Memo to Mine Owner: Most of the Canaries Are Gasping

Jerome Weeks is the Senior Arts Reporter/Producer for KERA. Previously at The Dallas Morning News, he was the book columnist for 10 years and the drama critic for 10 years before that. His writing has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Salon, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, American Theatre and Men’s Vogue magazines. View more about Jerome Weeks.

COMMENTS

Tom Hendricks

Though these are tough times for all art groups, they can lead to better art in the future.
There is a lot of puffed up, elitist art that was not that supportive of most people anyway. It was art that had no relation to the audience, that was over priced, that was hard to get to, that was provincial, that played it safe, and that was just not much fun.

There is also a back-to-basics art revolution, starting here in Dallas, that will bring the arts back to a more sensible road where quality matters over promotion, and fun over salaries, and innovation over the same old thing done for the millionth time.

Sure its time to worry. But not without a dose of hope in that cup.
Rawlins Gilliland

This also speaks volumes for how blessed KERA is to have such loyal and grateful listeners that they rallied to make the Fall Membership Drive a huge success. A lesser affiliate would have been a road kill in the headlights of these troubled times. But as I said on air, this was the ‘If Not Now, When?’ campaign…because where else would one find genuine depth like on NPR when what we need more than ever is information. Not just ‘news’.