Let's have a national arts summit in summer 2009

Petitions and ideas are flying through the internets -- Arlene Goldbard has issued a call for a new WPA for artists; President Obama himself called for an "Artists Corps" in the schools, modeled on Teach for America, during his campaign; fragments of information suggest that some substantial millions, if not even a billion, will be appropriated to bodies like the NEA, the Smithsonian, and the IMLS when the stimulus package passes.

And most dramatic of all is the Quincy Jones petition that would create a cabinet-level "culture czar" or ministry of culture.

All these ideas paint a wildly optimistic future for the arts after years in the fiscal wilderness. We've been sustained by an economic boom that has enabled our private donors, foundations, and corporate sponsors to be unusually generous. But even during a two-decade mostly-boom period, the arts have neither flourished financially nor been able to save for the rainy day that's now monsooning all of us.

So maybe it's time we gathered all the artists and arts leaders and theorists and public policy experts together with key Congressional and administration leaders -- hello, Obama arts transition team? -- in one huge conference, in Washington, DC, where the public funding decisions will be made. May or June sounds good to me. Let the new Obama administration get its stimulus bill passed and its economic and national security/diplomacy efforts rolling. But then let's take a global look at every aspect of the arts support system that's been created, or that's grown at random, over the last few decades. And let's make recommendations for something new, something optimal for this new century. Spread the word: arts summit now.