It seems every few years the arts land in the crosshairs of someone's scope.
And while I spent a good portion of last week meeting people from all over the world at the international furniture market in Chicago, NeoCon, recent headlines at home kept Grand Rapids in my heart.
In the past week, yet again, an elected official was looking to "bring the hurt" to the arts by suggesting its funding be slashed.
Yet, what is most troubling is that this time the call for cuts are not to just one organization's programming, but all programming that seems to carry a whiff of diversity.
In a month when people all over the country begin to gather to celebrate their LGBT community members, like the 22nd West Michigan's Pride celebration, these cuts aren't arbitrary. They are aimed at silencing the voice of diversity.
These specific calls for cuts are couched by the argument that they are a "poor use of tax dollars," all the while singling out Corpus Christi, a gay-themed play described as "evil" and Angela Davis, a black activist who just happens to be a lesbian was once a one-time member of the Communist Party as their rationale for such actions. (Do you smell any hints of McCarthyism or an urge to re-read Arthur Miller's The Crucible, yet?)
To many of us in and out of the arts who have called Grand Rapids our home for decades, this call for cuts seems to be little more than veiled homophobia.
Of course, the arts have been a longtime target for cuts over the decades, so I doubt that my calling it out here will alter anyone's actions or make the discussion go away.
But the arts in Grand Rapids have made huge advances even while the world has shrunk. Arts organizations like the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, ArtPrize and even the targeted Actors' Theatre each asks us to examine the role of contemporary art in society and have presented platforms from which many diverse voices have been expressed. And the public as well as the world has taken notice of their vital role in the arts community.
Art and language begs us to approach it, hear what it has to say and then react. It does not ever consider that vital voice be cut off or suppressed, nor should we let it.
Our artists, educators and arts organizations know too well the damage these types of headline grabbing acts can inflict on a community that has made amazing strides to becoming an international player.
And like a friend of mine remarked that "NeoCon has become more than just a show for looking at furniture, it is a collective conversation about the future of work," the arts are more than just pretty decorations.
The arts are the markers of our time. To remove any of these markers is to present a future that is not representational of who we truly are.
I especially want to commend Grand Rapids Community College's newly installed president Steven Ender for his leadership on this issue.
The programs that have been recommended for cutting included the Actors' Theatre, the Woodrick Diversity Learning Center and their Diversity Lecture Series, which has brought world leaders to our region over the years.
All of these programs are familiar to the readers of G-Sync since they often recommended here because they represent some of the finest in programming within our region.
The Future Needs All of Us (to flex.)
Tommy Allen, Lifestyle Editor
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