The Academy Awards: A Measure of Artistry or Relevancy?

I always get excited about the Oscars. As far back as I can remember, I've stayed up late to watch the stars, the hosts, the drama. Maybe it helps that I've been stuck on movies since I before I started walking. In fact, I remember back on our old Packard Bell computer (the Windows 93 version) I once set up a catalog of all the movies I'd seen, categorized by genre, year, and rating (yes, I had opinions back then, too).

Anyways, every year I toil with predictions of who the Oscar-winners will be. Will it be the favorite? The underdog? The spoiler? Usually we can expect some surprises. Mostly these are good, like Juliette Binoche winning for "The English Patient" in 1997. Sometimes, though, like when "Crash" upset "Brokeback Mountain" for Best Picture a few years back, they leave a sour taste in my mouth. It is in these circumstances that I wonder: do the Academy Awards function as the measure of artistic greatness or relevancy?

I list these as mutually exclusive choices because often it seems like they do battle against one another, as if the audience-at-large tends to choose their films based on one major criteria. I watched "Titanic" because of the effects, the sheer scale. It definitely wasn't relevant to me, not even in terms of the overblown love story. On the other hand, I don't know much about the mafia, but it's hard to deny the impact of the "Godfather" parts 1 and 2, and others like "Goodfellas" and "Bonnie and Clyde." These movies had iconic visual styles, and refined narratives that communicated far more than the words on the page (er, screen).

Maybe the best example is "Star Wars," whose inspiring message coupled brilliantly with breakthrough technology to offer one of the most entertaining movie experiences of all time. "Avatar" is the latest Oscar front-runner following in that legacy. If it does win best picture, something most blockbusters have failed to achieve in the past 30 years, most would acknowledge has to do with it's mind-bending technological achievements rather than the depth of the story or acting.

That's not to say great movies can't also resonate with us, even if they are dated and no longer as socially relevant. Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" - both visually stunning and perhaps the quintessential commentary on power, greed, and the American dream - still echoes as powerfully as it did in 1941. "The Hurt Locker" is another terribly relevant movie, and I dare say it may be great...but will that be enough to overcome the "Avatar" juggernaut. And, even if "Hurt Locker" upsets the race, is that even a fair measure of it's worth? After all, many of the so-called "greatest" directors never won Academy Awards for any of their films. Cases in point: Welles, Stanley Kubrick, and Robert Altman.

We'll have to wait and see what happens on March 7th, but until then I've devised a test of my questions. Here are my picks (of the 'major' categories), based not on viewing and comparing all the eligible films, rather on my compulsive obsession with cinema news, trends, and the current buzz. If I shoot more than 50%, maybe being in the forefront of the media is more important that message, vision, and artistry at the Oscars after all.

Best Picture: Avatar
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglorious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Best Screenplay (adapted): Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Best Screenplay (original): Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Best Achievement in Cinematography: Mauro Fiore, Avatar

Music on the Moon

One of my favorite NPR programs is WBUR's On Point with Tom Ashbrook.

Just yesterday they had a particularly interesting program topic, the dramatic announcement that NASA would soon turn over space travel - low-earth orbit, space station missions, and possible future travel to the moon - to private corporations. This is really a pivotal moment, perhaps on par with the launch of the Mercury astronauts, since it signals a change in momentum for a program that has long been dormant component of our National policy. It's also sparking debate as to whether private corporations are prepared for servicing this extremely high-risk, highly-expensive new market.

At the same time All Things Considered just ran a program on the history of music inspired by the notion of space flight (here is the complete article). So what do you think? Are we going to get space-age music (a new version "Night Flight to Venus" is a sure bet), or Kubrick-style reversion back to classics that evoke the experiential nature (lightness, silent space, chaos) of being in space?

Report: CMS Summit and the Future of Arts Entrepreneurship

It's taken me a while to get back to writing about the experience of attending (and presenting) at the first-ever College Music Society Summit. Partly because of the crazy schedule that awaited me back in Madison, and partly due to the gestation period I normally need after one of these highly-stimulating and tiring events.

In any case, this was (I believe) a watershed moment for the field of Arts Entrepreneurship (if there is one), that produced some valuable lessons about the current status of the arts student.

