With a thriving arts community, the Royal City has a lot to offer
What contributes most to a rich, critical and vibrant art scene? Musagetes Guelph Café asked this very question in a debate between grassroots initiatives and big institutions last September. Members of the audience voted, with a majority in favour of grassroots – and as members of the community of Guelph, it comes as no surprise.
As a community, we seem to collectively push for local shops in our downtown core over the presence of big-name corporations, we grocery shop at the Farmer’s Market to support our local farmers, and we embrace art and creativity that is community-based and feels more “Guelph.”
Now, this is not to say that we do not find value in institutionalized art. Without formal education in the arts, many may be unaware of the traditional techniques, and fundamentals of artistic expression that have educated many and have prepared them to be well-trained artists. Without publicly-funded art galleries, we may have never be able to witness the works of great artists such as Picasso or Pollock; without large music venues and record labels, we may have never seen big-name artists such as the Beatles or The Rolling Stones; without large publishing houses, we may have never read the works of famous authors such as Shakespeare or Hemingway. The same applies for any sort of artistic institution – film, dance, and so on.
But in a time where job prospects are diminishing, and many struggle financially, the culture that is cultivated through these large institutions may seem less appealing. As members of the community of Guelph, we are drawn to the sort of artistic expression that thrives in grassroots initiatives.
Groups in Guelph such as Silence, P.S. Guelph, Gain, Vocamus Press, Ed Video, Kazoo!, Necessary Arts Company, and Music Lives, all exist because they want to fill a creative niche that publicly funded art does not fill. These groups appeal to artists because they often exist and operate without sufficient revenue and without advertising themselves through typical media sources. Money spent needs not to be justified against other areas of public subsidy, and these movements grow not through taxpayer funding, but out of genuine interest to develop and contribute to the arts and culture within the community.
Typically, institutions are analyzed in terms of how they play into social roles and expectations – but grassroots organizations feed the artist’s need by creating an environment free from these expected roles and behaviours. Great art is often created outside of these constraints, and a lack of funding creates a perfect platform to do this – as ideas and innovation blossom under limitations.
In “Art Worlds and Social Types,” Howard S. Becker states: “Naive artists achieve their idiosyncratic style and create forms and genres which are unique and peculiar because they have never acquired and internalized the habits of vision and thought the professional artist necessarily acquires in the course of training.” Grassroots organizations stimulate the sort of distinct expression that often has to be unlearned by those formally trained in the arts.
By operating on a local level, these grassroots establishments fill a niche that is true to the community in which they exist. They give voice to those who may not have the funds, the power or the support to excel in traditional institutionalized structures of art.
By definition, grassroots means the creation of a movement that is natural and spontaneous. Its very meaning lends itself to the raw creativity that is necessary to foster an artistic environment that makes great work.
Artists within the Guelph community create a breeding-ground for creativity through these initiatives. Everywhere you look, there are organizations that are experimenting with new ideas of what it means to make great art and to infuse inspiration into a community. This is what makes Guelph unique in its achievements.
This column will continue, with each article focusing on an initiative that promotes a rich, critical and vibrant art scene. Keep your eyes peeled in future issues of the Ontarion for more in-depth pieces on specific grassroots organizations in Guelph.