Many organizations are looking to reach the audience that uses Salem as a crash pad between trips to Portland. For some, it comes out of the necessity to keep the doors open. For others, it’s about trying to reach an audience that won’t be moving to Phoenix to finally retire in the next 20 years. Economically, the changing of the guard will happen regardless of whether the old guard is ready for it or not.
Salem Art Association is looking to get ahead of the curve. They’re hoping to diversify their audience and defy some of the perceptions, like stuffiness or exclusivity, that come from having a mission focused on fine arts. A year ago, Meaghan McGraw was an unpaid intern. Her main internship project was to come up with a fundraising event that would reach out to a younger audience. The goal was to aim for ages 21 to 40. The end result was that McGraw picked up a full-time gig as Marketing Coordinator and Art Fusion was born.
“[Art Fusion] not only offers a really fun atmosphere for the young professionals, but also brings that demographic to be involved in not only our organization, but just the general arts community in Salem,” says McGraw, adding that they’ve worked with local breweries, wineries, and restaurants.
Each Art Fusion event showcases a specific artist like Eric Tautkus, whose aerosol work will be featured at the August 12 event. He’ll be painting on large canvases outside of the event, which has been dubbed “Art Fusion: Barbecue in the Park.” Local hip-hop group Manther will provide music for the night.
Galleries Director Catherine Alexander says that she believes that Art Fusion paved the way for a new way to launch plans in the future. She says that there’s a better result from asking what people think, what they’d be interested in, and getting that feedback from the audience. McGraw held focus groups to lay the foundation for Art Fusion.
“Art is malleable that way and this is a good case in point. It doesn’t have to look a certain way; it doesn’t even have to be on the wall,” Alexander says.
The result is an event that wouldn’t likely be paired with SAA. Some might be surprised that the event will feature someone who isn’t painting Thomas Kinkade-esque landscapes, but instead uses spray paint.
“In the scheme of the world, what [Tautkus] is doing is not that big of a deal compared to other cities, countries, or even Portland. I mean people wouldn’t even bat an eye at it, ” says McGraw, adding that she thinks that as an arts organization SAA has to support those artists and stand up to the criticism. Street graffiti has seen a rise in mainstream popularity with artists like Banksy selling work for large chunks of change.
Alexander says that context is important in what they do. “We don’t want to polarize. There’s controversy that’s productive and then there’s controversy that’s just titillating. We’re more interested in the first one. If there’s controversy, let’s look at it. Why is it controversial? We put it into the broader scheme of things,” she says.
Art Fusion isn’t just for one age group; as it happens, many of the SAA gallery docents had a lot of fun at the event as well, despite not falling within the age parameters.
SAA is best known for the annual Salem Art Fair and Festival, which has been ranked as being one of the top in the country. The event acts as the organization’s largest fundraiser. It’s also perhaps the largest lightning rod for the organization. In recent years, letters to the editor of the Statesman Journal and commenters on the daily’s website have whined about everything from the $5 entry fee to the chainlink fence to the lack of local artists in the booths at the art fair.
“People are free to have opinions. I actually think that some of them are quite witty; some of them are inane. I never fault anyone for having a strong opinion that is well-researched and articulate. I also don’t fault anyone who just gets online in the morning in their pajamas and their dog died and they’ve just got to rail on something. That’s fine too. We can’t always tell the difference,” Alexander says. The organization plans to begin a dialogue with the critics and wash away a lot of the misinformation that is spread about the event.
Debbie Leahy is the director of fundraising for SAA. She’s responsible for providing a revenue stream for the organization to exist and to produce the programs. As such, she’s the director of the art fair.
Both Alexander and Leahy agree that the entry fee is working. For less than the price of a movie admission, a corporate-burned latte or a couple of rounds of Pabst, attendees get a full day of events and the ability to support the arts community.
“That $5 may stick in your craw, but when’s the last time that you saw a movie at full price in prime time?” Alexander asks.
“This is the perfect example of people not liking change. When was the last time you had a 25-cent hot dog?” Leahy adds.
Alexander says that with the economic downturn and the decrease in corporate sponsorships, nonprofit organizations are going to have to institute user fees similar to the state parks.
“The model is very democratic. We want to hear your input, but we’re asking everybody to co-sponsor the event rather than just a few elite businesses. If everybody realizes that it’s a user fee, $5 isn’t bad and now [they're] a co-sponsor. I think that’s a pretty fair way of doing it,” she says.
There are plenty of ways to get in for free, whether it’s utilizing the free afternoon provided by a corporate sponsor, receiving a scholarship pass, or volunteering time at the fair.
“With the rain, obviously, we’re down a little bit. What we’re happy about is that we’re not down nearly as much as we could have been. Attendance was really steady on Friday and Saturday. I was really amazed walking around on Sunday,” Alexander says.
Out of 650 applications, only 20 local artists applied to be a part of the fair. Perhaps surprisingly, this hasn’t changed much since 2008. In fact, the percentage of accepted local artists has stayed relatively the same despite the stronger competition for available slots. In other words, while the number of total applications has gone up, the local artists have still made their way to the top of the heap.
