Making the Choice to Art
Human beings need art. I believe this to be true. Last fall as federal arts funding was slashed, I was surprised by how visceral my feelings of betrayal were. What I struggled to explain is why; what role does art serve in our beautiful, breaking world? What hunger does it feed in humanity?
Positive Discoveries
Activists tend to be seen as formidable. Serious people, they deny themselves pleasure based on a strict moral code, and are hell-bent on stripping you of all your luxuries. They are seen as acting out of, and through, guilt, theirs and yours. Before I felt comfortable identifying as an activist I felt this guilt daily.
Metropolitan Musings
Cities are exciting places. They have a vibrancy about them; a sense that no matter who you are, what you want or what you need there is something here for you. This is the fantasy on which cities thrive. They need it to function. I love it for its optimism and its energy, but I have to remember that it is a fantasy.
Homecoming Blues
Until only a few days before this magazine was to hit the stands, I had very little to say about debauchery. It seemed an old-fashioned word largely unconnected with the way I live my life. Then came homecoming weekend.
ATTN: Music Students
For a music student the words “community” and “music” have both a strong affinity and a palpable tension. The affinity is in the ideal of music as a universal language, the unity between people who connect through music, and the power of music to heal. The tension exists between artistic vision and money, perceived elitism and popular appeal, moments of catharsis and hours of drudgery.
