A New Way of Seeing
June 2nd, 2009 by Julia Taylor
Like most human beings I tend to measure ideas out against my personal experience and some universal perspectives–generally gathered in my post college years. This pic goes right back to a childhood of cows, farm equipment and that rural mess of equipment (the junk heap lot). This is where my life view began.
When I was a wee one, my most poignant memories are of art classes–in the lines, out of the lines, construction paper and awkward scissors, oil paint., clay, and color circles. Then I got a camera early on and all was lost. I LOVED sketching and photography. Two years into a college Arts Major degree, life intervened and I decided during one of those infamous down economic cycles to go to a more marketable major. There was this implicit promise that one could provide for our family needs through commercial means and support our artistic desires on the sides. I did buy in and I still do. I love photography, fine arts and performing arts. I understand the talent, the discipline and the sacrifice that artists need and make to survive on the side today. I also understand the mix it takes in a community to create the economic engine that drives all the cultural economies. It it is a two way innovation economy. Fortunately, I enjoy all the dimensions of regional economy . You need a very robust metro area to sustain artists economically on the strength of their art and there are probably three market areas in this country that can provide that type of catch-net. Given our strength as a second tier market, we have remarkable resiliency including the largest and oldest performing art fund in the country. It’s quite remarkable and we can say it because we have so many regional and global companies who passed 50, 75, 100 and even 150 years of accomplishments and have always supported the arts.
Its been a great business plan but now we need to fast forward to how we grow our market for innovation and creativity. We know that exposure to creativity can throw the switch for a innovative talent to grow. How do we keep our big tent of the arts open to all those children and young people to learn a new way of seeing, how to create and bring this talent to our everyday world of work and play.
Somebody else paid the entry ticket for us. They didn’t know us. They just paid forward.
It’s time for us to pay forward for each of those 400,00 children in our region that don’t even have the experience of of creativity outside of a TV set yet. They need the chance to learn a new way of seeing.
Keep the arts giving forward and thank someone who believed in each one of us without ever meeting any one of us. Invest in your future and region’s well-being.
Pay it forward.
http://cli.gs/UPAF
Social Media 1.01 according to JHTaylor
May 10th, 2009 by Julia TaylorA very quick discovery walk through of social media for everyone who looks at this phenomenon with amazement and blurry vision!
MySpace.com This is the space of teens, music and hormones. There are great sites with garage band music and playlists, photography and lots of little hourly and minutely connections. Sometime in the future, someone will figure out how to nuke myspace accounts upon request similar to yet to be developed less painful approaches to tattoo removal. It’s worthwhile joining just to know what your kids are up to.
Facebook.com The original college student only site is now owned by the Boomers. The largest group of new facebookers are 45 and over. Facebook created the verb of friending. Think about going to your local Cheers bar or coffee shop. You see people you know and catch up and they introduce you to their friends. You find people you knew in high school. Its is a virtual alumni party and calendar for birthdays, events and causes. It is a contained universe in some ways since you must agree to who is your friend. More arts groups, causes, non-profits, bars and other commercial sites are showing up and the lists of friends can be of great value in forwarding information and asking for support for events and efforts.
Twitter.com Tweeting is actually micro-blogging in 140 characters or less. It is the haiku of blogs. Twitter is going into a bar or coffee shop out of town full of friendly strangers. You find people you know, people you would like to know and others that pass by in a river of tweets. Twitter’s real power is the ability to connect people on issues, ideas and causes real-time. People use hashmarks to denote a trend, issue or idea like #GMCMKE or #Brewers and using a search function you can quickly find those who are also interested. Direct Messages or DMs keep messages private. Locally, twitter delivered people, calls and information on key issues like transit, water and public art. Authenticity counts so there needs to be personality behind the tweeter. Blasting out urls or headlines doesn’t work well. Anyone can follow you and so everything you tweet out there is visible to friend and foe.
