“Hartford’s Edgy Arts” panelists: (L-R) Anne Cubberly, Maxwell Williamsn, Cynthia Bulaong, Chion Wolf, Khaiim the Rapoet, and Julia Pistell
On the evening of Monday, February 10th [2014], I attended the Hartford Courant & Fox CT Key Issues Forum entitled, Hartford’s Edgy Arts. The event was co-sponsored by Hartford Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs (HYPE), an initiative of MetroHartford Alliance and was held at the Mark Twain House & Museum. The forum assembled a panel of six Hartford artists (visual artist Anne Cubberly, Maxwell Williams Associate Artistic Director of Hartford Stage, Cynthia Bulaong of Open Studio Hartford, Khaiim the RapOet and Julia Pistell of SeaTea Improv) and was moderated by the always effervescent Chion Wolf. I must admit that I entered the situation with a fair amount of skepticism. I wasn’t sure who the forum was intended to serve and what action it was intended to catalyze. However, after I was mentioned in a Facebook post by Carolyn Paine who wondered who would serve as representatives of the city’s dance community, I decided to attend. So, on the evening of my 40th birthday, I joined a sizeable crowd of people in the auditorium at the Mark Twain House and listened carefully for glimmers of hope.
While I don’t think I’m in a position to address all the ins and out of the discussion at this time, I am writing as a way of marking time and acknowledging that something important seems to be shifting in our city. I don’t know how to categorize that shift, but something is happening for sure. The voices of optimism are finally beginning to drown out the self-deprecating ones that have dominated the landscape for far too long. And these voices for change seem to be coming most powerfully from the creative community. I believe it’s important to acknowledge the full panel for their infectious spirits of possibility and their unflinching efforts to make things happen in Hartford. So, I’m grateful to these artists, and the many others who fight to make art relevant, to energize our community, and to insist on Hartford’s inherent value. I also acknowledge the organizers of the event for taking note of the community of artists and making space for that community to speak.
All that said, the forum only touched the hem of the garment. Time was limited and I’m not sure the event was ever intended to catalyze a revolution … which we so desperately need. Perhaps it was intended to function as a marketing tool to convince Hartford’s young professionals that they were living in a vibrant cultural community, and that this would motivate them to invest in the city. So, rather than serve as an agent for change, the event seemed to build on a lot of assumptions about art, the city and its inhabitants, as was demonstrated by the format of the panel discussion itself. There are so many more progressive models for community discussion, any one of which may have been more effective in opening dialogue and building networks. Furthermore, the questions of race, class, privilege, access and funding were only hinted at … and these issues are very much at the heart of the matter. The question of how to sustain art in Hartford is serious. For many, myself included, the ability stay in Hartford and to sustain myself personally hinges on this question. So, I have a hard time when the topic gets cutesy. Maybe that’s just my issue. And in conversations at an informal gathering of panelists and attendees following the event, the disconnect between those who have access and those who do not were amplified all the more. So while I was heartened by the positivity, I found the situation equally frustrating.
Finally, it is important to note that the panel did not include a dance artist. Cynthia Bulaong, of course, has a strong background in dance, but that is not necessary the community with which she is specifically affiliated at this time. So, had I not inserted myself into the discussion we would have been entirely overlooked. The challenges specific to the dance community were further marginalized in that environment, as it seems we exist on the fringe of the fringe. I pride myself in being reasonably articulate about our art form, but I felt completely stumped in this context. In some instances in the conversation, I felt obliged to justify the very nature of dance in order to prove it was a significant contributor to the cultural landscape. Perhaps the fact that I was the only member of the dance community in attendance made the pressure to represent all the more intense. Either way, the point is that dance was not invited to the table … and we must insist on being at the table!
One way or another, I am hopeful that this was the beginning of real dialogue. I hope we’ll learn to acknowledge how much hard work is being done, while growing more and more united in our efforts to bring the arts front and center as a societal imperative. I hope the dance community STANDS UP and refuses to perpetually be the most invisible of Hartford’s arts. I hope …
In the meantime, here are a few links to conversations others are having about the forum and the topic of Hartford’s edgy arts in general. Let’s be sure to keep the discussion going …
- Watch the full panel discussion here …
- Hartford Courant’s, Hartford’s Got Arts Going On
- Chion Wolf on Fox CT promoting the event
- HYPE Hartford Blog recap
- furbirdsqueerly‘s assessment in, On Edgy Art Thoughts In Hartford and Other Things On Our Mind
- Real Hartford‘s, #younghARTford: Second Time Around
- Julia Pistell’s reflections in, Sixteen Things I’ve Learned from Running an Arts Business
