Fight to keep our New York venues open

Please read this and pass it along to every New York Artist you know. I've sent a copy of this to the White House.

Artists are suffering. Not only for their art but more so in this current economic disaster. There really is no other word that more honestly portrays the situation.

The thought of Long Island City losing Lucky Mojo's, one of my favorite places to play, is ripping the heart right out of me. We are losing our homes left and right. By homes I mean our venues and performance spaces, galleries, etcetera. Some people may say to just find another place. These people are not artists. Some may think that it’s no big deal. They may think we need another discount drugstore within site of three others.

Without the arts, the world becomes bland, cold, grey and expressionless. A sunset is a beautiful thing. It’s a natural and wonderful site to behold yet we tend to take them for granted more often than not. Seeing a sunset through the eyes of your favorite painter just makes you appreciate the real thing that much more.

In my case, I began hosting an open mic and trying to build it into the most supportive and uplifting open mic in the city. I did this in order to insure amateur musicians and comedians (and some of the pros) always had a place to express themselves and feel at home. I am also a singer/songwriter. I play a good number of solo shows and I have a full band. I play with a couple of other bands from time to time. There are many others out there like me. We live to create beauty and share it with everyone. It’s what makes us feel alive.

How can we do this if, every time we turn around, venues keep closing down because of one reason or another?

I want to find a way to keep our performance spaces open so that artists can share their gifts with the people of their town, their city, and the world.

I don’t know how I’m going to do it when I can barely pay my own bills, but I’m going to find a way to gather musicians, painter, sculptors, photographers, dancers and anyone who cares one bit about the arts and we’re going to find a way to fight this. We’re going to find a way to stop our venues from being shut down.

I could use your help. To be honest, I don’t even know where to begin. All I know is that I have to do something. We have to do something. I’m going to do something even if I’m by myself but two heads are better than one. Twenty thousands heads would be even better.

Are you with me?

Bobby Kane

a.k.a. Robert A. Smith

Tango

Shall we dance?

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As musicians, we are accustomed to being a little different than the rest or the world. Artists, in general, tend to be set apart from mundane society by our oddities and idiosyncrasies. What’s wrong with that? Not a dammed thing. It the reason we’re artists.

It’s our tenuous relationship with the mundane life that usually comes into question. Some of us can flip the switch. We can become “normal” when the time comes. The spotlight turns us back on again. Others aren’t so fortunate. They’re always on. They’re always in artist mode. While these folks tend to be considered the most true to themselves, they, often have the most difficult time acclimating to the tedious, humdrum and monotonous existence of the rest of the world.

I tend to fit right into the intermediate of these two categories. (Talk about teetering on the brink.) There are times when I can switch off and fit in amongst the norm. For the most part, I tend to always be in discovery mode, collecting and converting information into art. It’s a difficult system to adjust. I don’t always have a handle on when this change will take place and it tends to confuse those around me – those non-artists, that is.

Where does the switch lie that takes us into business mode?

The true artiste, (so they say) isn’t thinking in terms of business when they set out upon their artistic endeavors. It’s art for art’s sake. That’s what I always hear. Isn’t it? Maybe there are a few out there that venture into the world of art for the money. Some might even see a return on such an investment. For the most part, the artist doesn’t start off thinking of making money hand over fist. Those people call themselves artists but have no clue what true art is all about. The greatest profit art can give is the ability expose one’s soul in a way that brings enlightenment and understanding to all parties involved. That’s not to say that you can’t, or shouldn’t make a profit from you art, only that it shouldn’t be your sole motivation. Profiting from art for the sake of profiting from art negates the definition of art. Making a profit, as a secondary, or tertiary condition of gaining enlightenment from, and opening the gates to the soul through one’s art, this is doubly profitable.

That being said, who can say what type of artistic personality stands to gain more in, or from the capital arena? This is a question to which I have no answer. Then again, is there a correct answer? How would anyone know?

Set before me one hundred venture capitalists and one hundred random musicians and give each pairing five minutes to converse. Allow each person to take notes about their interaction with. Read the notes and they will be just as varied as the combinations. There really could be no way to know.

I would love the chance to gather one hundred venture capitalists in one location and speak to them one by one. I would take notes on every interaction and distribute them throughout the musical community. A true gift is one you share, is it not?

I know this seems contradictory but it brings me to my next point. Being an artist for art’s sake does not mean you have to starve. This is why so many of us have day jobs. A loan or grant from a venture capitalist or other organization is not free money. There is an expected return. No one is going to look at you and just give you money because they feel like it unless you have an extremely generous and wealthy uncle. You have to have the potential to make some kind of return on their investment. Weather it’s paying the money back over time, (with interest) or creating something seen as an undeniably worthwhile contribution to the community or the world at large.

The point is this. Money is a necessary evil. How you get it is entirely up to you. (I just hope it’s by legal channels.) Our world is conditioned to believe that we cannot live without it. For the most part, that’s true. Try walking into a supermarket and bartering for a loaf of bread. You’ll see just how far you get.

In the dance of life, art and money go hand in hand. Just take great care in choosing who will lead.

~KANE~

www.bobbykanemusic.com

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