Rochester's art scene has waged an uphill battle in recent years. Rising rent rates pushed SEMVA and the C4 Salon out of downtown. School budgets allocate less and less money for art programs each year. Zumbrota keeps getting cooler. Seriously, some would say Zumbrota's homegrown visual arts scene is more vibrant than Rochester's.
And to make matters worse, President Trump's proposed budget for 2018 gives zero dollars to the arts. It would obliterate the National Endowment for the Arts and defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. That means no more NEA grants and no more Big Bird. Minnesota Public Radio and hundreds of other nonprofit, public broadcasters nationwide say the loss of federal money threatens their quality and mission.
Art doesn't need the government or newspaper editorials to survive. But we need it. Art gives voice to the unnameable experiences we all go through. It makes visible what's impossible to see. It lets our minds wander the vast expanses of human potential.
There are many bright spots and people in Rochester's art scene. Art4Trails. The Art Center and its RACtivists. 535 Gallery. Forager and Cafe Steam. C. Anthony Huber. Carley McHenry. Simon Huelsbeck. Joshua Schroeder. Seamus Kolb. Wendy Westlake. Nick Sinclair. Patricia Dunn-Walker. Miriam Knuth. Bill Peterson. Mary Beth Magyar. Zine-O-Cide. We don't want to stop there, but the list is long enough to take up the rest of this page.
We'd like to tell you about a bright spot that needs a bit of support: Gallery 24 Artist Cooperative, which exists to provide area artists with opportunities to exhibit, exchange ideas, and grow. You've probably seen something touched by the group. The wall space at Forager Brewery is run by the co-op, and Gallery 24 artists are a regular feature on 507 Magazine's Art Out of Context page.
Now, the co-op wants to raise $10,000 to move into a permanent home. A home with rentable studio stalls, gallery space for exhibits, a market area to sell work, and a classroom space.
"So many times, people wait, and they wait, and they wait and they are hoping that the government is going to step up to the plate and do those things, but I am, personally, I'm kind of just sick of waiting," said Cassandra Buck, founder of Gallery 24. "We just need to do this. I think Rochester needs it and it's not fair to the public and to the artists if we just sit and wait and twiddle our fingers when we can try to get something going."
So where did they turn when they tired of waiting?
To you, to us, to everyone. Their fundraising effort went live on GoFundMe early this week. You can check it out at gofundme.com/GALLERY24FINDSAHOME. A chunk of the donations will go to construction costs, the other will go to rent for the first three months. The reward? A space where artists can exhibit, create, and connect.
Art must exist independently of government; an arts scene that relies on government funding as a life-or-death matter isn't much of a scene at all.
A scene that relies on its participants and audience, though? That's as it should be. We want to encourage people to donate, not just to this one organization, but to all the arts, as you're able.
We believe the city needs to continuously replenish its artistic wells. Rochester is rife with talent; we want to see our artists' shine to the horizons, not move away because people didn't pay attention.
And to make matters worse, President Trump's proposed budget for 2018 gives zero dollars to the arts. It would obliterate the National Endowment for the Arts and defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. That means no more NEA grants and no more Big Bird. Minnesota Public Radio and hundreds of other nonprofit, public broadcasters nationwide say the loss of federal money threatens their quality and mission.
Art doesn't need the government or newspaper editorials to survive. But we need it. Art gives voice to the unnameable experiences we all go through. It makes visible what's impossible to see. It lets our minds wander the vast expanses of human potential.
There are many bright spots and people in Rochester's art scene. Art4Trails. The Art Center and its RACtivists. 535 Gallery. Forager and Cafe Steam. C. Anthony Huber. Carley McHenry. Simon Huelsbeck. Joshua Schroeder. Seamus Kolb. Wendy Westlake. Nick Sinclair. Patricia Dunn-Walker. Miriam Knuth. Bill Peterson. Mary Beth Magyar. Zine-O-Cide. We don't want to stop there, but the list is long enough to take up the rest of this page.
We'd like to tell you about a bright spot that needs a bit of support: Gallery 24 Artist Cooperative, which exists to provide area artists with opportunities to exhibit, exchange ideas, and grow. You've probably seen something touched by the group. The wall space at Forager Brewery is run by the co-op, and Gallery 24 artists are a regular feature on 507 Magazine's Art Out of Context page.
Now, the co-op wants to raise $10,000 to move into a permanent home. A home with rentable studio stalls, gallery space for exhibits, a market area to sell work, and a classroom space.
"So many times, people wait, and they wait, and they wait and they are hoping that the government is going to step up to the plate and do those things, but I am, personally, I'm kind of just sick of waiting," said Cassandra Buck, founder of Gallery 24. "We just need to do this. I think Rochester needs it and it's not fair to the public and to the artists if we just sit and wait and twiddle our fingers when we can try to get something going."
So where did they turn when they tired of waiting?
To you, to us, to everyone. Their fundraising effort went live on GoFundMe early this week. You can check it out at gofundme.com/GALLERY24FINDSAHOME. A chunk of the donations will go to construction costs, the other will go to rent for the first three months. The reward? A space where artists can exhibit, create, and connect.
Art must exist independently of government; an arts scene that relies on government funding as a life-or-death matter isn't much of a scene at all.
A scene that relies on its participants and audience, though? That's as it should be. We want to encourage people to donate, not just to this one organization, but to all the arts, as you're able.
We believe the city needs to continuously replenish its artistic wells. Rochester is rife with talent; we want to see our artists' shine to the horizons, not move away because people didn't pay attention.
Resource :http://www.postbulletin.com/opinion/our_view/our-view-with-public-funding-or-without-we-need-art/article_ee23637e-2c09-5ccd-8bb2-d4bbf5d9512d.html
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