Facing The Lack of Diversity in Photography and The Arts

[zauhar]

Interesting discussion above.

Chris, I am also one of the first college-educated in both my mother's and dad's families, and yes, most of us white males have zero power. Of course, people in power want white people to NOT recognize that, and so to align themselves with the tiny proportion of white males who DO hold most of the real power. This "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" bullsh-t is psychological propaganda to keep people of all colors ignorant of their true position.

That said, those of us who struggle to improve themselves do deserve some recognition for it. ;-)

Regarding the racial makeup of the arts, part of that does depend on what you classify as art. My daughter (mixed caucasian/asian) participates and competes in poetry slams, where the makeup is majority african-american. I attended one of these, and was struck by the size of the crowd, the excellence of the poetry and acting, and the commitment of the kids. I am proud of my daughter and the other young people of all colors and backgrounds who have the talent and courage to get up on stage and create public art. Likewise, the crowd that makes street art is pretty diverse. But these are not things that show up on the radar when you think of art in terms of gallery openings.

Randy

 

[Out to Lunch]

According to recent census data, whites in the US will no longer make up the majority of the country within a few years. Yet, he noted, whites still make up 91 percent of all museum goers, and white artists are represented in 91 percent of all museum and gallery exhibitions. “If the arts are to remain relevant who’s responsible for changing the status quo?”

I don't understand the link between 'majority' and 'race' and museum attendance. The only conclusion I can draw is that art was and will be relevant to a small minority of any country.

 

[Alfasud]

Ars Gratia Artis?

Ars Gratia Artis?

The opening quote sounds like the panel is a ‘make work’ project for the diversity industry. The Arts are relevant to those to whom they are relevant. If your chosen group does not ‘get it’ that’s sad but… There are many individuals from all groups and backgrounds who do.

The arts industry is not some absolute that necessarily should exist in its current form, nor does it exist in a vacuum. If those who currently support it decline demographically(or just lose interest), perhaps it will change.

We, at RFF can always eat Swedish meatballs, while debating the merits of film vs. digital. 🙄

 

[nikonosguy]

there's no women in the nfl, there are few blacks in the nhl...

that does not mean discrimination

 

[MartinP]

This is sort of heading to the next question, why should "everyone" be at all interested in any sort of art, within the vague definitions of Fine Art? I've no clear idea of the answer, but if nobody explains that idea to children at school then they will (almost certainly) probably not change their minds later on, when they are distracted by life in general.

 

[Alfasud]

We Don't Do Class

We Don't Do Class

Paul, that is a good observation. I get tired of people pushing the claim that whites, especially white men, are evil monsters keeping minorities and women down. The fact is that 90% of white men have NO power, NO wealth, NO advantages, NO anything.

I was the 7th person in my family's history to graduate from high school. Yes, kids, you read that right. Only 6 people in my family's history graduated from HIGH SCHOOL before I did. I'm one of those 'evil' white males, yet I am not rich, I am not influential or powerful, and I have had A LOT of doors slammed in my face as I've tried to make a living as a photographer and artist because (yes, people have actually said this to me) I am overeducated white trash.

Class, not race or gender, is the primary obstacle people face in trying to get into the arts today.

Chris,

Until the recent inequality discussions, and the "Occupy" movement, we in Canada, and I believe you in the USA maintained the myth that we had left the concept of "class" in Europe. It is now becoming obvious that this idea is wrong.

 

[nikonosguy]

if all things in life were truly equal, there would be no need for the wnba with lower goals and shorter distance courts... the women in the lpga would tee off from the same spot as the guys and be given the same golf handicap, and there would only be one restroom in any bar/restaraunt/nightclub

equality is a myth designed to take away from those with ability/means/etc and make it so that they're on everybody else's level rather than others inspiring to the greatness, they lower the standards...

the act/sat is biased towards white kids, so they lower the test standards rather than saying blacks and latinos need to step up their game....

 

[daveleo]

. . . .

the act/sat is biased towards white kids, so they lower the test standards rather than saying blacks and latinos need to step up their game....

What ?
The testing is biased towards Whites, so let's leave the tests biased and make Blacks and Latinos "step up their game" . . ?

This is a joke, right?

 

[MartinP]

Oh, Roger's post reminded me. In the next shake up of the UK education system the secondary school (ages 11 to 16 years) curriculum does not include music education, to save costs. "Most children do not go on to become concert pianists, so it doesn't matter" (insert large question mark here).

I'm still trying to find out what they are going to do about drawing, painting, pottery and so on. Maybe that's still useful as someone has to paint door-frames and ceilings.

