By Thomas Dooney:
On the afternoon of October 25, there was an auspicious gathering of artists, educators and lovers of the arts at the Rath Building.
Numbering fifty or so, the gathering included many who have been recipients of local awards for their craft or accomplishment. Also present were artists whose films have been screened at film festivals around the world, winners of national awards and industry-wide honors for artistic excellence as well as creators of works that have had broad commercial exposure.
Under different circumstances these same group might be at county hall to receive civic honors for being some of Buffalo's outstanding artists or as contributor to the cultural life of Erie County.
Instead these artists were making a presentation of their own. Instead of honors, the agenda was a significant grievance.
The demonstration on this rainy autumn afternoon was organized by ACT OUT, an ad hoc association responding to and expressing concern about funding cuts to local arts organizations announced in late September by County Executive Christopher Collins. Central to ACT OUT is theater artist Todd Warfield. He observes, "After I read the article in Buffalo Rising about how artists could respond to the County budget cuts I thought I had to do something. I am good at creating a spectacle so I just did what I am good at."
At a given cue, participants dropped to the ground and lay prone on the steps on the Franklin Street side of the Rath Building, sixteen stories below Collins office. Costumed and masked figures representing grim reapers and Satan hovered nearby. The action was intended, according to Warfield, to theatricalize the prospect of death to small arts organizations and the hellishness of a compromised arts community.
As the symbolic victims held their position, Gary Earl Ross, author, delivered a eulogy for the benefit of the living, a speech which firmly expressing hope for resurrection.
Ross is the winner of the 2006 Edgar Award, the highest honor given by Mystery Writers of America... the "Oscar" of their industry... for his crime drama A Matter of Intent, which premiered in Buffalo, produced by Ujima Theatre Company. Ujima is one of the theaters that have been recently de-funded. In fact no theater in Western New York will receive funding in the Collins budget.
Participants carried placards which read "Culture Counts In WNY". Some signs made the connection that Collins planned cuts sustain arts programming for the wealthy but deprive the majority of citizens with affordable, high quality shows, concerts and exhibits by local artists.
Twinned signs read "The Arts Feed My Soul" and "The Arts Feed My Family". The first underlining the benefit of cultural programming to all citizens, the second a reminder that civic funding for the arts means jobs at galleries, schools and theaters as well as jobs generated at restaurants, parking lots and hotels. That the arts are a business, an employment force and a part of the overall scheme to enhance to regional life was variously expressed by participants.
In his proposed budget, County Executive Collins to has allowed funding to seven local landmarks dedicated to history and the sciences. They will receive support totalling $4.41 million Only three arts organizations have been granted with county funding. The arts institutions will receive support totalling $1.5 million. Certainly those three groups (Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Albright-Knox Art Gallery and Burchfield-Penney Gallery) deserve support for programming which, primarily, showcases the works of established masters. But so do the hundred or so organizations, which until now Erie County has supported at a much lower level of funding in their programming of artists working in our midst and establishing careers. It is only continued cultivation of the arts which provides the masterpieces yet to come.
Kate Olena observed, "As a theatre teacher, I urge my students to support local business and to see as many productions as they can. Where am I going to send them if theatres go under due to these horrendous cuts? How do I explain to them the importance of supporting local businesses if their own government won't give that same support?" Ms. Olena has taught theater at Nichols School for over 25 years. In addition, she is president of New York State Theater Educators Association.
The private and public colleges in this region serve a valuable function in the revitalization of Erie County and Western New York. Civic planners have long made clear that Western New York benefits when graduates of such programs remain to begin careers in this region rather than taking their BAs and MAs and their educations to other cities.
Bonnie Jean Taylor is one such graduate. She notes, "Buffalo's art scene is extremely hip. I think about the popular places people travel to... Paris, Amsterdam, London, New York... and one things that makes these places somewhere people want to be is the underground cultural scene. They want to be able to go home and talk about all the things they did that you had to be "in the know" to experience. The cafe they visited with the avant garde perfomance or the tiny gallery where they saw the future of cutting edge art...
Taylor adds, "I've met several actors, dancers and designers within the past year who moved here specifically to become a part of our arts community... which means the word is out there... and the talent is here! Imagine how much more attention we could acquire if we were given the capital to invest the time and resources we need to crank out the quality work we're capable of. Buffalo would be a cool place to travel, and an even more awesome place to live."
Bonnie Jean Taylor, a graduate of SUNY Buffalo, performs on local stages and has recently established her own business, Habit Dance Company.
Taylor, just like Ross, Olena and other artists working in this region, is an ambassador for Buffalo, Erie County and Western New York. Many artists based in Buffalo also work, or represent their own organizations, across the country and around the world. As such, each Erie County artist communicates the safety of our neighborhoods, the effectiveness of our schools and the community-mindedness of locally based business. Handicapping local artists diminishes Buffalo's most eloquent advocates.
Todd Warfield explains his satisfaction with the impact of the demonstration. "We did a piece of performance art that was splashy and it got attention. As a result, our message will get onto the media and then into people's homes. We want to communicate that the arts are important and that the arts need to be supported."
In this spirit, Warfield welcomes other artists and arts organizations to take the baton. He asks others, as he asked himself, "What can you do to help yourself and help the arts community?"
Lead photo: Soul wrenching: Marie Hasselback Costa, carrying sign, and ACT OUT organizer, Todd Warfield (masked), at the Culture Counts demonstration at the Rath Building.
Inset photo: Optimistic faces, pessimistic prospects: two of the participants of the Culture Counts demonstration.
