Arts covenant proposed at Cultural Blueprints

Mary Stanley talks about her good idea:

In October the New York State Council for the Arts (NYSCA) hosted over 120 participants from the fields of art, politics, education, tourism, business, economic development, urban planning and foundations for Cultural Blueprints, the all-day local edition of a series of meetings across the state to encourage arts as the basis for development and tourism. NYSCA hoped to spark cross-pollination, partnerships and resource-sharing.
Among the key points reported back from the break-out sessions was Mary Stanley’s “arts covenant” – an idea that provoked applause from participants and has twice been noted in the daily paper. Stanley coordinates the informal working group Art Across Borders and in years past was a host of WAER-FM’s Women’s Voices Radio talk show. Last Friday we sat down for coffee and talked further about the “arts covenant.”

What happened when you proposed an “arts covenant” at the Cultural Blueprints gathering?
Actually I raised the idea in two of the smaller sessions. People were either enthusiastic or like, “What’s that?” Then in the end it was one of the recommendations to the larger group and the spokesperson asked me to explain it. I did and it was really well-received. People applauded. I think people are looking for a fresh way to look at the arts and development and this resonated.

The word “covenant” has some rich connotations. Can you talk about what “covenant” means?
A covenant is more than a contract, stronger than a pact. It’s a deep, profound commitment among people who see themselves as community. They’re promising what they’ll do in the name of something they value. We talk about “civic engagement” and I think it ties into that. Sometimes it’s had some religious dimensions, harking back to the old and new covenants of the Bible. So it expresses a profound relationship with something higher, a spiritual aspect of our humanity that’s more than the everyday. It ramps up our thinking about the importance of art to a good life. At the same time it helps us target where we each decide to spend our money.

What would an arts covenant look like? What am I promising?
For individuals it could go like this. In the next year I will purchase at least three gifts of original locally-made art. I’ll partake of at least one art form outside my comfort zone – that’s not my favorite, accustomed art. So if I’m a film person I’ll go to a dance performance, or if I’m a jazz person I’ll try the symphony or a stage play. I’ll try at least one art form from another culture. Art will take me at least once to a part of the city where I don’t usually go. I’ll do something – take a class, join a story circle, pick an arts project to support. Shops and galleries could visibly identify themselves as participating too.

“Arts and development” often means boosting tourism. This sounds like the counterpart to that – like activating the people already here.
Yes, exactly. This gives a visible structure to what many people do anyway and it’s a way to acknowledge that. And it recognizes that artists have to make a living. It’s doing more than hoping that outside tourist dollars trickle down to them. And actually we have to do this anyway if we’re going to create a vision for outsiders visiting Syracuse – a community that gets it, a community that isn’t packaged, a community where the people living here love art too and aren’t just selling it.

What would the start-up look like?
I think pretty simple, not all that labor-intensive or costly. Members could get a button or a decal or a card with a logo. Participating shops and artists and venues might have a decal on their entrance and print the logo in their programs. Merchants and box-offices might keep an eye on how many arts covenant tickets and sales they made. It can be playful – not like the art police are checking up on you. Maybe some strategically located bill-boards, some newspaper spots. I’d like to see if some of the existing arts-based networks might be willing to seed this since they’re up and running already.

Eventually the results of the state-wide Cultural Blueprints meetings will be posted by NYSCA at culturalblueprints.co.cc.

CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: Cultural Blueprints, arts covenant,
EDITION: The Eagle

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