Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Art and Democracy: The NEA, Kickstarter, and Creativity in America
Createquity.: Every once in a blue moon, an arts policy story breaks into the mainstream media—and as with most poorly understood subjects, it’s usually for some profoundly stupid reason. The news that the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter anticipates distributing more money this year than the National Endowment for the Arts was no exception.[1] The story, prompted by a February 24 interview of Kickstarter co-founder Yancey Strickler by Talking Points Memo’s Carl Franzen, led to a flurry of content-free online chatter on well-trafficked channels with frothy headlines like “Could Kickstarter Replace the NEA?” and “Kickstarter Kicks the NEA’s Butt in Arts Funding.”
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Both the NEA and Kickstarter exist in an economy where the people employed in the arts are suffering. Will the NEA's policy and review centered model survive against the rise of independent for-profit fundraising sites like Kickstarter? I'm not sure. He makes a very good point that most who fund the arts on Kickstarter are already familiar with the organization. (Part of me suspects this is true for more Kickstarter funds.) Perhaps this limits its potential for arts funding. But certain things could work. He cites Kickstarter helping to fund campaigns that have went viral. The collapse of the Intiman last year absolutely went viral. A lot of people saw it as the begining of the end for regional theaters. Could they have established a Kickstarter campaign to help with the debt? I probably would've helped.
The real problem with democratizing art like Moss argues Kickstarter does is that when people hand over their money they expect to be handed something back. There's nothing tangible in the arts. If I donated to the Intiman or if the Humana New Play Festival was going under and started a Kickstarter campaign to help what could these organizations offer? There may be different gifts at various levels of donations (t-shirts, totebags, mugs, etc.) but if that was enough PBS would never have to fund-raise. And they do all the time!
So I don't think Kickstarter is democratizing arts funding anymore than it has been. What it does do is provide ways to make raising money easier. If do have to think of arts funding in terms of democracy and capitalism, the solution isn't in the consumption; there is no tangible product in art, the solution is in democracy; which is much bigger than the internet and if used correctly, can force the NEA's superiors to listen to us.
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