View image
On the afternoon of October 25, there was an auspicious gathering of artists, educators and lovers of the arts at the Rath Building.
Numbering fifty or so, the gathering included many who have been recipients of local awards for their craft or accomplishment. Also present were artists whose films have been screened at film festivals around the world, winners of national awards and industry-wide honors for artistic excellence as well as creators of works that have had broad commercial exposure.
Under different circumstances these same group might be at county hall to receive civic honors for being some of Buffalo's outstanding artists or as contributor to the cultural life of Erie County.
Instead these artists were making a presentation of their own. Instead of honors, the agenda was a significant grievance.
The demonstration on this rainy autumn afternoon was organized by ACT OUT, an ad hoc association responding to and expressing concern about funding cuts to local arts organizations announced in late September by County Executive Christopher Collins. Central to ACT OUT is theater artist Todd Warfield. He observes, "After I read the article in Buffalo Rising about how artists could respond to the County budget cuts I thought I had to do something. I am good at creating a spectacle so I just did what I am good at."
At a given cue, participants dropped to the ground and lay prone on the steps on the Franklin Street side of the Rath Building, sixteen stories below Collins office. Costumed and masked figures representing grim reapers and Satan hovered nearby. The action was intended, according to Warfield, to theatricalize the prospect of death to small arts organizations and the hellishness of a compromised arts community.
As the symbolic victims held their position, Gary Earl Ross, author, delivered a eulogy for the benefit of the living, a speech which firmly expressing hope for resurrection.
Ross is the winner of the 2006 Edgar Award, the highest honor given by Mystery Writers of America... the "Oscar" of their industry... for his crime drama A Matter of Intent, which premiered in Buffalo, produced by Ujima Theatre Company. Ujima is one of the theaters that have been recently de-funded. In fact no theater in Western New York will receive funding in the Collins budget.
Participants carried placards which read "Culture Counts In WNY". Some signs made the connection that Collins planned cuts sustain arts programming for the wealthy but deprive the majority of citizens with affordable, high quality shows, concerts and exhibits by local artists.Twinned signs read "The Arts Feed My Soul" and "The Arts Feed My Family". The first underlining the benefit of cultural programming to all citizens, the second a reminder that civic funding for the arts means jobs at galleries, schools and theaters as well as jobs generated at restaurants, parking lots and hotels. That the arts are a business, an employment force and a part of the overall scheme to enhance to regional life was variously expressed by participants.
In his proposed budget, County Executive Collins to has allowed funding to seven local landmarks dedicated to history and the sciences. They will receive support totalling $4.41 million Only three arts organizations have been granted with county funding. The arts institutions will receive support totalling $1.5 million. Certainly those three groups (Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Albright-Knox Art Gallery and Burchfield-Penney Gallery) deserve support for programming which, primarily, showcases the works of established masters. But so do the hundred or so organizations, which until now Erie County has supported at a much lower level of funding in their programming of artists working in our midst and establishing careers. It is only continued cultivation of the arts which provides the masterpieces yet to come.
Kate Olena observed, "As a theatre teacher, I urge my students to support local business and to see as many productions as they can. Where am I going to send them if theatres go under due to these horrendous cuts? How do I explain to them the importance of supporting local businesses if their own government won't give that same support?" Ms. Olena has taught theater at Nichols School for over 25 years. In addition, she is president of New York State Theater Educators Association.
The private and public colleges in this region serve a valuable function in the revitalization of Erie County and Western New York. Civic planners have long made clear that Western New York benefits when graduates of such programs remain to begin careers in this region rather than taking their BAs and MAs and their educations to other cities.
Bonnie Jean Taylor is one such graduate. She notes, "Buffalo's art scene is extremely hip. I think about the popular places people travel to... Paris, Amsterdam, London, New York... and one things that makes these places somewhere people want to be is the underground cultural scene. They want to be able to go home and talk about all the things they did that you had to be "in the know" to experience. The cafe they visited with the avant garde perfomance or the tiny gallery where they saw the future of cutting edge art...
Taylor adds, "I've met several actors, dancers and designers within the past year who moved here specifically to become a part of our arts community... which means the word is out there... and the talent is here! Imagine how much more attention we could acquire if we were given the capital to invest the time and resources we need to crank out the quality work we're capable of. Buffalo would be a cool place to travel, and an even more awesome place to live."
Bonnie Jean Taylor, a graduate of SUNY Buffalo, performs on local stages and has recently established her own business, Habit Dance Company.
Taylor, just like Ross, Olena and other artists working in this region, is an ambassador for Buffalo, Erie County and Western New York. Many artists based in Buffalo also work, or represent their own organizations, across the country and around the world. As such, each Erie County artist communicates the safety of our neighborhoods, the effectiveness of our schools and the community-mindedness of locally based business. Handicapping local artists diminishes Buffalo's most eloquent advocates.
Todd Warfield explains his satisfaction with the impact of the demonstration. "We did a piece of performance art that was splashy and it got attention. As a result, our message will get onto the media and then into people's homes. We want to communicate that the arts are important and that the arts need to be supported."
In this spirit, Warfield welcomes other artists and arts organizations to take the baton. He asks others, as he asked himself, "What can you do to help yourself and help the arts community?"
Lead photo: Soul wrenching: Marie Hasselback Costa, carrying sign, and ACT OUT organizer, Todd Warfield (masked), at the Culture Counts demonstration at the Rath Building.
Inset photo: Optimistic faces, pessimistic prospects: two of the participants of the Culture Counts demonstration.
It's too bad these crackpots don't get as incensed about the other 'atrocities' dropped on us by our disfunctional governments...