Engaging Matters Examines Issues of A Night at the Opera

Submitted by Steve on November 20, 2011

Arts Journal blogger Doug Borwick, President of the Board of the Association of Arts Administration Educators, looks at the issues addressed in the play “A Night at the Opera” that was performed at the GIA 2011 conference in San Francisco, as part of the session “Too Progressive, Too Elite: Public Value and the Paradox of the Arts.” Watch the video of the performance below, if you haven't already seen it.

Based on interviews with arts funders, artists, arts managers, and (a few) politicians, A Night at the Opera addresses two basic questions. Are the arts elitist? and Are the arts leftist propaganda? (Well “leftist propaganda” is not the word they used. They said “progressive” to be less confrontational, I’m sure.)

Simple questions, right? Of course not. It depends on what you mean by “the arts,” more than your definitions of elitist or leftist propaganda. Let me explain. When discussing with my students opinion polls used to bolster arguments for governmental support of the arts, I point out that (in some cases) the large percentage of people who say they participate in the arts (thought of as a large umbrella, including quilt making and virtually any form of creative activity) is used to support public funding of “the arts” (a small umbrella meaning the symphony and the museum). I call this cultural bait and switch.

Read the full post from Doug Borwick.

GIA Deputy Director Tommer Peterson, along with writer KJ Sanchez, created the play (in just a few short months!) during the planning process of the session with organizers Barbara Schaffer Bacon and Marete Wester.