Pop Art
Wed, 31 July 2002, 01:18 pmcrgwllms12 posts in thread
Pop Art
Wed, 31 July 2002, 01:18 pmAn article in the New York Times today claims that the number of arts festivals happening nationwide over there has reached a record high of about 3000, drawing audiences of around 130 million.
I roughly estimate those attendances as being about 45% of the USA's population, although it doesn't account for the fact that obviously a much smaller arts-going population must be attending multiple events to give that sort of box office estimate.
And also, that's still only 1 festival every 96,000 head of population.
I wonder what percentage of our population attends arts events? How many festivals do we have in Australia, compared to our population?
And I wonder what sort of similar comparison could be made with the people who attend our traditional form of culture - sporting events?
Is it possible to increase the general status of arts events in Australia? Are we hindered or helped by our smaller population?
Food for thought.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/30/arts/30SUMM.html?pagewanted=1&todaysheadlines
Cheers,
Craig
[%sig%]
I roughly estimate those attendances as being about 45% of the USA's population, although it doesn't account for the fact that obviously a much smaller arts-going population must be attending multiple events to give that sort of box office estimate.
And also, that's still only 1 festival every 96,000 head of population.
I wonder what percentage of our population attends arts events? How many festivals do we have in Australia, compared to our population?
And I wonder what sort of similar comparison could be made with the people who attend our traditional form of culture - sporting events?
Is it possible to increase the general status of arts events in Australia? Are we hindered or helped by our smaller population?
Food for thought.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/30/arts/30SUMM.html?pagewanted=1&todaysheadlines
Cheers,
Craig
[%sig%]
Pop Art into Schools
Fri, 2 Aug 2002, 03:56 pmI think that the major difference between the exposure that is had by sport and the of the arts - whichever form really but particularly live theatre - is that we as a nation are exposed very heavily to sport right throughout school, but less so to theatre. How many school students would be taken to live theatre unless they are studying theatre/drama? And how many students partake in school sporting competitions/programs? Or even how many students are part of weekly footy tipping comps of Melbourne Cup sweeps?
Sure there are numerous companies that regularly go into schools to put on shows, and this is a highly valuable experience, but this is quite a different experience to be TAKEN to live theatre isn't it?
As a trainee drama teacher this is an issue that we discuss at uni, and also as an extension to this, more weight appears to be given to kids that play sport - compulsory sport in independent schools and pe classes - than kids who are involved in school productions.
I know this is a huge generalisation and it is changing, but i don't think we can discount its potency.
Anyway, my 2 cents... I guess what i'm getting at is how can people know what is there and make a choice unless they are exposed to it from a young age?
Cheers
Mike
Sure there are numerous companies that regularly go into schools to put on shows, and this is a highly valuable experience, but this is quite a different experience to be TAKEN to live theatre isn't it?
As a trainee drama teacher this is an issue that we discuss at uni, and also as an extension to this, more weight appears to be given to kids that play sport - compulsory sport in independent schools and pe classes - than kids who are involved in school productions.
I know this is a huge generalisation and it is changing, but i don't think we can discount its potency.
Anyway, my 2 cents... I guess what i'm getting at is how can people know what is there and make a choice unless they are exposed to it from a young age?
Cheers
Mike
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