The last information I have regarding the amount the state spends on the arts is .08% of the total budget.  I sympathize with Governor Rounds in having to “tighten belts” or whatever the phrase is these days.  However, I don’t think he or most of the legislators know how much the arts contribute to the State of South Dakota.  The most obvious reason being that the very symbol of the state; appearing on the license plate and bringing in millions of tourist dollars is in fact a work of art itself.  Ask any schoolchild (or anyone from out of state) what is special about South Dakota, and the first thing (or maybe the only thing) they say is: Mount Rushmore National Memorial.  The fact that this monument was sculpted by an artist seems a given by most people.  Artists such as Mr Borglum need to be trained and schooled if any more such works are to be accomplished in South Dakota and the potential here in the Black Hills is enormous.  I have only been here 3 years and I continue to be impressed with the quality and commitment of the painters, sculptors, craftspeople, musicians and writers who live here in the Black Hills area.  These artists spend money and create wealth through sales, equipment, supplies, and use of venues for their work.  Any money spent on them will return 10 fold in my opinion.  Don Jones

A day without art

I was thinking about the movie “A Day Without a Mexican” that deals with the impact of Mexican immigrants in California and elsewhere.  Wouldn’t it be fun to think about a day without an artist (or the products they make and design).  Maybe the governor will think about it too.

To be fair, I’m going to leave out clothing (fashion designers), shelter,(designed by architects), furniture,(industrial designers) and cars (automotive designers) all of whom are in fact artists.

So let’s begin our day by driving to the office.  Strange that all you can find on the radio is talk shows.  As you go to your workplace you notice that the walls are bare but that is not all that unusual.  Everything is white, no color anywhere.  Working at your computer till 10 a.m.  it’s your breaktime.  Down at the employee lounge you get a candybar in the machine filled with foodstuffs all in plain brown packages that state the contents: milk chocolate bar, peanuts etc. People seem a little down for a Friday.  On the way home, there is still nothing on the radio, your MP3 is blank and all your CD’s are gone.

Finally home and it looks like you’ve been robbed.  All your family knick-knacks are gone, your posters, paintings, pottery, All your jewelry gone too. Someone painted all your walls white.  No rugs on the floor, no lamps, just bare bulbs from the ceiling. Hey, what’s on tv? Nothing but talk shows, two people sitting at a desk in a blank room telling you what happened and what they think about it. The commercials just show a salesman asking you to buy a product in a white box labeled: Really Fine dish soap.  You would like to rent a movie but there are none.  Maybe there is a concert in town but…. no. No music at all , anwhere. Of course, no museum or gallery either.

Maybe just read a book. Wait….. no books either… you forgot that literature is an art too.  Go dancing? you forgot how and there is no music anyway. No plays either, not even “Our Town” that has almost no set. So there are no actors, musicians, stage designers, ballet or break dancers, no bands or rock groups, no paintings, statues, prints, posters, pottery, jewelry, no decoration of anything, no colored paint to bring out whatever artistic side you have.

Perhaps God will have an answer.  Your local church has become nothing but an ordinary building containing chairs facing a single chair in front. No choir, vestments, stained glass windows,  carvings, cross, stations of the cross, rolled up Toras, or images of saints or icons. No crucifixes, or statues of Mary. No decorations or symbols can be found.

Well, if I were a better writer, I could go on for a few more pages but you get the idea that the arts are a part of us and all cultures.  We cannot stop funding the arts.

– Don Jones

My observation is that most planning initiatives rarely include artists at the table when it comes to downtown revitalization or economic development issues.  What would you like to say to civic leaders about the role of art?  What can artists bring to the table?