I thought about Creative Capital as an effort toward a systemic solution for what I felt were persistent inadequacies in the support system for artists. A first step in building something new is to clearly understand what isn’t working. While I don’t think that wallowing in critique is useful, you must critique the current situation in order to envision remedies or wholly new approaches. At the same time, there are always programs that are working and examples from history and from other cultures that can be inspirational. I tried to pull from all of these influences when I was designing Creative Capital.  

We were able to articulate a comprehensive and sequential approach to artist support, starting with financial and advisory support for a specific project; providing opportunities for grantees to acquire skills and information; creating gatherings that brought artists together with each other and with arts professionals; and finally, engaging the public through extensive promotion of the artists and their projects. Project, Person, Community, Public. We had never had an articulated infrastructure of support like that in our field. I think Creative Capital serves as a useful example of what is possible when there is total freedom to explore. Arch Gillies, then President of the Andy Warhol Foundation, who set Creative Capital in motion, used to say, “Try This!”  And that became our mantra as we were building the organization.  

In the wider culture, we see so much that isn't working. Think about safe drinking water, guns, women’s rights, the wealth gap, and the climate crisis, to name just a few. Temporary band-aids will not solve these problems. We need to re-envision these dysfunctional systems, perhaps by more clearly understanding who is served by the current dysfunction.  

When you think of a specific problem you are facing in your work or in your community, do you see it as isolated or as part of a deeper, systemic failure?  How would you re-envision the system in order to address it?