Twitter is truly a river of conversation and I like to narrow the channel using apps like Tweetdeck where I can use columns to follow groups of key people, issues and topics. It sorts it all out. You can use apps that can connect all your sites–so one message on Facebook or twitter shows up on the other and tracks messages from both.
You can also stay up through phone apps. The iPhone particularly makes it easy to track all of the social media venues.
Friends ask me why people would be interested in daily events in someone’s life on twitter and I think it helps to open the door on who we are and our personality. People also want to know what is going on and what we think about issues and ideas so I think tweeting can say more about who we are and why we think and do what we do.
I may be tweeting about an issue like transit or water or the UN Global Cities Compact and the next tweet will be my daily grumble about getting on the treadmill. People tweet back and Retweet –the ultimate help and compliment. This sends my message onto their followers. The multiplier effect of RT (retweeting) is the power and strength of Twitter–it is how the word is spread.
I’ve met an amazing group of people on twitter. Getting together is called a “tweet-up” and I’ve had a chance to tweetup over coffee with folks I’ve met on twitter. New friends and new energy for a better Milwaukee–what could be better.
Fifty cents for the Mona Lisa
April 3rd, 2009 by Julia TaylorEarly this week, Jonathon Winkle, an artist and President of the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center, asked me a very thoughtful question. He noted that we talk a great deal about the importance of our cultural assets in corporate talent attraction but we never ask if we have created both the opportunities and public attitude to attract and retain artists. As a performing artist, he noted the reduction in concerts and other events which allow artists to support themselves financially. But what concerned Jonathon more was a general public attitude that we don’t even think about or actively discuss the environment here for artists.
His point was brought home again with the brewing flap over Janet Zweig’s proposed public art installation on Wisconsin Ave. I think public weigh in is important on public art but comments like “I wouldn’t give 50 cents for the Mona Lisa” by our elected leadership just creates the image again of an unsophisticated city that does not value art or artists. I don’t think represents Milwaukee or its art community fairly at all.
I’m a great optimist in the community’s ability to correct its course quickly when needed. It is time for some public input on both the decision to delay payment of the commission and effectively kill the project and send the funding to another community (sound familiar) and how to create more awareness and better process for public input. Let’s not send out the message that Milwaukee is down on art and artists.
You can help change the course of this debate by calling your alderperson–
Thanks to Dave Reid for the information.
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/twoaday
Urban Milwaukee http://urbanmilwaukee.com
UWM Downtown! http://www.uwmdowntown.org
The Public Works Committee would put a stop to an effort to improve Milwaukee’s pedestrian environment. If you believe we should support public art in Milwaukee please contact our elected officials today.
C. C. President Willie L. Hines, Jr. - 15th District Alderman - whines@milwaukee.gov
Alderman Ashanti Hamilton - 1st District Alderman - ahamil@milwaukee.gov
Alderman Joe Davis - 2nd District Alderman - jldavis@milwaukee.gov
Alderman Nik Kovac - 3rd District Alderman - nkovac@milwaukee.gov
Alderman Robert J. Bauman - 4th District Alderman - rjbauma@milwaukee.gov
Alderman James A. Bohl, Jr. - 5th District Alderman - jbohl@milwaukee.gov
Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs - 6th District Alderman - mcoggs@milwaukee.gov
Alderman Willie C. Wade - 7th District Alderman - wwade@milwaukee.gov
Alderman Robert G. Donovan - 8th District Alderman - rdonov@milwaukee.gov
Alderman Robert W. Puente - 9th District Alderman - rpuent@milwaukee.gov
Alderman Michael J. Murphy - 10th District Alderman - mmurph@milwaukee.gov
Alderman Joe Dudzik -11th District Alderman - jdudzi@milwaukee.gov
Alderman James N. Witkowiak - 12th District Alderman - jwitko@milwaukee.gov
Alderman Terry L. Witkowski - 13th District Alderman - twitko@milwaukee.gov
Alderman Tony Zielinski -14th District Alderman - tzieli@milwaukee.gov
Leprechauns and Lizards in Palm Springs
March 19th, 2009 by Julia TaylorSt. Paddy’s Day in Palm Springs seems to mainly occur in Mexican restaurants. Somehow it fits the culture here.