 

[boomguy57]

Doesn't this have to do with the fact that the arts are generally considered not viable money-making enterprises in many instances? Ultimately one needs disposable time and money to make art of any kind, and this could be an issue that boils down to economics. Why there are more whites attending museums and studying art in school could be part of a larger question of why minorities are also disproportionately poor.

As with everything is life, there are shades of gray and variables. Nothing is iron clad or certain, but I'd argue that this is a large part of the issue. Instead of asking how to get more diversity into photography and the arts, why not ask how to get people out of poverty so that they have the leisure to pursue the arts if they are interested in doing so?

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

The problem with addressing this problem is that different kinds of people have different kinds of sensitivities.

Measuring one segment of a population with the values of another segment of that population will always yield an inequality.

If you conduct a study of about how much one human kisses another, I think that being surprised at finding that women kiss other humans far more than men kiss other humans would be...emm...surprising.

The root of that situation (or "problem", depending on your point of view) is of course societal values: in the U.S., at least, it is far more acceptable to see women kiss other women, or see them holding hands, where it is far from acceptable to see men kiss other men or see them holding hands. Of course, no men in the U.S. would conduct a study and find this disparity "troubling".

A study of who buys rap CDs will find huge inequalities in proportionalities of segments of the population, as much as a study of who deal with adverse life situations --I'm thinking the emotional dynamic found within an Italian family would be considered unbearable by a Norwegian family, and conversely, the emotional dynamic found within a Norwegian family would be considered unbearable by an Italian family.

I feel that a measure of "underepresentation" of an end-result is only meaningful when the background of that representation is the same. Race and gender as variables have incredibly different dynamics among each other, and unidimensionally considering them as a factor is incredibly tricky and usually flawed because the set of values from the people making the study can only have their own perspective.

So, after being all over the place --illustrating the complexity of this issue--, to address the OP quote's question, "what needs to change": either society as a whole, or understand if these "underrepresentations" are actually a symptom of culture shock.

For example: in the U.S., nonfiction is the strongest genre in literature. In Spanish-speaking countries, short stories and poetry are held in an esteem that is not shared by anglophone societies in general, yet practical knowledge books are read more than literature. In many Western European countries, fiction is highly esteemed.

One country's study of the others' would find "troubling" discrepancies, according to what they consider "valuable". They also have other priorities, specially economical. The "arts" as leisure is a luxury that many can't afford, yet it's not that they are "noncultured", just simply that they don't have the same advantages or priorities.

The ancient Greeks highly esteemed the arts and sciences, but these were the rich slave-owning ancient Greeks, who actually had lots of time to pursue such things.

If you want to reduce it to "purchasing power", be my guest, but this is one very tough cookie --- or is it biscuit? 😉 --- to crack.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

why should the act scores be lowered to fit someone who is not cutting the mustard??

Who is talking about "art scores"? Who is talking about "getting into Harvard"? And why does this sort of discussion always degenerate into angry postings that actually do not contribute but derail from the discussion?

This is not about "affirmative action" and it is very sad that calls of racism were even brought up in the first place.

I respectfully disagree with both contributions. Boiling down such a complex issue to this is very misguided.

 

[tunalegs]

This is fundamental. For quite a few years now, education has been increasingly utilitarian. Education 'for the masses' is principally designed to train obedient workers and consumers, and to discourage them from thinking for themselves. Once they start thinking for themselves they may spot the bootstrap fallacy and the fact that some people are simply luckier than others.

"Utilitarian" suggests children might actually be learning something useful though. I'm kind of appalled at how many people I met in college who could barely read at a 3rd grade level. I wish that was me exaggerating for a laugh, but it's not. They were however tremendously good at filling in little bubbles on sheets of paper, and if they had enough money that was enough to get them a masters degree. That is how the cycle is perpetuated I guess.

We also have politicians in this country that question if science is actually a thing that exists.

 

[Roger Hicks]

"Utilitarian" suggests children might actually be learning something useful though. I'm kind of appalled at how many people I met in college who could barely read at a 3rd grade level. I wish that was me exaggerating for a laugh, but it's not. They were however tremendously good at filling in little bubbles on sheets of paper, and if they had enough money that was enough to get them a masters degree. That is how the cycle is perpetuated I guess.

We also have politicians in this country that question if science is actually a thing that exists.

Hold on: I never said 'efficient'. Just 'utilitarian'.

But seriously, your point is very well taken.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Who is talking about "art scores"? Who is talking about "getting into Harvard"? And why does this sort of discussion always degenerate into angry postings that actually do not contribute but derail from the discussion?

This is not about "affirmative action" and it is very sad that calls of racism were even brought up in the first place.

