Carolina Arts Unleashed

I was extremely disappointed that less than 30 people showed up for this Canvas process in the greater Charleston area. Most of the crowd was from the North Charleston area and north of there – including some folks from Dorchester and Berkeley Counties, but very few from Charleston – the great arts city of South Carolina. Such are the politics of the area. If art doesn’t happen in downtown Charleston – it’s not art – in some people’s minds.

But those who didn’t come missed a great opportunity to see the new North Charleston City Hall and I got a fast tour of the new offices of the North Charleston Cultural Arts Department – which were first class. I know some folks in Charleston can only dream of ever having facilities like this, but that’s another story.

And again, the folks who did show up to this Canvas of the People had a nice discussion of what’s good, what’s a challenge and what opportunities might be out there, but again I saw no plan for future solutions – as if talking about these things once is all people need to get them energized or inspired. Of course all that happens after the final report is made by the SC Arts Commission. Right!

It’s too bad someone from the Palmetto Project wasn’t there to give us all stickers to wear to show we participated – like when we vote in SC.

Of course, perhaps most people are participating by doing the online Canvas survey. Here’s the link.

I don’t think I have anything relevant to say about the meeting – most of it is a blur now anyway, but I did want to say something about the first 15 minutes of every one of the Canvas gatherings where Ken May, acting director of the SC Arts Commission talks about some questions the Arts Commission paid to be included in the South Carolina State Survey taken in 2009.

If anyone cares, you can download the final survey report at this link. I found it highly amusing, sad, contradictive, and detached from reality – at least the reality that we at Carolina Arts have been going through – and I think most artists, art businesses and arts organizations.

May starts off his speech about the survey with this good news: “Almost 67% of adult South Carolinians participated in the arts at least once during the last year.” That’s slightly down from 2007, but we all can understand that considering…

This is what participation in the arts was defined as in the survey. This statement was read to give people an idea of what participation could mean before they gave their answer:

“Participation in the arts may include a wide variety of activities including attending music concerts and live performances of dance or theatre; attending a performance or play at a child’s school; visiting museums and galleries; reading literature or attending a book club; singing in church choir or acting in community theatre; creating art yourself, such as painting, writing poetry, or playing a musical instrument; or serving as a volunteer or board member for an arts organization or arts events. During the last twelve months, approximately how many times have you participated in the arts in any way?”

Under this broad definition you could assume that going to the movies, listening to public radio, humming in the shower, doodling on a piece of paper while you’re on hold when calling your cable company or watching cheerleaders at a USC football game could be considered participating in the arts. And, with that broad definition – “Almost 67% of adult South Carolinians participated in the arts at least once during the last year.”

Oh happy day! The arts have a bright future in South Carolina.

“The average frequency of participation was 14 times during the year.”

Here’s the reality of being in the arts in South Carolina. The results of this survey show how many people in various category breakdowns had no participation in the arts – even under such a broad definition:

Total (2007) – 38.2%
Total (2009) – 33.2%

Sex
Male – 36.1%
Female – 30.6%

Age
18 – 29 – 35.9%
30 – 44 – 17.9%
45 – 64 – 33.2%
65 and over – 55.6%

Education
Less than High School – 59.7%
High School Diploma – 43.8%
Some College – 31.6%
College Degree – 16.5%

Income
Under $25,000 – 48.6%
$25,000 – $49,999 – 31.5%
$50,000 – $74,999 – 15.9%
$75,000 – and over – 16.9%

Type of Area
Urban – 30%
Suburban – 27.3%
Rural – 39.5%

Region
Upstate – 33.7%
Midlands – 36.2%
Lowcountry – 29%

These numbers are staggering to think that under such a broad definition – these folks had no participation in the arts – none! What sad lives they must live. Under this broad view I can imagine some days when I have 14 different contacts with the arts and surely every week I go way beyond that level. It also shows how ignorant people are as to how much the arts or artistic expression touches their lives – every day.