We need to remember that there are still too many variables, in terms of personal educational ideologies, for any sort of standardization to take place. And this is probably a good thing, as many of the noted scholars, administrators, performers, and composers pointed out: each educational environment (e.g. school, university, college) needs a unique and malleable combination of curricular and co-curricular initiatives. Otherwise, Arts Entrepreneurship risks the loss of its true effectiveness, as a vehicle for problem-solving and developing socially-minded arts ventures/projects. As was noted during the proceedings, we stand at the precipice of falling into yet another silo of bureacracy, and worse yet, irrelevancy.

There were, however, some trends emerging from the chaos of all the intellectual rhetoric:

1) Need exists for student involvement, leadership, and action

It's fairly obvious to students that we need to take responsibility for our talents and abilities, and to channel them towards social good. The importance of this opportunity for students and professionals to get together lay in the possibility for faculty to more fully realize the capabilities of students. That is, it became clear that many students have the capacity and drive to begin building a professional profile while still a student. This realization may open up new channels for student/professional collaboration, and, I hope, more student-initiated arts projects.

2) Divide exists between perceptions students and realities of working artists

The results of the student survey showed, among other things, that a majority of students (70%still hold on to the dream that most will either teach at a college/university or will be paid primarily to perform. This, or course, flies in the face of many graduates' realities. We often don't have the skills to navigate the professional world when we leave our institutions, nor do we realize the scope of possibilities out there for professional artists. We're now in the nascent stages of developing broader frameworks for achieving success in the 'real world' - and I think Arts Enterprise has the opportunity to play a large part in paving those roads!

3) Empowerment is the key to fostering renewed success for 21st century arts careers

One of the highlights was the chance to interact and mingle with so many people who have diverse backgrounds, and individual visions for helping students succeed. We did see a common theme emerge, though, and that was the idea that empowerment is the key ingredient to fostering innovative and sustainable careers. By combining skills with vision, we can transfer ability into action. More importantly, it must be through an individual's own sense of responsibility that he or she will find success in socially-driven and concsious art projects.

On that note, here is one example that illustrates the synergy of all those concepts. I mentioned in my last post that AE Madison was teaming up with UW-MTNA to host fundraising concerts for Haiti relief. Well, I'm happy to report that our first effort was a success! Thanks to the combined efforts of Steinway Piano Gallery, the fantastic publicity generated by our hard-working student groups, and effective logistical planning, we were able to fill the Gallery and raised an inspiring $673 from just 32 seats! Now just $1327 to go to meet our goals; I hope you'll be able to join these students as they work to build momentum to the second (and final) installment of our series. Read more here.

Til next time, enjoy the weekend and carry on, arts entrepreneurs!

Music for Haiti: Action-Based Learning At Its Best

Report: Our first event for 2010 was a smashing success! UWCU was gracious to host an hour-long seminar on "Financial Management for Aspiring Professionals" which proved both informative and engaging. Our seminar covered the essentials of budgeting, saving, and smart spending. Sprinkled with trivia questions about financial planning myths, we were also treated to lots of handy take-aways, including personal budgeting worksheets, and an outline for basic financial planning. And they managed to make this stuff fun! These guys rock, and I urge you to check out all the free seminars they offer.

Now, in lieu of my usual Arts Roundup post, I want to write more specifically about two exciting and urgent upcoming events. The UW Collegiate Chapter of the MTNA (for which I serve as a community advisor) has put together two concerts to raise money for Haiti relief. They're calling it "Music for Haiti," and (through these musical offerings) hope to raise $2,000. 100% of the proceeds will go to Hope for Haiti, one of the top agencies working on the ground to assist those affected by the devastating earthquake.

This was such a timely and thoughtful idea, Arts Enterprise Madison had to find a way to help them out. I can't think of a better example than this of how action-based, experiential learning can be channeled towards social good. UW-MTNA is also a strong ally in building an awareness of the need for artists to recognize their responsibility to society. In other words, how we can all use our art to serve and support those in need. So, AE Madison is sponsoring a reception, and working to build as big an audience as possible through our network in the community. Here are the details, and I hope you'll be able to join us for two evenings of wonderful music to help a very worthy cause:

Thursday, 02/04, Steinway Gallery of Madison, 7:15pm
(6629 Mineral Point Rd.)

Saturday, 02/13, Morphy Hall, UW Humanities Building, 6:30pm

With your help, we can raise $2,000! The concerts will include works by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Copland, Berg and Chopin.

To read more about the event and UW-MTNA, click here. Hope to see you there!