I recently went to the Godwin High School's AP art show to see some of my friend's work. It was a fairly small and basic setup in the commons, and it was a nice and friendly gathering to have some fun. The work itself was very interesting to look at. My friend mainly works in digital and makes some very tight paintings. Her work especially toyed a lot with lighting and had deep cast shadows in some instances. Her classmates worked in a variety of other mediums such as graphite, pen and ink, and acrylic. Another noticeable body of work was a series of acrylic paintings done of movies and video game media such as Star Wars and Overwatch. They were well done paintings and took advantage of the control that acrylic paint allows. I wish I had taken pictures; it's always good to take note of what directions peers are going in. None of the work really coincided with the type of art I'm making, but it was good to see work from students in another art program. I especially liked how everyone felt like they had a cohesive body of work. That's something that I'm trying to move towards in the future.
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The issue of funding for the arts is one that is largely ignored in the public eye. In many instances, other issues take center stage. Vine notes this phenomenon in the intro to his article about funding under Nixon's administration. During our seminar, we also noted that in general the amount of funding for the arts is generally misunderstood by the public. Even though the funding takes less than 5% of the GDP in the country, oftentimes the general misunderstanding is that it's much greater. Are art institutions in danger of being dissolved like they were in Portugal (Siegal)?
Personally I think the likelihood is low but still possible. With the current administration, nothing is quite completely off limits. However, what I do know is that even without government funding, art communities and museums won't completely disappear. There's always been a demand for art, and that will keep art from completely dying out. What will be affected though, is the amount of new and contemporary artists willing to explore new subject matters or aesthetics. Without funding, the most practical path for most artists is to generate work that sells. In the scenario of a severe or even complete cut to art funding, any new innovations or movements will either slow down or stop completely. The main importance of government art funding is to support contemporary cultural exploration. Although Churchill's response to cutting art funding, "Then what are we fighting for" is bogus, he did express similar sentiment in the year before, “The arts are essential to any complete national life. The State owes it to itself to sustain and encourage them….Ill fares the race which fails to salute the arts with the reverence and delight which are their due.” For developed countries, the government support for the arts truly is a responsibility and requirement for cultural and national development. The two paintings on the left are by Andres Kal (http://www.andreskal.com/), and the two paintings on the right are by C. Michael Dudash (http://www.cmdudash.com/). I particularly like the marks made by both of these painters, even though they have noticeably different subject matter and feel. Kal makes use of a very textured mark which allows him to transition from loose to tight areas with ease. His facial expressions and body language also feel very accurate and emotional. Dudash's work seems a bit more mundane and pastoral, but his painterly style is something that I enjoy and want to utilize in my work. I also especially like the composition of the painting with 3 girls walking in the grass. It's a bit distinct from the other paintings selected because the figures don't act as an overpowering focus in the work. It's this balance between representing the figure and the landscape that it occupies that I'm trying to replicate in my own work.
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