A Few Hurried Thoughts on Private Museums and Public Funding – Winkleman

Gallerist Ed Winkleman discussed the importance of public arts funding, despite issues of exclusion. An excerpt:

I offered, “History shows us…that even groupthink had a genesis and if you want to change things, all you need do it take a page from the previous books: i.e., inspire one wealthy patron to open a different type of museum that shows the way toward a better tomorrow.” Franklin (who was offering more on his well thought-out objection to the use of public funding to exhibit/promote contemporary art), noted:

‘Right. I’ll get to work on that.

I have reasonable career goals that hinge on finding viewers who are sympathetic to my work, or at least not antipathetic, some of whom operate in the public sphere and most who don’t. If I win the ear of someone with enough money to singlehandedly open a museum, I’ll work on them, but to my knowledge the last collector to do such a thing was Isabella Stewart Gardner. In the meantime, artists who are not supported by the groupthink cited by Bernard are being forced to underwrite their own exclusion. If you think this is fair, make a case for it….’

….So, I reiterate: if the system isn’t working for you, inspire one wealthy patron to offer an alternative. This is how artists who were not part of the academy or in-crowd or groupthink group have changed art history for centuries.

Mind you, in regards to Franklin’s first somewhat snarky comment (“Right. I’ll get to work on that.”) just because it isn’t easy doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing. Other artists before you (and those around you now) weren’t daunted by how hard this obviously is. There are artists and collectors collaborating as we speak to advance this or that idea in contemporary art-making. If that seems too pie-in-the-sky for you, please note that that doesn’t change the fact that those artists are still your competition. Their willingness/ability to team up with a wealthy patron will give them an advantage in how history is written.

As for the final sentiment in Franklin’s comment (“In the meantime, artists who are not supported by the groupthink cited by Bernard are being forced to underwrite their own exclusion. If you think this is fair, make a case for it.”); although this post is about a different funding option, the bottom line is the same for both options: Fair ain’t got nothing to do with it. If the private sector can advance a new idea or new group of artists to where the public-at-large wants to see more of them, then that new group will eventually get public funding too. Every popular (i.e., funded via demand) movement/idea/artist group has a genesis. But taking away the public funding of the arts (because it’s perceived as unfair) will have repercussions beyond who is excluded and who’s embraced by the curatorial preferences of the day. I don’t think that’s the way to go.

Click here to see the whole post.

Image in the post is Joy Garnett’s “Poof” from a gallery opening referred to in Winkleman’s post.