CREATIVE CAPITAL IN THE MEDIA

excerpt from
Review & Outlook: Capital Idea
(no author cited)

The art world has finally come around to the idea that the proper patron of contemporary art in a free society is in the private sector. Ten years after the first skirmishes over National Endowment for the Arts funding, a group of foundations and philanthropists has announced the formation of Creative Capital.

An umbrella group designed to go where governments fear to tread, Creative Capital, unlike the NEA, isn’t shy about its intentions. It plans to support midcareer artists "pursuing innovative, experimental approaches… in the visual, performing and media arts." In other words, the so-called cutting edge. Clearly the message here is that landscape painters and figurative artists need not apply. Creative Capital will also offer artists advice on marketing their art and, in an unusual step, expect them to kick back a percentage of the sales.