I think Graydon Royce’s insightful feature about the process of bringing Merce Cunningham’s “Ocean” to Waite Park, MN is so much more interesting than the reviews . Although … what pops up on the StarTribune’s site after a search is not a review, it is more a collection of sound bites from the audience.

The LA Times offers something a little more substantial , and Minnesota Public Radio touches on the film aspects of the production.

Despite mixed reviews, the production is sold out … perhaps a testimony to the value of deep programming, meaningful partnerships and giant spectacle?

(photo: Cameron Wittig, Walker Art Center)

A recent study of the National Endowment for the Arts divides the arts workforce into four geographical regions: Northeast, Southeast, South and West. From September 24 to October 7 I will be visiting the West North Central sub-region of the Midwest (sounds technical, doesn’t it?). My tour will include Wichita, Kansas City, Des Moines, Rochester and Good Thunder (MN), St. Croix Falls (WI), Sioux Falls, and Omaha.

Here is what I am working toward: collected stories, told through visual art, literature and music, that make you think about the world around you. Housing, transportation, economy, sexuality look different in Laramie than they do in Los Angeles.

Here is what I don’t want: A roundup. No “Best Artists of [Insert Region Here],” no State by State . There is a place for these, but that place mostly involves curators and arts insiders. Nobody walks away from the Whitney Biennial with a deeper cultural awareness of life in little cities. They walk away with a few names of artists to watch.

Here’s the double-edged sword: I haven’t been able to find anything like this out there. This means looking through a LOT of roundups. MNArtists.org, the Emerging Iowa Artists Program. Writers often don’t have a web presence, or if they do they don’t list where they live, or they say they live and work in Omaha AND New York. There is a stigma attached to living outside a major metro area.

Little Cities is not about the Rise of the Creative Class . It’s not about art in empty storefronts, or economic development. Little Cities is about cultural preservation, leveraging the collective power of artists off the beaten path, and providing an opportunity for their work to be seen, read and heard.

And, as I am only beginning to realize, it is going to take a lot of hard work.

From September 24 through October 8, I will be visiting cities in the Midwest (Wichita, Kansas City, Des Moines, Rochester, Twin Cities, St. Croix Falls, Sioux Falls, Omaha) in search of visual artists and writers who live and work there. I’ll be bringing my podcast gear and scouting for interviews to post on this blog.

The goal is to highlight the work of some talented artists, and to collect stories about the opportunities and challenges of working artists in “little cities” (outside the top 20 metropolitan areas). Yes, I realize the Twin Cities are #16. I am also traveling to places I lived and reconnecting with my artistic roots—the Pillsbury House, Masque Youth Theatre, the …

…well. As I am writing this, I thought I would link to the Sioux Falls Community Playhouse, but I see it closed in 2002. And the Jeune Lune, where I had my first professional audition, closed this summer.

Philanthropy is changing, demographics are changing, economics are changing. What does this mean for artists in little cities? If you know a working artist who lives in one of these cities, send me their name, contact info, a link to their website or images of their work … or have them contact me directly at lex@lexleifheit.com.

And please, pass this on!

Dan and I are headed to the beach in three days, so unless I get an iPhone (not likely!) there will be no blogging next week.

The beach reminds me of a little postcard I have framed in my apartment. It is a self-portrait of Tracy Emin. She is kneeling in what first looked to me like a stable, but is in fact a beach hut, her beach hut that was placed on exhibition and then lost in the Momart fire. I first saw the photograph in London and the title (above) stuck with me.

I love portraits. The photograph above caught my eye at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and led me to Michael Garlington and his photocar project. I am a sucker for any art project that involves cross-country travel. The Poetry Bus Tour is another one. If anyone reading this knows of other projects, especially those including little cities, please post a comment. 

Artists in the Workforce: 1990-2005 was released by the National Endowment for the Arts in June. As a statistics geek who loves putting research into action, I am interested to see where—and how—this influences arts funding and programming.

NEA Chairman Dana Gioia’s introduction to the report extolls the virtues of artists as hardworking (albeit underemployed) Americans, citing the following facts:

-Nearly 2 million Americans describe their primary occupation as artist, a larger group than agricultural workers, the legal profession or medical doctors. Of this number, many work in the for-profit field.