Being from Salem doesn’t give an artist any special privileges at the art fair; the artists chosen from the pool of applications are done by blind jury. Leahy says that that is what all major events do to keep the process fair and balanced. If a Salem artist is at the art fair, it’s because of their own merit and not because of where they accept their mail. The jury doesn’t know their age, sex, race, or anything beyond what their art is.
Alexander says, “Bottom line: they can say no one gave me any favors in the jury process.”
That’s why it’s so important for artists to prepare their applications properly, whether they are a Salemite or an Israeli. That’s also where a local artist could have an upper hand, simply because of the face-to-face access that is possible with Leahy or Alexander on the application process. SAA hosts workshops (which they will package and send to out-of-area artists) on how to apply to be in the art fair.
“We had several artists this year that upped their game and it made a difference,” Leahy says.
Leahy’s focus is on providing all of the artists with everything they need to be successful. “Every good show director should do that; it shouldn’t be about making money and it shouldn’t be about getting 200 artists in a park. It should be about the whole broader spectrum supporting the art, the artists, and the community,” she says.
The intent of the art fair hasn’t been to discourage local artists from participating in recent years, but it has grown from its roots as only having local artists. Alexander compares the phenomenon to a local garage band who progresses to a national or international act and isn’t seen so much locally any more.
“Is that a bad thing or a good thing? Well, it’s both. That’s usually how things start. They usually evolve to a larger stage if they are doing things right, if they are providing value. I would love to think that the art festival grew because it provided really good visual art value. Is there a bittersweet part? Of course,” she says.
As for the chain link fence, Leahy says that it’s important for the public to know that they aren’t just putting up a fence in the neighborhood park and disallowing everyone from coming in. Instead, they’re paying for a small portion of the park, paying for police support and all of the other fees associated with hosting the event. Great care is taken to make sure there are bathroom facilities outside the fence and that there are playground areas for people who don’t want to come into the event.
“We wouldn’t be here without the City of Salem. We shepherd, steward the Bush Barn Art Museum through a covenant with the city. We agree to be the caretakers of the facility and they host us. It works out really well,” Alexander says.
The art fair is one of the major fundraising efforts that puts together the various other services and programs that the association works on throughout the year. It’s certainly not the only thing happening around the Bush Barn Art Museum.
“It’s not so much about what is available, but what would you take advantage of first? We could definitely keep an artist busy for a whole year,” Alexander says.
The organization manages a million-dollar budget to go toward their mission. Speaking of that million dollars, it’s spent on the public facing amenities of the galleries and the other programs and services that the organization provides. Some of the staff are confined to a small room broken up into cubicles. Many creative plans for the organization are hatched from a rickety six-foot folding table and a mix-and-match set of chairs. It’s not uncommon for a nonprofit, like SAA, to shoestring office equipment and furniture. Despite the outward glamor, there aren’t Aeron chairs awaiting the administrative staff.
That funding instead goes to programs like supporting art in schools. SAA is responsible for over 11,000 school children in the tri-county area receiving art programs.
“For a lot of them, we are the only art program that they receive in their school now. We take that pretty seriously. Unfortunately, that’s the most invisible things that we do, even though it’s one of the most important,” Alexander says.
The community arts education branch of SAA works with high school students and adult artists as well.
“I think our goal in the coming years is to provide more visibility for that program. So next year, we’ve tentatively scheduled an exhibit in the Focus Gallery for artists who teach in the schools. Who are actually unsung heroes, because the community never sees them. But someone does teach those 11,000 children,” says Alexander, adding that the exhibit will likely be the artists’ personal body of work.
What’s in it for local artists? SAA offers everything from one-on-one portfolio consultation for free to their artist-in-residence program to accepting an exhibition proposal. They also host professional development series with organizations like the Oregon Arts Commission and various lecture series. This is all in addition to the gallery shows that they have on a regular basis. Alexander encourages interested artists to check their website, www.salemart.org, for calls for artists.
Alexander says that she’s never seen an artist turned away because of the controversial nature of their work. They’re also not opposed to posting signs in the galleries pointing out that mature pieces are being displayed to warn parents with young children. In other words, if there’s a lack of controversy at SAA, it’s because controversial artists aren’t stepping forward with their work to display it for the community. This is the line where perception actually becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
SAA would like to forge creative relationships with the other cultural organizations in the area in fun ways. “We have this great opportunity to promote Salem and we’re really happy to do that,” she says.
Where does Salem stand in the art world? Alexander points to cities like Santa Fe, New Mexico as an example of how a city has branded itself as an art mecca. She thinks that the reason they were able to brand themselves is by removing the different factions.
“Two Native American tribes started it, but there were also the people that saw promise in those tribes. I think that whether it’s an individual or a group or an organization, it just takes a leader. That leader has to be visionary enough to develop the cohesion so they stop thinking of themselves as the 21-40 demographic, the downtown core vs. South Salem, or whatever,” she says.
She thinks Salem may be going through an identity crisis, still thinking of itself as the plain stepsister to Portland.
“I don’t think it’s insurmountable but [it] requires some leaders to stand up and say I’m doing this in Salem because it’s my home and it’s where I live. I think that’ll happen eventually and we definitely have our sights on being that and Art Fusion is just the beginning. It can get there, but I have no idea what the brand would be. That’s yet to be seen.”
