Are the Arts Recovering?
September 26th, 2006The Poughkeepsie Journal ran an AP article today, “Investing in Youth,†that reports a trend among “art†buyers. It seems that more and more are being turned onto student work.
Once upon a time fancy buyers only hit the fashionable galleries where “new†and “upcoming†A-list artists would fidget nervously not far from their work. But the newest “new†and “upcoming†is the student circuit, so to speak.
Perhaps a sign of the times is Princeton trying to beef up its arts programs by intentionally accepting more student artists.
The times they are a-changin’ for artists as well. Nowadays student artists have the added benefit of online advertising; they can market upcoming shows and even preview their work. Students may collaborate via blog, MySpace and with big moblogging events and even hacker fests.
In an age where Vh1 has had to step in and “Save the Music,†it’s worth wondering if this generation of artists would have been even more influential a force had their growing years not been so devoid of public school arts programs, as gutted as they were by federal budget cuts. Thankfully the system is now celebrating the precocious and determined among them who found the voice and tools by which to create.