Irish Eyes and Chips and Salsa
I talked a good friend of ours, Susan Freid, into the investment of an iTouch and spent some time loading up apps–lots of fun. She is looking for a good name for her iTouch so if you have any ideas–pass them on. Something interesting like Xavier.
Susan after buying the iTouch!
We visited twice with Jude and Nora Werra and Chris and Storm Eiser. Nice to catch up and enjoy the sun. Lunch was at Cheeky’s again. Tara should provide a Milwaukee discount!
A few Cheeky people!
Christine Rodriguez and her friend Jose Grijalva came to visit yesterday. We drove around old Palm Springs and found Elvis’s Honeymoon house and several Richard Neutra homes. What I didn’t know I could make up and probably be as correct as the tour buses that run down the street all the time. Then we went to the Aqua Caliente Reservation and hiked a bit through the Palm Canyons with a stream running through desert. We listened to Jose’s CDs of poetry and music and it was an idyllic day. When I get home I’ll do a blip of Jose’s song about Milwaukee–the water, the Calatrava and the people. “Lago, Dama, Gaviota y Fiesta”.
Christine and Jose
This morning, there was a lizard under the frig–probably the equivalent of a mouse in the kitchen in Milwaukee. He is now resting a bit confused on the patio outside. He was a bit of a nipper too!
Something is blooming and the air is really fragrant. We have a little cloud cover so it is great to write by the pool though it is getting quite warm already.
I’ve been playing with more iPhone Photo apps and while camerabag is still my favorite for effects–love that Lolo lens–try out Molopix and Redden. Molo does a tiling effect of camera shots and you can shoot rapid fire or slow.
Here’s Mr. Lizard from a few angles. Also Reddin takes makes everything except the color red monochromatic in an iPhone pic for a very fun effect.
4 shots of our kitchen lizard
I’ve been following the Bucks here through Twitter and @Bucksdotcom http://cli.gs/UPjDGY . I saw Charlie V get 4000 followers in a day following his little mid-game tweet but then his coach was ticked off at him. I thought it was a great fan connector myself. But Scott Skiles knows what he is doing and if Twittering during a game is distracting, then we will wait for post game tweets.
Tomorrow we pack up and head to LA for dinner with friends and family. We’ll stop by Christine’s place on the way and then fly out Saturday midday. It’s been a great, great easy going vacation.
See you back in MKE soon–hopefully, with spring in the air.
Saturday Morning Walk and the La Quinta Art Fair
March 14th, 2009 by Julia TaylorHere’s a few pics from this morning’s walk with their own comments.
After a quick walk, we met our friend, Susan, and headed to La Quinta for the 8th largest juried art festival in the country. It is huge and very high quality.
The wrapped wire figurines were just gorgeous. The artist wraps the wire around wax figures and then melts the wax.
These contemperary type of totems were colorfully amazing and had the advantage of great height.
But a real living sculpture were these magical creatures spinning and dancing around us and occasionally leaning in close to say hello!
And what is an Art Festival without some Koi under the bridge.
Art, Kindle and Emily Thomas’s Blog
March 8th, 2009 by Julia TaylorMary Louise Schumacher’s (@artcity) article today in the MKE Journal Sentinel pulls us out of the insulation of our usual circles into the eyes of a mother , Emily Thomas, who visits the Milwaukee Art Museum with her daughters. This family squirms some and views both the contemporary and traditional art almost comically. No connection through a docent tour, an audio tour or even a little advance reading of the reviews for this family.
We would never know of their views except for the Mom’s blog recapturing the visit. Technology opened the door of opinion though the door of conversation on art got stuck and never yanked open.
