Anish Kapoor, Cloud Gate. Located in Millennium Park in Chicago. (Photo: anishkapoor.com)

Many arguments for art ground themselves on extrinsic impacts, economic growth for example, but for communities like individuals, the greatest impact is intrinsic. Just as we as individuals employ art to reflect on questions of substance and explore issues of curiosity and controversy, so too do entire communities find meaning, happiness, and collective identity through art. Yet not often enough do we value art in this way, and it is time that we should. Andrew Swensen writes, “Yes, art makes communities more fulfilled. And yes, a fortunate byproduct of that sensibility is improved economic prosperity. So let’s talk about making artful communities because of the intrinsic impact, and then be pleasantly grateful for the secondary extrinsic consequences that follow.” Fortunately, thanks to the shifting discourse of the 21st century, evident in integrated thinking of TED talks and with a little help from at least one neuroscientist, we may already be heading in the direction of a more unified view of artistic thinking as part of a healthy society.

Join us for our latest reflection on arts and society, “The Intrinsic Impact of Art on Community” (click here to read full article).

Flora (detail)

Artists are creative by definition, and interesting things arise when artistic imagination meets technological innovation. Kim Chestney has spent many years cultivating those intersections, and in this article for The Muse Dialogue, she offers a very personal look at her experience as a viewer. She writes, “I longed to be moved by a work of technological art. Call it interactive, 4-D or robotic — it didnt matter. I wanted to know if it was possible to fall in love with this new media the way I fell in love with my first Vuillard or Pre-Raphaelite. I wondered whether it was even possible.”

To find out whether it was possible for her to fall in love with technological art, you are going to need to read on in “Art + Technology: A Love Story” (click here to link to full article.

Join her as she explores this ever compelling topic, as she contemplates what artists intend in their work and what they and we have to say about them in her essay “Validating the Artist’s Intent Is Not Validating the Artist’s Word” (click here to read full article).

Joseph Gaines as Pontio Pilato in the 2008 Glimmerglass Opera production of Wagner’s Das Liebesverbot, with Ryan MacPherson as Luzio (Photo: Cory Weaver)

Artists pursue a calling in a special way, yearning to participate in an art form often in the face of long odds for making a career of it. What is an artist to do if their calling is opera? Opera has faced some difficult times in recent years, and it is facing an uncertain future. Yet if it is to have a future at all, it must depend on those with unwavering commitment to realizing the form — to celebrating past masters and new works, and to bringing those creative expressions to an audience. Joseph Gaines, a tenor, seeks to serve an art form that he truly loves. In telling his story, we seek to both learn something about the form itself and about the admirable motivations of the artist, motivations from which we might all learn something even if we ourselves are not artists.

To learn of a good narrative about a career artist and to reflect on the nature of opera, we invite you to read our third installment in the opera series from The Muse Dialogue, “Joseph Gaines, the Story of Opera and of an Artist” (click here to read full article).

Mary Cassatt, Woman in Black at the Opera, 1879

The future of opera has many considerations. It must respond to changes in financial markets, in audience tastes, and in the aesthetic direction of an art that has a 400-year history but that also remains productive with new works. Beyond that, it is simply one of the most complex and expensive forms to produce. Consequently, contemporary opera companies are dealing with a number of intersecting issues. How to present new work and find audiences for it, how to mount expensive productions of the historically celebrated repertoire, how to balance the budget in tough financial times, and how to honor the artists who pour their soul into their beloved work. The Muse Dialogue offers some thoughts on the situation, and shares the thoughts of Pittsburgh Opera’s General Director, Christopher Hahn.

Join us for  reflections on opera, its history and future, and even on the wonders of nonprofit finance in “The Future of Opera, a Conversation with Christopher Hahn” (click here to read full article).

A scene from the Pittsburgh Opera production of La Cenerentola (Photo: Pittsburgh Opera)

The Muse Dialogue turns attention now to opera and opens a series with consideration of the barrier of our own presumptions and misconceptions. Opera is among the longstanding art forms now in a state of transition, evolving as it faces the current era of the arts. One of opera’s challenges is surely our own notion of what it is, an often misinformed bias. Andrew Swensen writes, “Opera might well stand at the top of the list of art forms deserving your good-faith effort to dispel preconceptions. You might find yourself having what is perhaps the most frequent response of first-timers: “That was not what I was expecting.”” Along the way, we have the thoughts of Christopher Hahn, the General Director of the Pittsburgh Opera, and a reflection on Richard Wagner’s responsibility for one of opera’s great cliches.

Join us for the first in a series on opera: “That Was Not What I Was Expecting”: To Get to Opera We Must First Get Past Ourselves” (click here to read full article).

Poco a Poco

Annie Gordon continues her series on El Sistema in this week’s article from The Muse Dialogue. In this fourth installment, she looks at several programs in the Pittsburgh area, programs that are directly inspired by El Sistema or that share El Sistema goals of using music to make an impact on young people. The work of the featured programs — Ozanam, the Poco a Poco intitiative of the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society, the East Liberty Community Engagement Orchestra, Assemble PGH — have inspiring stories to tell, and we are grateful for the opportunity to share them.

Read and learn about the impact that music can make for young people in often difficult circumstances. Join us for “El Sistema and Pittsburgh” (click here to read the full article).

Leonardo, gone but not forgotten

We love the arts, and want to preserve them all…or so we think until we realize that we also need to make space for the new. In the process, forms come and go, and some ultimately die out. The process is natural and not necessarily a bad thing unto itself. However, it comes with some difficult questions. Andrew Swensen takes up some of those challenges — the need to cultivate the new, to preserve the old, and to make sure that everyone has a place in the rich world of the arts.

Read on in our latest article, “Aesthetic Darwinism” (click here to read full article).

Gustav Mahler, artist and administrator

Marc Giosi is both an artist and an arts administrator. This talented and well-educated pianist holds the position of Executive Director for the chamber ensemble Chatham Baroque, and formerly worked with Chamber Music America. Consequently, he has seen both “sides” of the equation when it comes to presenting an art form. He understands the management dynamics of development, audience growth, and good financial management. At the same time, he recognizes the challenges to being a working artist and presenting great art. Ultimately the two aspects of his nature combine organically, and so he writes, “The ability to speak genuinely about Bach, Chopin, or Shostakovich reflects commitment to the art form, and the fact that presenting concerts is not simply a day job for me.”

For a fascinating look into the world of art and arts management, read Marc Giosi’s “The Art of Administering” (click here to read full article).

Amy Enrico, Owner of Tazza D’Oro

As we reflect on the connection between art and business, we should consider the natural connection between them in the fact that both depend on innovation and creativity. They also flourish when we create an environment that feeds thought and imagination, that fuels dialogue and social exchange. The coffee house, once known as the “penny university,” is a microcosm for how to get it right. We trade ideas and learn. We meet new people and grow from fortunate encounters with others. We build community.

Tazza D’Oro, a coffee house in Pittsburgh, exemplifies all the good that comes when a business embraces the spirit of the arts. The result is an environment of creative ferment that feeds both the arts and the “learning organization” that businesses should strive to be. The Muse Dialogue takes a trip to Tazza D’Oro, to understand just how much comes of the intersection between arts and business in “The Penny University: Tazza D’Oro Mixes Art and Business” (click here to read full article).