REBOOT_ East Wall

Originally uploaded by love not fear

Joe Nickel wrote a great article today in The Missoulian about the state of the arts in Missoula. Joe points out that a recent survey of data released by the Natioanl Endowment for the Arts reported that Missoula ranks 44th in the nation in terms of the percentage of local workers who make their living through the arts”. “Artists in the Workforce 1990-2005″ is a 150-page survey of data compiled from census records. A portion of the article was reproduced over at Talk Missoula, and it ended with a question:

What are the advantages and challenges of being an artist in Missoula? Name one project, resource or service that could be developed to promote and support Missoula’s professional artists, musicians and writers.

The problem with the question is the word “professional”. There are many artists here in Missoula who cannot make a living at what they do here, not because they are not talented artists or they don’t produce a good body of work, but because their contemporary art is too edgy or risky for Missoula and the people who visit here.

Missoula is on the cusp of coming into its own as a cultural destination for travelers across the world. One thing many of those travelers want when they think of visual arts is western themed or “outdoor” art. Because of that, much of the visual art produced by professional artists in Missoula is reflective of that need.

Thinking of Missoula *only* in terms of this type of art is doing a disservice to the many very talented contemporary artists who live and work in this city, producing a huge body of work that might sell for thousands of dollars in a more urban city like Chicago, New York or Los Angeles, but here, if they sell at all, it’s for a pittance. And that is if the work is even seen.

A resource I would like to see is a dedicated space *downtown* that includes a gallery and affordable studios for working artists. Missoula is lucky to have the Ceretana, and more recently, the Zootown Arts Community Center on the North side. Both of these facilities are beautiful and offer many opportunities for both artists and the Missoula community. I would like to see something similar downtown. A place for artists to show that is not a coffehouse, a restaurant, a computer store, a boutique. Somewhere that is for art and art alone, and a place for lesser known 8local* artists to display. I am not taking away from the Missoula Art Museum and what they have to offer our community. I’m suggesting something more, something different. Something that could help artists who *don’t* make a living as an artist work towards that goal by giving them the same treatment a professional artist might get.

To view the full results of the NEA survey, “Artists in the Workforce 1990-2005,” visit www.NEA.gov and click on “News.”