Rocco Landesman announces new direction for NEA

At the 2009 Grantmakers in the Arts conference, Rocco Landesman laid out his new direction for the National Endowment for the Arts. Click here to read his full remarks.

In it, he talks about the need for optimism. "Art is the most optimistic of activities: the ballerina standing en pointe or being thrown high into the air, lovers breaking into song in musicals, painters through history rendering success in war and hunting, or religious imagery or the exuberant discovery of new forms and shapes, the thrilling, spontaneous riff of a jazz saxophonist, the emotional release of comedy, even tragedy in the Aristotelian sense of catharsis and lessons learned."

He also lays out his simple direction for the NEA:

Art works.

I hope you read it. It's given me lots of food for thought this week.

Theater scene in Springs expanding

This weekend serves as a poignant reminder of the tragedy of abundance.

There are too many cool music events, festivals, art openings to hit them all up. This is true most weekends, but this weekend in particular features an abundance of theater. Our theater scene, all of the sudden, is thriving!

This weekend, count 'em:

Broadway Bound at the Fine Arts Center
Our Town at Theatreworks
The Arte of War presented by Theatre 'd Art
Ten Minutes Max at the Manitou Art Theatre
Face The City at Venue 515

and the newly resurrected Star Bar Players are performing The Weir in a warehouse space.

Plus, in two weeks, the new theatre troupe, Springs Ensemble Theatre will launch with a fundraiser.

Whilst perusing the blogs this morning, I stumbled upon this blog about audience development in the theatre. As our theatre community grows (and I, for one, believe a population of almost half a million can support a lively and diverse theater scene), we might do well to heed the advice of our peers in the industry. Make sure you read the comments at this blog.