Inspirations from the Flatlands

I'm thrilled that these conversations are taking place in my home town, St. Louis Missouri. Props to Matthew Strauss, Founder & Director of White Flag Projects for stirring it up!

THE REALITIES OF THE SMALLER CITY:
Can a smaller city ever be a viable center for progressive visual art?
Must all smaller cities necessarily be provincial?
Is provinciality defined by geography or philosophy?
Are all art galleries in smaller cities necessarily provincial?
What are the systemic problems that hinder every small city art environment?

THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF COMMERCIAL ART GALLERIES:
Is an art gallery merely a business like any other?
What are the functions of a commercial art gallery?
Do commercial art galleries have any cultural responsibilities?
How do economic factors dictate gallery policy and practice?
Should commercial galleries, which determine a significant percentage of the art exhibited in their city, be held accountable for the quality and relevance of those exhibitions?

THE PLIGHT OF LOCAL ARTISTS:
Why are local artists eager to be represented by galleries that do the absolute minimum to earn their commissions?
What functions does a more effective commercial gallery perform that the provincial gallery does not?
Does the provincial gallery advertise, publish catalogues, travel to important art fairs,
cooperate with other galleries, or do anything else to expand awareness of their
artists beyond the province itself?
How are local artists of otherwise good judgment cowed by their limited alternatives?
Is being represented by a provincial gallery more harmful than helpful to the career of a local artist?

THE ROLE OF LOCAL COLLECTORS:
What are the qualities of a selective buyer of contemporary art?
What is the difference between purchasing art from a provincial gallery or a cosmopolitan gallery?
Should the payment of significant commissions to galleries assure buyers that all due measures are being taken to adequately promote and protect the art and artists in which they have invested?

THE EFFECT OF INSTITUTIONS:
How do indiscriminant donors and misguided not-for-profits squander their city's limited resources?
Can the education efforts of local museums produce a genuinely astute and sophisticated audience for contemporary art?
How do the hiring and retention practices of universities affect the quality of the local art environment?

THE DETERMINATION OF REAL-WORLD LEGITIMACY:
Who determines art world legitimacy?
What factors determine a gallery's legitimacy within the larger art world?
Do provincial galleries strive for actual legitimacy or merely the appearance of legitimacy?
Does the provincial gallerist demonstrate any particular taste, discernment, foresight, intelligence or energy that would lead a credible authority to place any value in their endorsement?

THE CASE FOR URGENT CHANGE:
Are there any objective standards of relevance in contemporary art?
Who are the individuals & institutions responsible for the provincial philosophy's persistence?
Is anyone in a position to improve the provincial art environment?
What can an individual do to earn a better art environment for their city?
Can the provincial gallerist be persuaded to amend his or her practices?
Can the mercenary endeavors of a few individuals overshadow the intellectual, aesthetic, and artistic well-being of an entire community?
Must we risk that higher standards resulting in less art and fewer galleries in the short term will beckon better art and more galleries in the long term?

www.whiteflagprojects.org

Cultureserve.net

My work was featured in Janury's issue of Cultureserve.net! Click here to check it out.