his past October, I attended a "biennale," which is an Italian term that describes an event that takes place every other year. It was the 52nd Venice Biennale, an international contemporary showcase of cutting edge trends, movements, schools and personalities of artistic research.
Think with the Senses - Feel with the Mind: Art in the Present Tense
This year, and for the first time in the history of this venerable event, the exhibition was organized by an American, Richard Storr. was the result of his look at rapidly developing artistic languages and trends emerging on all five continents. Over 76 countries were represented throughout the cultural hub of Venice, Italy. Why then did all of my journal entries reference a longing to be back in Lexington?
Artist chosen to represent the United States
It was only by coincidence that the artist chosen to represent the United States of America had me continually drawing parallels to the current state of the arts here at home, particularly as they relate to the economic revitalization of our downtown.
Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996) is known for his investigations into audience participation. His artwork, often rigorously conceptual, engages the audience in such a way that, without them, the work itself has no meaning. Within the four sterile walls of the Palladian-style U.S. Pavilion, we were invited to take from an endless stack of oversize copies carefully situated in the middle of the gallery floor.
People carried that oversize work out of the gallery; some rolled it with great care and seriousness, others laughed about it, some folded it unwillingly, wrinkled it accidentally, dog-eared it unknowingly, bent it, shoved it, loved it and shared it. But as they all moved in both harmonious and disparate realms with their own meanings in play, they were bound together by this single act.
In Lexington, a similar kinship seemed to be growing around the arts. Over 50 percent of the ideas submitted for Knight Foundation's World Equestrian Legacy Initiative were arts related, a citizen's task force to study downtown arts and entertainment issues was formed, and a new level of excitement was growing on Manchester Street.
Knight Foundation Legacy Projects Workshop
One of the first events I attended on my return was the second community workshop hosted by the Knight Foundation, designed to evaluate more than 100 submissions for legacy projects.
During this workshop, I sat with leaders from LexArts, the Lexington Art League, the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra, and the University of Kentucky Art Museum and Art Department and discussed the various project ideas that would further the development of our downtown as an arts destination.
In my opinion, two very interesting things emerged from those conversations and made me understand more fully what I had experienced at the Venice Biennale.
First and foremost, everyone acknowledged that the current state of the arts in Lexington is inhibited by the fact that most of the arts organizations exist as very separate and distinct entities รณ operating, if you will, in very dissonant realms.
The solution, it seemed, was outlined in a number of the projects, all of which held greater participation at the center, as described in phrases like "break down the single project owner mode," "inclusive collaborations," and "encouraging a new generation of arts participants and patrons.
Secondly