I respectfully disagree with both contributions. Boiling down such a complex issue to this is very misguided.

Also, of course, people get into Harvard the same way they always did: academic ability, money or family connexions, or sometimes even a mixture thereof. I'd query the value of academic scores, above a very low level.

Cheers,

R.

 

[zauhar]

"Utilitarian" suggests children might actually be learning something useful though. I'm kind of appalled at how many people I met in college who could barely read at a 3rd grade level. I wish that was me exaggerating for a laugh, but it's not. They were however tremendously good at filling in little bubbles on sheets of paper, and if they had enough money that was enough to get them a masters degree. That is how the cycle is perpetuated I guess.

We also have politicians in this country that question if science is actually a thing that exists.

Reading and writing are hardly utilitarian. I teach college, and you are correct that the ability to read critically and write clearly are almost nonexistent. But this is BECAUSE of the utilitarian philosophy that tries to reduce learning to acquiring "skills".

If you bruise a student's feelings by criticizing their incoherent writing, they will often protest that they "know what they want to say, but can't write it down". I disagree - the trouble is that they really can't think coherently, and that's why they have nothing sensible to write down!

I agree with Roger about the purpose of the modern school system - it's an instrument of socialization, a factory to produce compliant corporate serfs. Notice the frantic efforts the elite class have invested in taking over public education. There are two motivations: piles of taxpayer money to confiscate, and even more importantly the opportunity to brainwash coming generations.

Randy

 

[Nescio]

Well, kickin' in an open door (because nobody did so far, though some hinted towards it), ART is not the equivalent of the ART WORLD, or industry or however you'd like it to be called. Giving examples is more than easy. Remember the FSU artists selling like hot dogs 15 years ago? Now it's Ai Weiwei on every newspapers art section. Or take the "chinoiseries" of the 19th century, tribal art of Picasso's generation (Man Ray for us photographers). Even Damaso, who I know personally and respect both as a photographer and as a person, got an interview in the NYT photoblog a few months ago because, well, because Europe is in crisis and he's here as an American working on his Europeans project.

What others defined as a class issue, assumption I subscribe, on the subject of art it mixes with something that is totally non ethical and even, up to a certain point, unaesthetical. For lack of a better word - pardon my poor English - I'd call it fashion. And there's nothing wrong with fashion, at least not intrinsically, but it does contaminate the discussion of what art or even fine art is. Obviously, that'll remain an open question until the end of time (though the apocalypse may well the ultimate Gesamtkunstwerk), but my point is that racial, sexual, national or whatever type of considerations are nothing more than superficial in the great scheme of things, but utterly decisive in the personal circumstances of any artist who's to suffer them.

 

[Alfasud]

My last post raised the issue of developing class-consciousness in North America. I attributed this to the increased discussion of financial (and consequent social and life-style) inequality, and to last year’s manifestation known as the “Occupy” movement. It is clear from the discussion in this thread that the issue is alive among members of this forum. When did you become aware of this phenomenon?
As a relatively privileged WASP male, whose career allowed me to move in international circles far beyond my personal means (I was a career diplomat, now retired), I have only recently felt aware of the gap between my own circumstances and those dubbed “Davos men”; how much more so for others who lacked my opportunities. That being said, the opportunity to experience art, however defined, is readily available in our western societies. The ability to enter the appreciative, as opposed to the creative, side is relatively open to those with the desire. I think it should also be noted that artistic appreciation is probably in as short supply among the presumed privileged as among others.

 

[Bill Clark]

I teach (volunteer) at Twin Cities Rise, an eight week course titled, "Speechcraft." It is patterned after a Toastmasters program. It is a requirement course to graduate from TCR.

Every time I teach this class (eight weeks, two off, eight weeks, two off and so on) I learn about folks that I have never experienced what they have. I learn as much as they do.

Here are a few pages to check out:

http://twincitiesrise.org/success-stories/kelly.html

http://twincitiesrise.org/about-us/what-we-do.html

http://twincitiesrise.org/the-program/core-program.html

http://twincitiesrise.org/

The organization was started by a gentleman who was successful at General Mills, decided to retire early and dedicate his vision on helping folks achieve a better life for themselves.

I can tell you that these experiences plus my military service keeps my ego checked at the door. Despite thinking things are bad; they aren't once I work at helping these beautiful people.

Everyone loves art. They just need to have a coach to help them along the way. I hope I provide a path to follow that will help achieve success.

 

[paulfish4570]

here's the way art works: without patrons, da vinci, raphael, michaelangelo, picasso, etc., would not have existed as artists. that is the way it was, the way it is, the way it will be. art is not democratic.