David Brady Helps

View Original

How might you most directly fund your local arts scene?

Interesting opinion article from the Washington Post.

I understand the writer’s big as: stop funding performing arts organizations and start direct funding artists. I started thinking: how would that look?

  • What if you could raise money from your neighbors to fund a backyard production of a play/musical?

  • What if instead of going to a concert hall, you could fund a string quartet to play in your living space?

  • What if you could hire a composer to write music for your birthday? You would ask the composer to write the piece for the person in your family who plays music.

I’m left inspired. How many ways might we elevate the arts by abandoning the arts funds and directly funding artists? Would it make sense?

I realize I’m on the edge here. You might be the reader that values our performing arts organizations. I do too. I still wonder if a change in arts funding is inevitable. We stopped paying for cable television and now pay directly the content streams we want. Why should other arts be different?