The Importance of Redefining the Value of Art
Deborah Fisher, the founding executive director of A Blade of Grass, explores in an article in Artnet how the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown may present an opportunity to change how the art ecosystem functions.
Fisher says we can decide "to value art and culture in ways that support the kind of lives we want to be living." But to do that, she says, "we need more skin in the game—a greater shared commitment among a wider pool of stakeholders to recognize, articulate, and collectively wield the power art and culture already has, and to ensure it’s doing the civic, political, and social work we value the most."
The success of the work that comes out of this moment will rely on our newfound ability to value art that satisfies human needs within a community context, rather than market relevance. We should take this opportunity, as viewers and supporters of the arts, to detoxify. We could learn to embrace nuance instead of crave spectacle. We could invest more in the history that connects art practice to community organizing and movement building. We could even make more art ourselves.
Fisher recognizes she's worried about the future and that it will be economically devastating to the arts as a sector. "But I also feel that we’ve been rehearsing for this future for quite some time, and that we have the tools to find abundance in it."
Image: Matthew T Rader / Unsplash