Technology is lifting the skirt on lots of discussions. We’re leaving on vacation soon and I’ve thought about the Kindle seriously. I have stacks of books I could bring but luggage limits make it costly and I’ve gotten used to finding things on line and clicking for instant gratification.
Lots of comments back from twitters both wondering the same thing and a few who own them. I just hate to commit to another gadget that is ready for the technology heap in a year and I don’t know if it could really replace the physicality of a book.
Maybe I’m a little like Emily above–willing to venture out some to new experiences but not out of my comfort zone. I also feel a little traitorous to my all friends who make their living with ink, whether newspapers, bookstores and even our great postal carrier.
So at @khinrichs suggestion, I compromised and downloaded the kindle app on my iphone and tried out a book. Surprisingly it works pretty well. Usually I have big problems reading much text on the 3 1/2 inch screen but I can read it easily and with swiping the pages, I feel like I am in “Evelyn Woodhead’s Sped Reding Course.” So for the time beginning, it’s a fair compromise.
Just checking back on line, there is a lot of talk about Emily Thomas and some –wow-significant reaction.
Maybe MAM could invite them in for a docent tour and some of the family art classes which has a good dose of art history in it. Sometimes it’s ok to start with a 3 1/2 inch screen and expand your vision from there.
My Wishes for Twitter in 2009 (MKE, too)
January 4th, 2009 by Julia TaylorThe entire Wisconsin Congressional delegation joins Twitter. You can make this happen http://cli.gs/XYDjh3
The elected officials and the business community uses Twitter and social media for policy input
Governor Doyle includes the RTA recommendations in the state budget and we pass the legislation. (I get shivers just writing it!)
Sweet Water and Milwaukee becomes synonymous.
Milwaukee establishes a serious Venture Fund for social media
Social media changes the Arts, putting people in seats, direct funding from Tweeters and new ideas into production.
Milwaukee is proud of being MKE
Tweeters discover MKE
The Brewers win the World Series
The Bucks win the finals in the play offs.
Life is good.
How Twitter Changed the World (& MKE) in 2008
January 4th, 2009 by Julia Taylor
- POLITICS For the first time, social media played a key role in a major election shake-up. This is a historic cultural shift comparable to the role of television influencing the outcome of the Kennedy and Nixon debates and ultimately the election. The engagement of young voters will change the way public policy and politics play out for many years to come.
- TRANSIT We moved the ball forward on transit in MKE with the RTA report to Governor Doyle and the Legislature and real possibility of dedicated funding in the Governor’s budget to be released in February. We couldn’t have done it without the social media/political impact of Twitter including Launch Milwaukee and Johnny, we do hear the train a coming .
- Discovering TWITTER and all my peeps!
Me on Twitter!
- TWEET MOMENTS Working with everyone from Spreenkler and UrbanMilwaukee.com. Thanks to Steve Glynn and Jeramey Jannine and Dave Reid. The fun of the tweeting community moment for me was a little tweetup on transit at my house and TeeCycle Tim stopping in with my free T-Shirt I won on Twitter. The power of Twitter was the all the tweets who called, showed up and debated the transit issues with elected officials and each other.
- WATER, water everywhere..We formed a Water Council to grow the region as the hub for freshwater sciences. Talent is what will get us there and Twitter can make this cluster a wellspring for talent (I know, I know, I just can’t help myself–the puns just flow!)
- THE ARTS Connecting social media with the arts and culture community. Our recent report showed the fragile balancing act of our cultural assets trying to reach new audiences with less and less marketing resources. The 2009 February Summit can help figure out a better dynamic connect to our everyday livest than putting up electronic calendars and facebook pages (though it is a start).
- LINK UPS Starting this blog to connect the business community leadership with the social media network. I’m still figuring it out as I go but new ideas come every day.
