Video from the panel discussion I was on this past Wednesday.

Kevin wrote a pretty good critique of the discussion on the Rapidian. There is some cool conversation going on over there.

I left the panel feeling as though what I was trying to say wasn’t really being heard (which is clearly a failure on my part), and that despite the fact this talk is at minimum the 3rd large-scale public discussion about these issues we are still at the bitch-fest phase in our growth as an artistic community. This,  as Kevin points out in his review, is the result of an oversimplistic understanding of what the “problem” is, coupled with the inability to start thinking outside of the traditional direct-trade funding paradigm. Why do support structures (and their development) remain virtually absent from these kinds of discussions? And more frustratingly, why are attempts at developing new models dismissed as “small potatoes” rather than first stabs at problem solving when they actually do come up?

We have such an amazing opportunity in Grand Rapids to experiment with new ideas and new models of funding art-making. We are at a fantastic point where a lot of small stabs have the opportunity to add up to something really significant. So where they at?

- George

ps. the video doesn’t pick up the audible murmur from the audience when I said i do my work for free.