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As has become a tradition in dialogue's anniversary issues, we asked individuals throughout the regional arts community to reflect on the last 20 years, as well as to take a look into the future. Each of these essays mirrors the unique perspective of the individual's experience in the arts-whether it's education, administration, curatorship, or creation.
Diane Teramana
Columbus, Ohio,
Video/Performance Artist
Ten hours between me, the city, and the ocean. I think it is important that artists receive steady exposure to current trends in the arts, and thus, to my way of thinking, an artist's place is in New York, or even Brazil. However, I find myself in neither of those places, and forced to endure the life of a misfit. When Meg Galipault asked me to contribute something, I thought I'd just been handed a soapbox from which to bitch and moan about the sorry state of arts in Columbus, Ohio. But somehow I sensed that to be inappropriate. I was moved to celebration. Anniversary. Twenty
Reassess. On further reflection, it occurred to me that I have been quite fortunate to receive the funding I have over the last 12 years, thanks to the Ohio Arts Council. And yes, this past weekend I saw an incredible show at the Wexner, "Body Mecanique" (without the trials of a subway ride). As a video and performance artist, I have had excellent venues available to me (though I have found none in Columbus that are attainable or affordable). I've performed several times at Jefferson James's Contemporary Dance Theater in Cincinnati, and have found it to be similar in ambience to the New York alternative venues. Ohio is very fortunate to have the Cleveland Performance Art Festival, the largest performance art festival in the world. I've done two performances there and found it a rewarding place to perform. And then there's dialogue-each time I pick it up with my uppity New York attitude, I am pleasantly surprised, always finding something to make me want to create. Venti piu, dialogue!
I wonder what would've happened if I had remained on the East Coast?
London Crockett
Chicago Artist, Writer & Aspiring
Filmmaker
The tragic wake of Titanic. Audiences may remember Titanic for many things, but the people who finance, distribute,...