Mafia leaders of a midwestern steel town opposed to the work of the nonprofit economic redevelopment organization he led, we lost everything and returned to San Antonio to live, in relative poverty, with my maternal grandmother. She had her piano refurbished for me and I progressed in my mastery of keyboards under patient teachers to becoming the organist for our parish church as a teenager.  Music gave me hope, inspired me, and I learned I could inspire others, as well.  For that reason, I feel privileged in my professional life to raise funds that provide artistic education for low-income children.  I very well know what a difference exposure to art can make!

We could use more art, of course, because with the lockdowns of community venues, schools and businesses, also came the complete cessation of public concerts and art exhibitions.

It was an historically unprecedented event, this global “lockdown,” and I would wager the people living in medical research silos who recommended to politicians that such actions be taken took very little thought for the effect that their policy mandates for the compulsory wearing of masks and social distancing would have upon the human spirit and our mental health.

Promoted as a prescription to secure “public health,” the global lockdown policy, applied with varying degrees of Draconian severity, was an assault upon the free exercise of creativity. The lockdowns made the daily practice of art—something essential for all artistic endeavor—very difficult.

As is evident in so many ways, it also made survival difficult for the thousands of people displaced from their jobs and homes.  They are people in need of art and least likely to receive any access to environments in which the making or enjoyment of art might be possible.

Students of all ages who previously made visual art or music or danced in classrooms and studios in the company of other students were left to their own devices at home, with most of them taking instruction digitally for most if not all of each school day, separated physically from their friends-in-art.

And when private philanthropists gathered around the US to give aid for COVID-19 relief through central community foundations, were arts and cultural institutions on the list to receive aid?  In general, the answer is “no,” for art—and art-related businesses—were not, in many communities, deemed to be “essential.” That decision is understandable given the tremendous demands made on local food banks overwhelmed by thousands of newly unemployed people, but nonetheless it is very telling in terms of how our civic and business leaders view the arts.

Many US arts and cultural organizations received federal funds in aid through the National Endowment for the Arts and many major foundations and corporations announced special grant programs for the arts last year.  Nevertheless, the grants they gave, even though well-intended, were minuscule in comparison with the great financial need wrought by the complete interruption of all forms of their normal revenues, earned or donated.

In searching online for some background information that would help put my comments into perspective, I found a dearth of good reporting and commentary about the US arts and culture industry in most mainstream media outlets.  I did, though, find this interesting article by Valentina Di Liscia published on April 14, 2020 on the Hyperallergic website, a nonprofit publication devoted to reporting on the arts.

Here is her lead paragraph:

“4.5 billion: that’s the estimated financial toll of the coronavirus outbreak on the US cultural sector to date, calculated based on data from an ongoing survey by Americans for the Arts (AFTA). To put the figure in perspective, it is 22.5 times the combined $200 million allocated to the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services in the stimulus bill passed by Congress two weeks ago.”

Survey of US Arts Organizations Points to Devastating Losses During Pandemic (hyperallergic.com)

Interestingly, there was only one comment to Ms. Di Liscia’s excellent article, from someone self-identified as Noah Way, published one day later:

“Not to worry, the banks and job creators got $4.5 trillion, and the government is (in)directly (via BlackRock Hedge Fund) buying securities to prop up Wall St. So, you see, everything is just fine, the rich have plenty of money, and when they feel like buying art again, they can get it at massive discounts from starving artists.”

Nevertheless, despite such justifiable cynicism, many artists and arts and cultural organizations proved resilient—as did “ordinary” people outside the established art worlds.

Over the past year, we have seen a proliferation of performances by noted artists and ensembles on Zoom, where musicians, dramatists, dancers, writers, and other artists in different cities have gathered online to perform works of many kinds with amazing skill, demonstrating that we humans adapt readily to living and creating in “virtual space.”  I have enjoyed many such concerts online while working from home.  I am aware, though, that there are many more people who have not seen such performances because they don’t have a computer or internet service.

There has also been an increase in artwork and exhibitions inspired by dialogues we are having over race and ethnicity in these times, as manifested in the Black Lives Matter movement, and in response to violence against people of Asian descent over the past year.  The Asia Society’s Truth to Power exhibition in Houston is notable in that respect, and there are many other examples, as well.

Artists have also organized protests outside the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.  As reported by Hakim Bishara in “Hyperallergic” on April 25 this year, they “demand a ‘post-MoMA future’ wherein the interests of communities are prioritized over the desires of billionaire museum donors.”  In a Letter to MoMA’s Director, Activists Declare Plan to Protest Inside Museum (hyperallergic.com)

At present, many arts and cultural organizations are endeavoring to work out ways in which they may become more open and welcoming to their constituencies and resume in-person programming while retaining some online programming for those who prefer it.  It is not by any means an easy process.  Some institutions may not survive the pandemic’s economic effects, and others may survive but with severely diminished capacities to serve the public.

There is a great need for new public reporting on what’s happening now across the US as many people start gathering more openly again with lifting of mask mandates and restrictions on houses of worship by some governors.

Some in the Mystech community are quite well aware that 2020 and 2021 have been years in which the leaders of the World Economic Forum and others aligned with them have declared it is time for a “Great Reset.” By their own declaration, such a “reset” is designed to cure the world’s ills by the transformation of the globe’s societies under a technocratic digital administrative structure, facilitated by the new Internet of Things and a central digital currency.  Not surprisingly, such spokespeople for the Reset have had very little to say about the importance of the arts for the future of humanity.

Their silence in that regard is telling.  So far, I have not seen any ringing endorsements of their plans from celebrity artists.  Nor, for that matter, have I seen much public commentary or work by artists critical of plans for such a societal transformation.  From what I see in arts and culture-oriented publications, I would wager that many arts leaders in the US are not yet well informed about this movement and tend not to take it seriously.  It will be interesting to see what develops in this regard in the months to come as it becomes more evident the WEF and their friends in Silicon Valley are working in concert and are very much in earnest.

Outside the “art world” though, I see and hear some anecdotal signs and stories from friends around the country that people are taking matters into their own hands and holding small gatherings to read poetry or stories, make music, dance, or share a meal, without masks, in their own homes.

In my case, in the spring of 2020 I was employed by a restaurant owner friend to give lessons in Tai Chi Chuan and Chi Gong to her employees, all young men.  I studied Chinese martial arts when I was their age, in San Francisco, and my practice of those arts has transformed my life for the better.  I was able to teach them how to cultivate the universal energy, the Chi, in their own bodies and daily lives.  It was an inspiring experience and motivated me to put new energy into my own practice of Tai Chi Chuan and other martial arts in a beautiful local park in the mornings.

I was fortunate in being called to serve, to teach and pass on to a new generation an ancient art form, at a time when the normal world was in a state of suspension.  I saw my students making progress, and I hope they will remember their first lessons in cultivating the Chi, as I remember mine.

Perhaps you, dear reader, will also be called to serve, to share and pass on to others an artform that you have learned and practice.  Or perhaps you may feel an urge to create the conditions in which you will offer your gifts of creativity to others freely and make art flower again in the current desert of creativity.

In either case, I hope that you will answer that call, whether from within or without, with an enthusiastic  “Yes!”