More performing artists should speak up about state arts cuts in the US the way that mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato has done in the Kansas City Star:
This is the Sunflower State that I have proudly boasted about across the world, fearlessly defending it even in the face of harsh quizzical looks from the most skeptical of folks (“You live where?”). It’s the state of my first piano recital and choir concert. The home field of my artistic curiosity and education. The homeland that taught me to freely dream big and without limitation; one where the arts were once alive, vibrant and supported.
I’ve welcomed the assumption of being an unsolicited but mightily proud artistic ambassador for Kansas to the great cities of the world. Now, for the first time, I feel shame. Eliminating a state arts commission is an ignorant, short-sighted, fearful and unspeakably damaging act to the spirit and soul of this great state.
Hmmm, in tough economic times it can be difficult to prioritize cuts given that everybody gets hurt in one way or another. Wonder how much support would be had for cutting back on foreign wars, big corporate bailouts, airport security humiliation and (the new in-thing) debtor's prisons?...
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