Sunday, November 23, 2008

Economic Challenge New WPA?

My good friend, Joyce Owens, posits the question in her blog about the possibility of setting up a new WPA (Works Project Administration)reminiscent of the New Deal to assist artists in particular and the public in general. Like Joyce, I invite your comments. Joyce sees it as a good, a public good. I worry that, as in the 30's, art will be pulled to a "social realism" definition, pulled to subject matters potentially defined by lowest or lower common denominator tastes.

1 comment:

Joyce Owens said...

Times change, art changes, art styles change. Social realism might not be so bad a throwback. The art reflects the society, as we know. If folks feel they need to make protest art and they still must protest issues like the Jena 6 through realism, then so be it. My guess is that government would want contemporary work as well. Think about who goes to the Venice Bienale, for example.