Open-Ended Conversations: The Invisible Economies of the Arts
Saturday, March 29 at 2pm
Open Space and Media Net are pleased to host Open-Ended Conversations: The Invisible Economies of the Arts. This public conversation looks at the crucial contributions made by the arts within our communities.
For the past two decades the arts community has worked diligently to demonstrate its social, economic and educational “utility” and “impact.” As artists and arts administrators conscientiously compile measurable outcomes as part of their professional practice, they often realize that it’s only a part of the effect of arts programming. The value of the arts is elusive, often subtle and frequently doesn’t manifest itself immediately. Sometimes the effects of a single arts experience have effect years and sometimes decades later. How can we identify invisible economies, anonymous benefactors, under-reported contributions and labour, and other art practices that curator Cathi Charles Wherry has eloquently called “the economy of goodwill?”
Moderated by Media Net Director Peter Sandmark and Open Space Director Helen Marzolf, The Invisible Economies of the arts invites public exchange with special guests:
Max Wyman, nationally acclaimed author of The Defiant Imagination, a frequently cited book that summarizes decades of evidence suggesting the arts are a public necessity.
Glenn Alteen, founder and Executive Director of grunt, a Vancouver artist-run centre, is an insightful arts administrator with firsthand experience of how the arts function within and outside orthodox economic models.
Kirsten Wright & Bill Cowan are co-proprietors of Gallery 16½ in Victoria. Their business participates in a micro-economy of exchange that embraces community involvement and programming.
Open Ended Conversation: The Invisible Economies of the Arts at 2:00pm Saturday, March 29 at Open Space. Doors open 1:30pm. Admission is by donation.