Austin Artist Rights Movement
Who's an artist? Anyone that creates: writers, painters, photographers, sculptors, screenwriters, actors, vocal artists, musicians, etc.
9/12/2011 - TONIGHT!
Visiting Artist Program sponsors Steve Roden, who will lecture tonight and meet with students interested in his work.
Where: Art Building (ART) 1.102
Time: 5-6 p.m.
Who’s Invited: Everyone!
Description from the University of Texas website: “The Visiting Artist Program welcomes Los Angeles-based artist Steve Roden. Roden works in painting, sound, installation, video and performance. His work uses various forms of specific notational systems (written language, musical scores, maps) and translates them through self-invented systems, which then provide an improvisational rubric to influence the process of painting, drawing, sculpture and sound composition. “
Blanton Student Guild hosts its first meeting of the semester.
Where: First floor Atrium of the Blanton Museum of Art
Time: 6-8 p.m.
Who’s Invited: University of Texas students only.
Description from the University of Texas website: “Get involved in your campus art museum. through the Blanton Student Guild, a registered student organization whose mission is to share the Blanton’s resources with university students and to serve as ambassadors in the Austin community. Attend this informational meeting to learn more.
Guild members are UT students interested in learning about art in a relaxed atmosphere while having fun. The Guild consists of three different branches: docent, Student Advisory Committee and volunteers.
The docent program trains students to provide engaging, interactive tours to other college students. Student Advisory Committee (SAC) members evaluate student programs and brainstorm creative new ideas about how best to reach out to students through innovative programs and events they would enjoy. Volunteers provide much-needed help for community projects and special events.”
Come out to support the Fine Arts community on campus! Hook ‘em, Arts!
With the Texas governor Rick Perry’s announcement earlier this week of his intention to launch a campaign for the 2012 presidency, I felt it was necessary to dig into how his opinions could affect creatives in our organization.
Let me preface this article with a disclaimer: This article will be based on previous legislation and quotes from the governor himself. It is meant in no way to defame our governor. So! Forget for a moment whether you sway left or right and gather ‘round.
Generally speaking, I do have my concerns for the future of Fine Arts programs in public schools if Perry gains the candidacy. Earlier this year, Perry suggested that funding for the Texas Historical Commission and the Texas Commission on the Arts be completely repealed. His reason? Because “they don’t provide ‘mission-critical’ services” (Smith and Weber of the Texas Tribune, Pegasus News).
By the way, if you’d like to support the Texas Commission on the Arts by sporting a snazzy “State of the Arts” license plate, you can purchase one here. According to their website, the TCA earns twenty-two dollars from each sale (Texas Commission on the Arts).
Both commissions are essential to maintaining our state’s historical legacy: “The nearly 60-year-old Texas Historical Commission is the 200-worker agency that installs and maintains nearly 12,000 historical markers statewide and administers federal and state preservation statutes” (Smith and Weber). Likewise, the Commission on the Arts is the primary source for providing grants to art programs, ensuring art education programs are flourishing in state-funded schools, and using the arts to bring tourism to floundering economies in small towns (Smith and Weber). The article further explains that Perry’s proposed budget only offered the programs a meager “half, or even a quarter, of their current funds” (Smith and Weber).
Where along the line did people become convinced that creative careers - and thus offering creative programs in schools and communities - are less deserving of federal funding than others?
The Houston Chronicle highlighted this pattern in the public school system through the work of Robert Floyd, chair of the Texas Coalition for Quality of Arts Education. The article challenged the assumption that fine arts courses are non-essential by providing evidence that schools with high fine arts participation have higher graduation rates and academic ratings (Scharrer of the Houston Chronicle, via Chron Blogs). Senate Education Chair Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) says it the best: “’[Education] should be arts and science - not one or the other’” (Scharrer).
So! It looks like this a serious problem for Texans, and one that may expand to a national issue if Perry’s perspectives permeate through his prospective candidacy. Keep creatives in mind as you determine your position in the upcoming election!
Independently employed - technically, freelance - artists are often denied health coverage because they do not work with one company, but several. ARM supports health insurance providers aimed towards the protection of creatives, but our ultimate goal is to see government recognition of this need.
The Artists’ Health Insurance Resource Center has made it their personal mission to “insure every artist in the United States by 2014” (AHIRC.org).
Click here to download a pamphlet on healthcare reform from the Artists’ Health Insurance Resource Center. Happy reading!
Interesting article about the need for pay recognition for artists of all types. The author poses a very relevant question: If we fail to recognize how the arts benefit society through creator compensation, will that ultimately reduce the amount of creatives?
At the moment, the evidence suggests that the fundamental mechanisms by which the arts in this country have traditionally been supported are undergoing massive changes–in the political sector by an apparently growing consensus that the government needs to stay out of the arts business, and in the private sector by a consensus that arts giving is a lower priority than others. What this likely leaves us with is not the “end of the arts as we know it,” for all that said.
Article is courtesy of the Culturebot blog.
The Artist Rights Movement is an all-volunteer, grassroots organization focused on defending civil liberties for all artists. Who’s an artist? Anyone that creates: writers, painters, photographers, sculptors, screenwriters, actors, vocal artists, musicians, etc.
We focus on integrating the message of creative freedoms and the necessity for protection through contact with state-level and federal governmental organizations, social awareness, and various other types of activism.
Steve Lehman, our founder, describes ARM’s mission: “Our mission is to strengthen laws that protect artists, improve working conditions for artists, increase funding for the arts, and protect free speech.”
So! I’m sure you’re feeling very inspired at this point, right? There’s a really snazzy online petition you can sign, if you’d like to contribute right now. Or, if you’d like to donate, you can do so here.
A note about donations: The Artists’ Rights movement (ARM) is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions on behalf of the Artists’ Rights Movement (ARM) may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
We also have a Meetup account, if you’d like to join.
Here’s introducing the new blog for the Austin chapter of the Artist Rights Movement! This will be the hub for all social media interactions of the University of Texas’ activist group.
As a fledgling activist group, our focus currently centers on gathering other creatives to join our activist team and expanding our circle in the Austin area. Meetings will begin with our registration in the upcoming Fall semester (2011).
As our group grows, I’ll add a contact page for future members to see fellow activists. Currently all contact can be made through myself (Kayla Moses) or my co-chapter head, Joshua Yap.
Thank you for your interest, and happy creating!
