After braving the morning chill of New York’s chaotic polling stations, we here at AFC are back at the office counting down the hours until the re-election of President Barack Obama. While we anxiously await tomorrow morning’s news, we decided to round up all our election year coverage for AFC and The L Magazine. In this burst of election day activity, we’ll let you know about Mitt Romney’s art mogul supporters, Obama’s poetry musings, and yes, the “soulless hellscape” of a world without arts funding.
AFC on Arts Funding
“Washington Proposes to Cut NEA and NEH,” by Paddy Johnson
“Anyway, I get the need to negotiate with Republicans since they control the House, but since I value a lot of the services the Government provides, I’d gladly take a tax hit.”
“New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs Boosts Art Funding,” by Will Brand and Corinna Kirsch
“Autumn is an exciting time for the Department of Cultural Affairs. Not because it must migrate, or gather nuts for the winter; these functions were offloaded to private contractors years ago. Rather, it is time for the culmination of the year’s budget dance in the ritual mailing-out of checks.”
“Without Art21, A Soulless Hellscape?”, by Whitney Kimball
“God help us if we lose our precious Art21; if that happens, Bravo might be the only people in America determining this season’s most important artists.”
“South Carolinians Ready to Rally as State Shuts Down Arts Commission,” by John Gawarecki-Maxwell
“Just in case New York City’s recent restoration of arts funding had you feeling somewhat optimistic about the state of the arts in America, here comes South Carolina to remind us all that no, the government still doesn’t get it.”
“City Council Restores, Increases New York Arts Funding,” by John Gawarecki-Maxwell
“For the fifth year in a row, the New York City Council has spared the arts from massive spending cuts… This is a $4 million increase from last year’s budget and, it should go without saying, a very good thing.”
“Detroit Institute of Arts Tax Will Pass by a Small Margin,” by Corinna Kirsch
“The dismal state of DIA’s finances can largely be blamed on poor state-wide funding. For years, the museum has not received funding of any kind from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA), causing museum staff to withdraw funds from its its now-dwindling endowment.”
AFC on the Candidates
Art Fag City at The L Magazine: “Romney’s War on Art,” by Will Brand
“The problem is that most voters, while generally supportive of the idea of having some arts funding around, don’t rank federal funding for the arts as a major issue on the same scale as, say, social security, immigration, or the economy. And who could blame them? I wouldn’t care much about 34 cents a head, either. But now that Mitt Romney has made those thirty-four cents a talking point, why shouldn’t the president continue to differentiate himself?”
Art Fag City at The L Magazine: “Slideshow: Obama v. Romney, in Art,” by Whitney Kimball
“Most of the whispering Romney support this year is coming from Forbes-level art dealers like William Acquavella and Larry Gagosian. Duh.”
Art Fag City at The L Magazine: “Mitt Romney on Art Round Up,” by Corinna Kirsch
“Proving he’s a true believer in small government, Romney loathes government funding for the arts, and private arts funding gets a free pass. Proving he’s sensitive, he told Oprah he likes to paint. In fact, he’s related to a well-known portraitist.”
Art Fag City at The L Magazine: “Barack Obama’s Art Collection,” by Corinna Kirsch
“As we parade into election season, any second spent thinking about anything other than politics seems downright un-American…When Barack Obama first took office, there was a flurry of excitement surrounding which artworks he would add to the White House. What do these works tell us about Barack—and Michelle? Well, it’s hard to tell, so we paired each painting with a quotation by one of the Obamas.”
AFC on the Obama Rumor Mill
“Roger Kimball Goes Birther,” by Paddy Johnson
“Let Kimball express these thoughts on a message board along with all the other internet trolls. Publicly funded publications like the New Criterion do not serve the greater good when they publish material that encourages sexist and racist views, a line that publication and their for-profit partner PJMedia too often walk. Kimball goes too far.”
“Exploding Obama and Other Public Figures,” by Paddy Johnson (From the last election cycle.)
“He’s right of course – the flash bulbs obscuring Obama’s face in a video gloomily contrasting his face against the likes of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton suggest an almost savage attack on the politician – though to be very specific about it, the violence captured in this video is a pre-existing message within the material itself. “