We in the arts are doing a poor job of pointing that out. Do you think kids would like to go back to the days of Pong or stay with the high level of art presented in today’s video games? I’d give more examples but I’m sure my readers are at my level or higher. I don’t need to preach to the choir.

For those in the visual arts, they might be interested in one part of the survey where respondents were asked if they had purchased original art in the last 12 months. No definition was offered as to what original art was – which was a surprise after the participation definition was offered.

If I had a nickel for everyone who claims to have an original Steve Jordan, Jim Harrison or Bob Timberlake hanging on their wall at home – I’d be a rich man. But, nonetheless we have to take these survey results for what they are worth (not much in my book). For all I know it could include framed images of dogs sitting around a table playing poker.

These are the results for those who responded “Yes” to having purchased original art in the last 12 months:

Totals (2007) – 15.1%
Totals (2009) – 13.3%

Say, all you artists and art gallery owners out there in South Carolina – do you believe that your sales are just down 2% from 2007? Of course this could be the Wal Mart factor – more people might be getting their original art there these days.

Sex
Male – 11.8%
Female – 14.8%

Race
Black – 10.4%
White – 14.3%

Age
18 – 29 – 10.6%
20 – 44 – 15.3%
45 – 64 – 15.6%
65 and over – 9.7%

Education
Less than High School – 3.1%
High School Diploma – 7.9%
Some College – 10.8%
College Degree – 24.2%

Income
Under $25,000 – 6.2%
$25,000 – $49,999 – 13.8%
$50,000 – $74,999 – 18.5%
$75,000 and over – 20.4%

Only 20% of people making over $75,000 are purchasing an original piece of art in a year. Folks, this is the group we have to work on. What are they spending their money on? Oh that’s right – these are the folks who are probably supporting the performing arts in South Carolina.

Type of Area
Urban – 14.1%
Suburban – 14.7%
Rural 12%

I guess this shows that people living in rural areas have figured out that they can drive to an art gallery or flea market in the urban areas to buy art.

Region
Upstate – 8.8%
Midlands – 14.8%
Lowcountry – 17.6%

And are we to believe that folks in the Lowcountry buy twice as much original art as folks in the Upstate? I guess this proves that availability is the answer here. The more art offered in an area – the more chances are that people will buy it.

OK – here’s the real kicker for me – showing how much people in South Carolina are interested in the arts or in taking a survey about the arts:

“The response rate for the landline component (people with a phone connected to a wire in their home) was 40.5% and for the cell phone component it was 27.5%. The overall response rate was 37.2%.”

The survey report does not state how many calls were made, it only states that 828 people completed or partially completed the survey, but the response rate was only 37.2%. I guess if you do the math to come up with a 37.2% rate – 2,200 calls would have to have been made to get that percentage. We don’t know if no one answered the phone during the survey period (one month) or refused to take the survey – making up the other 62.8% who did not participate in this survey. We don’t know if return calls were made. We don’t know a lot about surveys in general.

Some people just won’t take time out of their busy lives to do a survey. And, the cell calls could have been made to those folks who never have their cell phone anywhere but up to their ear. Who they are talking to constantly – I don’t have a clue.

So, 67% of those adults in SC who completed the survey (only 37.2%) participated in the arts – at least on the average of 14 times in a year. That’s a lot less than the first statement implies.

It’s sad – very sad – if true. And the speech about the survey was a wasted 15 minutes of the hour and 15 minutes allotted to each Canvas of the People gathering.

I can’t wait for the final report and to read the goals for the next ten years. Of course I’m being sarcastic. It’s a good thing no one is keeping score on how well we did over the last ten years, but my guess is – not very well. Like they say – those who ignore history are doomed to repeat their mistakes.

We need a better process for dealing with our challenges and opportunities, we need better leadership for this process, and we need to do something for the next year or two – or most of us won’t be here at all – much less the next ten years.

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