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It’s an old tale. One I’ve seen in all the communities I’ve lived or worked in.
Organizations get big budgets to bring in outside experts, artists, bands. Their whole mission is to bring in talent from elsewhere. And that talent is costly. Yet, they seem to always find the money. There’s always money for this.
If you looked at this trend from the outside, you might think that these towns (ie nearly all towns) have no local artists, creatives, experts. Event after event highlights the wisdom, talent, and wellness brought in. Also, more often than not, these brought in folks bring no further value to the community. They share their wisdom or song, take their money, and leave.
And there is a place for knowledge and art to be spread around and brought in from elsewhere. No part of this writing is designed to say that folks from other places don’t bring valuable insight and inspiration. And don’t have a place in the ecosystem of a community.
The issue is that we tend to unanimously support this, while offering almost no support for the wisdom, art, and talent of folks who live and work in our town.
As an example of this, the Art Association of Jackson Hole is bringing in an author who wrote a book called Your Brain on Art, which looks at the science of how music and art has incredibly beneficial effects upon the brain and our health outcomes.
The information is something most folks who have interacted with the arts have felt. We know the arts help us physically, mentally, and communally. But it is good to have scientific data behind that feeling. In my experience, it is hard to get funding or financial support without data, no matter how much benefit people know the project or program brings.
It would be beneficial to bring in this author to speak to the funders, donors, governmental officials, etc to sell them on why funding local artists should be a priority.
BUT.
That is not what is happening.
Instead, this author is being paid to come to our community to share their findings to a room of people who will feel good about hearing about this science, and then leave.
It’s an event about someone telling us all things we mostly know, and highlighting the INDIVIDUAL benefits of music and art.
While there are indeed amazing individual benefits, they are often very temporary benefits without a discussion around community benefits, and how absolutely essential music and art is to community health, wellness, and overall success.
It all reminds me of when folks from BP tell us that to fight climate change we need to change our light bulbs to LED and recycle. All while a few companies and CEOs are pumping 97% of the pollution into the atmosphere. All of us changing our light bulbs will still result in devastation, without a change on the big levels.
This talk is something similar.
Painting at home boosts our happiness hormones. Singing can help us have a lower risk of dementia. All good things.
Meanwhile, our society makes life unlivable. We price out our local artists and creatives, so all that’s left are the extra rich, the lawyers, and wall street execs.
We also price out the community to access gatherings involving art and music. By relying on out of town bands to provide us musical communal experiences, we limit the benefits we can get to an occasional night - one that costs hundreds of dollars, not to mention parking prices and challenges, highly overprices food and drinks. It’s hard to truly engage in the community benefits of such an event after having to pay those costs.
The most uplifting events tend to be ones created and run by the community for the community.
Yet, we don’t fund these. It’s not that we fund these less than the big things, but we DON’T fund these, hardly at all.
Snow King is presenting 23 events EXCLUSIVIELY involving touring and out of town music.
That’s 100% funding leaving the valley. And 0% funding going to those of us who live and create here.
And most of the other events and organizations in the valley aren’t too much better.
The Tourism Board gives a minimum of half a million dollars to Rendezvous Fest, which allows typically, no space for local creativity. In the past they have allowed a local to open, but that is not anything close to a guarantee.
How many organizations are itching to spend a half million dollars on local artists and musicians?
I can’t name one.
I can’t name one in any town I’ve lived or worked in.
So, here’s my challenge to you.
My challenge to those of you with funds and resources. Those of you who run organizations and businesses.
Fund local art and creativity.
Make it a requirement to involve and PAY locals artists in your events and spaces.
Better yet, lets take that half a million given to a one day event, and give that level of money to our local musicians.
That would be a half a million dollar raise in support to local music.
Why do we allow folks to funnel our money out of community while turning our back on those of us living and working here?
If that seems like a wild idea, then ask yourself why it’s acceptable to spend millions of dollars on an unsustainable and ineffective practice of importing temporary wisdom, entertainment, and mental health, while exporting our economy and future?