After spending millions of dollars in public and private funding, SRAC has created a swath of unmaintained public art, poorly planned arts programming, and general disgust among professional artists in the area.
The purpose of this photodocumentary and accompanying commentary is three-fold:
- to document SRAC's wasted resources, poorly-planned goals, and failed outcomes,
- to show the people of Shreveport that their government is supporting an organization (SRAC) that is failing in its mission to promote the arts, and
- to encourage professional artists to distance themselves from SRAC's failed efforts, and pursue their own personal vision of art and culture.
During the course of my research into SRAC's Shreveport Common/Unscene fiasco, I have been accused of having ulterior motives, being an old artist who is afraid to try new things, hurling "nasty bombs," and being vindictive - among other personal insults that I won't list here. These comments have come exclusively from people who are being paid by SRAC, so I will not respond to them here or elsewhere.
After learning that I was creating this photodocumentary, SRAC began a hasty, superficial clean-up of the Shreveport Common - but a simple drive down Texas Avenue proves that they are not committed to the maintenance of public art, or to the quality of it.
This is merely a symptom of SRAC's larger problems: a lack of commitment to the cultural well-being of Shreveport, and an old-money/old-school leadership team that would rather throw monthly drinking parties than invest in a thriving, sustainable arts community.
Listen to Chadwick Young's podcast about this photodocumentary, including an interview with me: https://soundcloud.com/shreveportant/debbie-hollis-shreveportrait.
To view images of SRAC's failed Unscene program with my commentary, click the image below:
To view images of SRAC's failed Unscene program without my commentary, click the image below:
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