-The size of the artistic community gives the group enormous aggregate income—approximately $70 billion annually.

-Compared to other U.S. workers, American artists tend to be better educated and more entrepreneurial.

Overall, the report provides statistical support for many agendas. I was most interested in the data about where artists live. As large corporations consolidate and shift operations from small towns, I fear that we are seeing another post-industrial exodus that will have an impact on rural areas and little cities, making it even more difficult for them to support nonprofit organizations and artists. Already, half of all artists live in 30 metropolitan areas, and more than one-fifth live in the top five.

What does this mean for little cities? It means that they are underrepresented by of a part of the workforce that is educated, entrepreneurial, outspoken and growing in diversity. It means that, 25 or 50 or 100 years from now, the stories of America that are told through art history will be told by artists who lived in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, DC, and Boston. And it means that, quite often, the best and brightest young artists will move from their hometown to larger, supposedly greener, economic pastures—not because they lack inspiration in their communities, but simply because they cannot find enough work.

Of course, one may correctly argue that the percentage of artists in the workforce of some little cities (Boulder, Santa Cruz, Stamford) is comparable to that of New York City and Los Angeles. But I am sure that artists and administrators in those cities will tell you that: volume matters. Little cities have small and mid-size arts organizations. Little towns outside of major metro areas struggle to build the bridges and partnerships that could attract much-needed state and national funding. And a playwright I know, who lives in the not-so-little city of Seattle, recently wrote me about his struggles there, saying “Overall, opportunities are fewer in number by far by far by far than Chicago. And recognition is that much further from the east coast. Like it or not, [Arthur] Miller was right when he said no writers could ignore New York or risk being ignored by New York.”

What is the answer? I have no idea. But maybe it’s time we put our creative shoulders to the wheel and start thinking about it.

Designed by Carrot Creative , the website includes video instructions on how to create and upload your own video "role," and offers several scripts to choose from.

Since the site’s launch in May, it has been a challenge to get non-company members to post their videos online. But another feature of UBRSTAR, the "sound-offs," is brilliant. One of the joys of live theater is the chance to see how people around you respond to the play in front of them. In today’s on-demand culture, the opportunity to get a taste of what that post-show conversation might be like, through a sound-off video, is far more authentic than a review or e-group hyperbole.

NHTC are not the only theatermakers exploring what open source means for the performing arts. http://www.opensourcetheater.org is linked to Richard Foreman’s Bridge Project, but upon a cursory review of the project it seems that videotaped performances are only being shared "openly" with people who attended a series of workshops.

Charles Mee’s (re)making project is a form of open source theater, but it has no social networking or video capability … which would allow for the participants to easily connect with one another.

Last but not least, if you don’t want to make open source theater, but you are an arts advocate, you can participate in Andrew Taylor’s open source PSA project .

More information about the creation of UBRSTAR is included in this week’s Art Agenda, originally broadcast on 88.1fm, WESU, Middletown on July 10, 2008.

If you read Scary Bunnies, Weekend Party Update, and The Beat Bike Blog, you will see the side of Hartford that I love—darkly humorous, community-minded, environmentalist, artistic, and generous.

Recent Examples:

—A few weeks ago, HartBeat Ensemble called community leaders to City Hall to discuss, through theater, why Connecticut is losing its young people (and they came).

—This week, Hartford progressives who are tired of fear culture and its impact on Hartford launched the Simsbury Chicken Debate on the Hartford Courant’s website. The comments about the suburban town (“I’ve only gone to Simsbury ONCE in my life, and I had to drive through it with my windows up and my doors locked!”) are kind of funny unless you have heard this type of comment about your own neighborhood over and over and over again. But sometimes, you have to laugh.

—This morning, Hartford-based Scary Bunnies pointed me south to New Haven, where Van Gogh’s Starry Night is on exhibition at the Yale University Art Gallery through September 7. Somehow, I missed this bit of news.

Thanks, Hartford!

I would never get anything done, creative or otherwise, if it weren’t for inspiring people who push me along in one way or another. Although I’ve never met Stephanie and May, I admire the simplicity of their partnership: two photographers, 3191 miles apart, sharing photographs.

Thanks to Wesleying for pointing it out!