United Arts' new CEO, Flora Maria Garcia, held a "talk back" with artists on 10/22/2012 at Urban Rethink, in the City of Orlando, and on 10/29/2012 at Casselberry City Hall, in Seminole County. The meetings were staffed by Mary Giraulo, grants manager. Seminole County Commissioner and UA Board Member, John Horan, made opening remarks at the Seminole County meeting. The purpose of the conversations was to hear from artists and understand the issues facing them in Central Florida.
The following is a summary of the input received and ways in which United Arts can address some of those issues:
The need for assistance with city permitting for pop-up exhibits and performances. One suggestion: a Temporary Artist Permit, low cost, short timeframe. Main Street programs may be able to help with contacts for empty storefronts. Murals currently take 2 months to approve and some artists who wish to "activate" the city with performances and visual arts are not able to do so because of restrictive permitting. This was a concern expressed by Orlando area artists.
- Action: Ms. Garcia has set up a meeting with select artists and the Orlando Mayor's Chief of Staff, including the permitting staff, to discuss possible solutions. The meeting will take place in early December.
A focus on public art ordinances: There was a discussion about the public art ordinances in both the city and county and whether the ordinances were effectively generating the dollars they should to commission public art.
- Action: Ms. Garcia will discuss the public art ordinance with the Orlando Mayor's Chief of Staff in early December and explore ways in which the ordinance can be made more effective.
The need for technical assistance. Artists expressed a desire for technical assistance focused on the business of being an artist. They mentioned a successful day-long workshop from a few years ago done by New York-based Creative Capital. Another option is to promote/expand Crealdé School of Art's existing marketing workshops and mentoring programs. Other suggestions: Keep up the calls to artists via email. Bring in master contemporary artists - offer the chance to learn from them, work with them. Create an art business incubator for organizations and artists (or utilize the entrepreneurship program through Orlando Chamber?).
- Action: UA will speak with artist centric organizations about creating technical assistance workshops for artists.
The lack of art criticism & art writing. There was some discussion about including art reviews/criticism, articles of interest regarding cultural activity on the Red Chair Project website. There was also discussion about artists taking a more proactive role in writing about local exhibits and events.
Ms. Garcia noted that when critics were fired from the local paper in Atlanta, they banded together and created an electronic web site focused on art criticism in all disciplines www.ArtATL.com, which is now very successful.
- Action: Ms. Garcia will talk with Red Chair Project representatives about possibly including art criticism on the website (RedChairProject.com). -at the same time, artists should be proactive about writing about art and exploring alternative locations to disseminate the writing, like blogs or the Artists Registry site (ArtistsRegistry.com).
The need for more engagement by the Orlando Museum of Art with the local artist community and the need to exhibit more contemporary art.
Suggestions:
- Bring back exhibits for local artists in a more prominent gallery (beyond the hallway space behind the giftshop).
- Bring back a juried exhibit with noteworthy out-of-town jurors
- Host a temporary public art exhibit in the greenspaces outside the museum
- Host talks by well-known artists exhibiting in the museum -invite the community-possible partnership with the Atlantic Center for the Arts.
**Action: Ms. Garcia will meet with the new director (sometime in January 2013) and host a "focus group" talk back with local visual artists who can share their ideas with the new director about ways in which the museum can engage the local artist community.
The lack of galleries or a defined gallery district. Lack of connection to local art collectors. Artists expressed a concern that there are no clusters, critical mass, or viable commercial galleries or artists' spaces where local artists can exhibit and sell their work. They also expressed concerns that local collectors are not buying their work.
Suggestions:
- Galleries are listed on RedChairProject.com-disseminate this information within the visual arts community.
- Create an open studio event like the Open Studios in Boulder - 1 weekend a year, artists opened their studios, calendar available in the library. Artists will be able to talk about their work, showcase it and sell it. This was noted as a possible fundraiser for Visual Arts nonprofits.
- A collectors group - for those interested in collecting art - similar to a group in Houston that went to openings together, learned about the art, and bought art.
- Artists can band together and access cheap warehouse space to create their own exhibiting opportunities. Co-op gallery examples include McRae Art Studios and Sanford's Gallery on First.
