We used to make our financial transactions at the local bank and trust that the august figures within knew how to responsibly care for our treasure.
The Great Depression shook that trust when banks went under at alarming rates. Laws were put in place in an attempt to regain the public trust. The FDIC assured depositors that $100,000 of their money would be protected no matter what.
Memories are short, however, and the laws designed to control errant banks were soon overcome by the financial wizards of the new millennium with creative schemes virtually impossible to understand. We now have had another epidemic of bank closures as well as home foreclosures.
The on-going drama of U.S. banks comes to life in an exhibit titled “The Bank and Trust Show” at the People”™s Bank and Trust building, inhabited for the last 10 years by the Arts Exchange”™s gallery and offices. Not an angry show as one might expect but a wry look at the misguided financial system and our own gullibility.
As one approaches the building from Martine Avenue one almost thinks the organization has suddenly gone out of business with the window-filling sign in large block letters ”“ “BIG SALE ”“ EVERYTHING MUST GO!” It is merely the reflection of the numerous going-out-business signs seen all around White Plains and many cities and towns nationwide. At last the artists have had their say on the American economy, but it”™s a trick, like holding up a mirror to oneself.
We all bought into the siren song of something for nothing. The most provocative exhibit might well be “Chance City,” a monumental installation comprised of thousands of used lottery tickets and (with no adhesive) somehow constructed into a city-sized house of cards. I saw this installation at the opening reception and then last week. A quarter of the lotto city had self-destructed, perfectly illustrating life. With each lottery ticket worth $5 the installation represents more than $25,000 worth of hopes and dreams.
A pie-chart of how artists survive is instructive, predictably on the edge unless there is a mate with “a real job.” Now comes an eye-opener from a community developer in Brooklyn. When asked about the importance of including live-in studios for artists, he was firm in his sense of the importance of artists in economic development projects. Then he stated, incredibly, that across the country there are not enough artists to populate new development projects or more likely redeveloping downtowns. Imagine that!
Artists as a commodity, an essential ingredient for a successful development ”“ what a concept.
This will no doubt come as a complete surprise to struggling artists and make them wonder why their importance is not reflected in more economic return on their work.
Meanwhile, ArtsWestchester has another way of using the talents of the arts world to improve the lives of the community through cultural projects and institutions. If one checks the towns and villages across Westchester it is pretty clear which ones are successful ”“ those with a strong arts presence.
As the economy continues to stumble along the importance of the arts will become much more critical, as witnessed during the Depression. Hard times offer more room for activities that do not require long drives or expensive resources.
One of the exhibits at the “Bank and Trust Show” looked like the gumball machines in diners, one side with dark blue balls and the other with red balls. One is asked to answer the question “Are times of recession good for art?” ”“ blue balls “yes” and red balls “no.” At the end of the exhibit the results will be revealed.
Janet Langsam, executive director of ArtsWestchester, says, “In a world of changing values, the old Bank and Trust building (now the ArtsWestchester gallery) still serves the community as a place for people of all economic brackets to gather and talk about the things that matter most to them. It is these conversations on issues of value and trust in our society that this exhibition addresses. Arts and business are forever linked by the creativity gene. That gene powers both sectors, art and business.”
Don”™t miss this show!
Surviving the Future explores a wide range of subjects to assist businesses in adapting to a new energy age. Maureen Morgan, a transit advocate, is on the board of Federated Conservationists of Westchester. Reach her at maureenmorgan10@verizon.net.
