After a busy week of San Francisco culture and discoveries that included an exhibition opening, an exhibition closing, and a play at SOMArts; the Exploratorium After Dark; Sodini’s in North Beach; Swan Oyster Depot; and Third Thursday Blues at the Bay View Boat Club; I was ready for a quiet Saturday night of listening to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and surfing the interwebs. Sometimes staying home opens a door to great discoveries as well, for example … the discovery that Zachary Schomburg has a blog, and has created a batch of poem videos, and has a new book of poetry coming out via one of my favorite East Coast purveyors of such things, Black Ocean.
I don’t know how I feel about the poem videos, but this (above) is my favorite of the ones I’ve seen so far. And the night is young.
One of my Emerging Leader Council colleagues at Americans for the Arts, Jason Schupbach, was just appointed by Massachusetts Gov. Patrick Devall as the state’s creative economy director. Schupbach is making history in his new role, which carries a statewide high-level status that is being hailed as a big step in the right direction by arts advocates.
As a relatively recent Massachusetts transplant, I have been impressed by the ability of state arts leaders to express the value of the arts, generate discourse, and successfully lobby for arts funding. Not everyone agrees that this new post is a good one, and future debates are alluded to in today’s Boston Globe, alongside accusations of “pandering to fads.” This job would be a challenge for anyone, but also an opportunity for exciting change and growth. I look forward to seeing what Massachusetts (and Jason) think of next.
(Thank you to Rebecca Borden at Americans for the Arts for the tip!)
Lex Leifheit is the Executive Director of SOMArts Cultural Center, co-host of Feast of Words: Literary Potluck, and has an insatiable appetite for art. She lives in San Francisco.
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