Issue 2
THE ARTS POLITIC’s second issue is here! BIAS features over 100 pages of reports, essays, poetry, visual art and interviews.
The stage for this issue? Many happenings at the intersection of arts, politics and bias. Last year, in 2009, President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law. Artistic communities debated Emily Sands’s undergraduate thesis findings that female theater producers perpetuate gender biases against female playwrights. Arts departments became the first causalities of recession-related budget cuts at many universities. Uninformed remarks by Rocco Landesman (“I don’t know if there’s a theater in Peoria… but I would bet that it’s not as good as [Chicago’s] Steppenwolf”) led the NEA Chairman to tour Peoria. Parents in a Las Vegas, NV suburb sued to prevent high school students from performing Rent and The Laramie Project. Across the nation, arts groups performed The Laramie Project—about the brutal slaying of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man.
From this stage, Issue 2 of The Arts Politic began. We feature artists who inform us about bias that perpetuates in neighborhoods and communities. Rachel Falcone and Michael Premo curated “Housing is a Human Right: Stories from the Struggle for Home,” and used photography and re-mixed stories to uncover bias against low-income long-term New York City residents. We feature scholars who use positive bias to improve arts communities. Edward Clapp, a Harvard Education School doctoral student, writes about his use of positive bias to encourage greater age diversity within arts education communities in his essay, “Mistaking Inclusion for Exclusion.” In Dialogue, we feature interviews with politicians like Minneapolis Councilmember Elizabeth Glidden and Seattle Councilmember Sally Bagshaw to learn more about local arts policy planning. Our regular TAP*MAP section culls the voices of art gender equality activists, a music venue owner, a former mayor, theater directors and community art activists–all speaking about issues at the intersection of arts, politics and bias. There is also visual art that challenges prejudice, poetry, reports on artists in empty storefront campaigns and performance as a tool for an informed electorate, a policy brief, and more. (For more on this issue, read “Letter from the Editor“).
Who else is in TAP? Melanie Cervantes, Rhoda Draws, Amelia Edelman, Shanthony Exum, Arlene Goldbard, Robert A. K. Gonyo, Malvika Maheshwari, Ashley Marinaccio, Gisele Morey, Bridgette Raitz, Betty Lark Ross, RVLTN, Gregory Sholette and Wendy Testu, Brandon Woolf, RonAmber Deloney, Chris Appleton, Phillip Bimstein, Joshua Clover, Dan Cowan, Maria Dumlao, Kevin Erickson, Joe Goode, Art Hazelwood, Elaine Kaufmann, Danielle Mysliwiec, Judy Nemzoff, Anne Polashenski, Garey Lee Posey, Kevin Postupack, Gregory Sholette, Manon Slome and Robynn Takayama. Congratulations to all of our thoughtful, brave contributors!
To subscribe/purchase a print version of Issue 2, CLICK HERE.
CONTENTS
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Lessons from Zinn
by Jasmine Mahmoud
COMMENTS
LETTER TO THE POLICYMAKER
A high school teacher from Chicago, IL writes to United States Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, imploring him to make arts education matter. [Print & digital download only]
OPENING ACTS
Briefs & Trends
Reports
The Living Voter Guide: A Performance Report
by Robert A. K. Gonyo and Ashley Marinaccio
The Political Economy of International Art: A Report on the 11th Istanbul Biennial
by Gregory Sholette
Policy Brief Update: Artists in Empty Storefronts
by Jasmine Mahmoud
Dialogue:
City Council Candidates on Arts Policy
Interviews by Jasmine Mahmoud
Columns
Questioning Cultural Diplomacy
by Brandon Woolf
The Arts is Where It’s At! A Soapbox Moment for Arts Education
by RonAmber Deloney
SPECIAL REPORT: BIAS
Essays & Reports
Mistaking Inclusion for Exclusion: Fighting Bias with Bias
by Edward P. Clapp
Housing is a Human Right: Stories from the Struggle for Home
by Rachel Falcone and Michael Premo
The March for Kronos: All-Ages Arts Venues Under Attack
by Jasmine Mahmoud
Dissecting Domination in Art: Positioning Dalit Artists in India Today
by Malvika Maheshwari
TAP*MAP
Regional perspectives on bias
Policy Brief
Arts policy strategies to confront and harness bias
EXHIBITION
Melanie Cervantes
Rhoda Draws
Bridgette Raitz
RVLTN
The Welcome to the NeighborHOOD Project
POETRY
by Amelia Edelman
LIBRARY
Book/Talk: Cultural critic Joshua Clover talks about Miley Cyrus, Dee-Lite, and his latest book, 1989: Bob Dylan Didn’t Have This to Sing About
ENDNOTE
by Arlene Goldbard
REMEMBERING
The People Speak
by Shanthony Exum