That said, while I love the enthusiasm and hope it continues, I think there needs to be careful planning in taking steps forward to avoid false starts and duplication of efforts. I would like to see more of these talks, involving more people from across the spectrum of arts activities. I think there needs to be a way to both structure these conversations, as well as allow for enough freedom of speech and trajectory to avoid the pitfall of a mediated pep rally. I think structure and organization is key.

A lot of this work as far as aggregating event data and organizational and artist databases is being done already- by a host of people and organizations. The problem is that the information is fractured, repetitive, and incomplete. In a perfect world, there would be more communication, cooperation, and coordination between all to avoid these issues.

I think Sean the Contrarian hit the nail on the head when he addressed the disparity between the needs of the individual artist versus the arts organization. They are two different animals, but instead of being exclusionary, the relationship should be symbiotic. While the individual artist should be at the center of things, arts organizations, in their administrative capacity, have the reach, resources, and tools to further the individual artist and their work. I think it’s important for there to be open dialogue so that arts administrators can better understand the individual artist’s situation and vice versa. The question from either should not be “what’s in it for me?” but rather, “how can we work together to meet our needs and/or mission while cooperatively cultivating our local art community?”

In a city like Houston, it is only short-sighted to be territorial. We live in a city of opportunity and have a long way to go. Art fairs, inspired ideas, and discussions such as this one are an excellent first step.