Comments on: In Your Words: D.C. Too Pricey to Be Culturally Relevant? http://dcentric.wamu.org/2012/01/in-your-words-d-c-too-pricey-to-be-culturally-relevant/ Race, Class, The District. Mon, 16 Jul 2012 03:01:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Bakari Kamau http://dcentric.wamu.org/2012/01/in-your-words-d-c-too-pricey-to-be-culturally-relevant/#comment-1137 Bakari Kamau Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:16:00 +0000 http://dcentric.wamu.org/?p=13120#comment-1137 Well written, you hit on a couple of issues that hadn't occurred to me - payscales in LA and NY for talented designers and artists are MUCH better than in DC. I don't know if that's an effect of the scales of those cities themselves (big cities = more potential clients = more demand) or an effect of all these non-profit DC-based associations that want great work on tiny budgets (too much competition + no money = broke designers). I'm sure strictly artists have it just as bad - people just aren't into buying a lot of art here. In NY and LA, art is more culturally relevant. It seems like people strive to be 'hip' there. DC's filled with bureaucrats, lawyers and consultants - more so than any city I can think of. Even though they have money - a lot of them don't have the space or the permanent housing (or frankly, the taste) to buy the high-priced pieces that get you paid right. Everyone else is just scraping by and not really able to drop hundreds on "pretty pictures". Is the problem that DC is too transient? What does the National Gallery of Art do in terms of supporting DC artists? What does the city do to promote cultural events NOT involving the Kennedy Center? What do local artists do with respect to generating connections within these establishments? There are a lot of issues at play. Well written, you hit on a couple of issues that hadn’t occurred to me – payscales in LA and NY for talented designers and artists are MUCH better than in DC. I don’t know if that’s an effect of the scales of those cities themselves (big cities = more potential clients = more demand) or an effect of all these non-profit DC-based associations that want great work on tiny budgets (too much competition + no money = broke designers).

I’m sure strictly artists have it just as bad – people just aren’t into buying a lot of art here. In NY and LA, art is more culturally relevant. It seems like people strive to be ‘hip’ there. DC’s filled with bureaucrats, lawyers and consultants – more so than any city I can think of. Even though they have money – a lot of them don’t have the space or the permanent housing (or frankly, the taste) to buy the high-priced pieces that get you paid right. Everyone else is just scraping by and not really able to drop hundreds on “pretty pictures”.

Is the problem that DC is too transient?

What does the National Gallery of Art do in terms of supporting DC artists? What does the city do to promote cultural events NOT involving the Kennedy Center? What do local artists do with respect to generating connections within these establishments? There are a lot of issues at play.

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