Funny how after all that time and money invested, Creative Time missed perhaps the largest flaw with the Dallas Arts community—that one of our most prestigious local universities would pay $25,000 for people from New York to diagnose our problems and write a report on the cultural performance of our city. Or more precisely pay for them to talk to all of us over margaritas and basically regurgitate what we have known and said for years.
Let me say that again. We PAID people to come down and tell us what’s wrong with us. As I write this I am sitting in NYC, surrounded by artists who are laughing in dismay and pity. The word ‘ridiculous’ is being frequently thrown around behind me.
Also is anyone really surprised by this wish list? What I am surprised about is how generic and universal it is. This could be used for the majority of cities, just replace a few pictures and names. But what were we really expecting from this? For them to report back that if we build one more new museum in the arts district that presto-chango everything will be amazing and we will have our own New York?
Now don’t misunderstand me. I agree with the list. Great list. Can I get a pony and a major museum along the lines of the Metropolitan or the Louvre while were at it? I also realize this was meant to generate a discussion amongst us all, it is. Yet isn’t that also a sign of larger problems? That it takes something like this for all of us to vocalize things we already know? Or worst yet, defend the status quo?