- CHINA Learning how Twitter, the Flip and iphone pics can take a once in a lifetime adventure and share it easily with the world. My trip to China with the Bucks was amazing and my first posts were from China. The twitter feed made it real time. I’m actually standing in the photo–those guys are just REALLY tall (and nice).
Jr. Bridgeman, Kareem, Bob Lanier and me!
- BE THE FIRST TO KNOW–this was a surprise Twitter plus for me. In my job, sometimes I get a heads-up call on key community changes and sometimes I learn about the issue when the press calls for comment. I hate not being prepped and have learned to buy some time to make the contact calls and do the research and then get back with my quote of the day. The reporter would prefer a detailed and educated comment than a dithering one so it works for everyone. I’m amazed at how fast news items hits twitter. So twitter helps me with fast info real time when I need it most!
- WHO, WHAT, WHEN WHERE and WHY Editorial and information commentary by tweets–the argument about the role of social media and blogging in the world of journalism went away a long time ago based on consumer choice. I will always love my newspaper and I’ve found very informed blogs and tweets as another key component of my daily information feed. I love connecting all the above to work in a new way and meeting a whole new circle of friends that just continues to grow. Despite all the economic troubles, our hope comes from the ability to form these new networks and find the common concerns, passion, ideas and actions to create the change.
Arts and Social Media
November 24th, 2008 by Julia TaylorAt the last GMC meeting we rolled out an incredibly detailed roadmap of the state of key cultural assets in the region including performing arts groups, parks, museums–even sports venues. Everything that makes Mke buzz. You can check the full report out at http://www.gmconline.org . The Business Journal wrote a very comprehensive story. The Journal Sentinel ran a great editorial and one that was not too happy with our comments. And then we have video clips on the website too. Check out Jill Morin’s great presentation and the panel’s responses. Chris Abele provided an incredibly introspective look at the arts in today’s spiraling economy. Thanks to the Cultural Alliance for creating the report with the research by the Donor’s Forum, the Public Policy Forum and UW-M CUIR.
We will have a Creative Summit in early February to come up with a plan for the future to preserve and grow a sustainable and healthy creative community, which provides more than just performances and exhibits. This creative community is the power for our corporate community and changes the cycle of brain drain to regional brain circulation of talent and creativity.
I personally think the ability to connect social media to our local arts community is key but it takes a different mindset. The secret is authenticity and connecting the brand and work of the arts community to online just in time interaction. Sounds easy but it isn’t. It can’t be the same messages and if this really works, it will start to evolve cultural offerings as well.
How do you do it? Well, there are now books even on the subject (which worries me a bit). Here’s one interesting social media note—a twitter guide for non-profits on how to use twitter to raise funds—the first I’ve seen so far
http://www.corporatedollar.org/twitter-jump-start-the-complete-guide-for-small-non-profits/
The NYT had a great magazine section this Sunday on technology and how we watch things. (screens, in other words) http://www.nytimes.com/pages/magazine/index.html . So for those like me who are not very film literate there is an amazing film mashup site that basically pulls up all film genealogy from one original film —just type in key words like “Dirty Harry” and voila! It’s http://www.dipity.com/mashups/timetube or timetube. The article is Becoming Screen Literate, if you get a chance to read the magazine, it is amazing especially the social media marketing piece by Lars Bastholm on how to sell and redesign overalls to an entirely new market using ShotCodes in the Facebook Overalls section Think how this could be applied to the cultural community in different ways of looking at arts similar to a different way of seeing the utilitarian farm uniform. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/magazine/23roundtable-t.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=magazine
I love this kind of thinking about our world. I think I like the actual concept and creative process more than watching the end product but that’s my problem. For those who do like watching the end product and have video enabled phones (like an iPhone) there is another new fun product that enables you to film projection to a new level with a device that fits in the pocket or purse—the Pico Projector. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/technology/personaltech/05pogue.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin I know what I want for Christmas! Ok, this my little techie/ arts/ social media blast for the day. Just wanted to share with these thoughts in these troubled times.
Julia