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Grumpy Old Men Desk: John McCain Expresses Distaste For Pig Iron Theatre Co. And Spiral Q Puppet Theater

john_mccain_2.4.08You knew it was only a matter of time before GOP drones went after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, using a fine-toothed comb to pick apart any grants funding arts projects that do not involve “Let The Eagles Soar.” And now look: It’s already happened! In a report issued last week, Senators John McCain (pictured, you may remember him from such films as Yes, This Really Is My Vice-Presidential Running Mate) and Tom Coburn blasted arts-related stimulus funding as wasteful spending (how very 1980s!), taking issue with the grants received by Philly’s own Pig Iron Theatre Co., Spiral Q Puppet Theater and 98 others nationwide. On Friday, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance Chief Operating Officer Tom Kaiden went on Fox And Friends to defend the grants and show that he has a lot of patience: “The arts are about jobs, with over 2.6 million people working in nonprofit arts positions across the country, and another 3.1 million people working in jobs supported by the industry,” he said. “More importantly, the creative economy is a key competitive advantage for America globally, and critical for our economic recovery. To say that these grants are frivolous is simply not true. These grants supported hard-working professionals with families – citizens who pay grocery bills, mortgages, and taxes.” In other words, suck it, Grandpa: Theater nerds are Joe The Plumber, too.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 5:38 pm.

  • jburnside

    Taxes should NEVER support art of any kind. The reason so many art endevours are ‘NON PROFIT” is because they lack a key ingredient,talent.

    Government support of “art” encourages politically oriented left wing slime to create art that pleases their masters.

    Marx had it right when he called the press and art communities “useful idiots”

  • amc4232

    It’s easy to forget that there are certain things about McCain that are respectable, but his neverending beef with “pork” always gets to me. He’s smart enough to know that most of it is legitimate government spending, but he ignores that fact for political points. Remember in his campaign his big line about wasteful spending and he would cite some grant that went to study grizzly DNA in Montana (his laugh line was about it being a paternity issue). I refuse to believe that John McCain doesn’t understand that those studies are a key component of the Endangered Species Act which the government is required under law to carry out. Yet he attacks it anyway. Give it a rest, dude.

  • friendlynerd

    McCain lost all respect from me when he picked his unqualified, un-vetted running mate. Someone who would unleash her on the country clearly has no capacity left for rational decisions or commentary.

  • timeandmoney

    @jburnside it’s “postmodern.” really.

  • siztr

    Riiiight, jburnside…..only the left produces propoganda. Does the name Leni Reifenstahl mean anything to you?

    The point is the focus on the creative economy, and that focus should start in grade school in order for our city/country to remain competitive in this new economy, which is not in manufacturing. It’s in creative ideas, inventions, etc. Nothing prepares future invention like the arts. Fact. (I’ll leave you to look it up)

  • OhNoNotAgain

    y’know, as crazy as the GOP has been recently it’s kind of refreshing to hear them going back to the old tried and true “slobs vs snobs” stuff. Of course, at this point nobody is really paying attention to anything McCain says.

    And siztr, you make good points and everything, but maybe don’t bring up leni reifenstahl before arguing in defense of government support of the arts. There’s plenty of fine, made-in-america right wing propaganda to choose from without evoking godwin’s law.

  • siztr

    sorry it’s just the first one I thought of! :)

    I think arts should be used very carefully by the government for its own purposes (forest fires, lottery, legislation). Those can be dangerous waters!

    Let the arts organizations decide what to produce is the bottom line.

  • peterc

    This is what the McCain/Coburn report says Pig Iron is doing with their 25K…and I quote…”the funding will support a new associate artistic director as well as the costs of seven actors for its latest production of “Welcome to Yuba City.” The show gives the audience the chance to see “cowboys perform a clown ballet on asphalt” and “a stunningly mean group of foulmouthed waitresses.” … endquote. Which sounds like THEY’RE HIRING EIGHT PEOPLE. Which is pretty OK regardless of how you feel about the content of their Fringe Festival hit.

  • Black (jack) Taco the Eviscerator!

    The point is the focus on the creative economy, and that focus should start in grade school in order for our city/country to remain competitive in this new economy, which is not in manufacturing. It’s in creative ideas, inventions, etc. Nothing prepares future invention like the arts. Fact. (I’ll leave you to look it up)

    Theory. I really wish artists would quit rallying around the creative economy argument as if they are the end all and be all of the creative economy as its discussed by economists. “Artists” are actually very much on the bottom or margins of creative economy schemes outside the “big culture industry” (Hollywood, large ad agencies) against which most “artists” conceive themselves an alternative.

    The “knowledge workers” (biochemists, engineers, developers)I know and like, particularly the numerically/mathematically talented ones, often have an interest in the arts of some sort and are generally patrons/supporters of arts. But none of them would consider arts funding as a foremost priority in economic development; and most people realize the ecomonic data produced by various creative arts coalitions making “bottom line” arguments to justify their continued municipal or state support are actually very generous speculative estimates.

    Bottom line for this thread, if you’re going to draw a line of monetary support from a politicized process, you’re subject to McCain, jburnside, or anyone else with an ideological ax the grind. Admittedly, such support is often necessary to draw the notice of larger philanthropic funding, but I thought art was about engaging or affecting public discourse.

  • bmurray

    “I thought art was about engaging or affecting public discourse.”

    That’s not art, that’s activism.

  • Black (jack) Taco the Eviscerator!

    So, we’re using tax money to support inert productions? Awesome.

  • johnpigiron

    To make one point clear: no one’s talking about “arts funding as a foremost priority in economic development”; 2 cents out of every $100 in the stimulus package was spent on the arts, so obviously questions of public infrastructure, social welfare, and education, etc., were much more central in the stimulus plan.

    Nevertheless, the grant allowed us to employ eight artists (one full-time, seven contracted), who created a show that got over 3,000 people up to 5th and Fairmount to eat, drink, shop, take cabs, create more foot traffic, and see a pretty awesome show (with cowboys and aliens and suchlike.) The ticket sales also helped support another nonprofit, the amazing and uber-competent Philadelphia Live Arts Festival. And believe me, in terms of expenses, we made those federal dollars stretch as far as they could possibly go.

    So – you can assess whether or not that’s a fair return on a government investment. Leaving aside the philosophical questions about gov’t support for the arts – which, really, has almost NEVER been a limiting factor in terms of what to produce – I think it’s a pretty good deal.

  • Black (jack) Taco the Eviscerator!

    Piggy, basic reading comprehension makes it pretty clear my remarks were addressed specifically at siztr specious claims about the creative economy. Bringing 3,000 people to Northern Liberties over the stretch of a week is all well and good. Plenty of for profit institutions bring in a lot more than that year round. Stick to putting on good shows and be thankful for the press you get when McCain calls you out.

  • http://zoestrauss.blogspot.com zoestrauss

    Oh, fuck you McCain. Here’s to Spiral Q and Pig Iron for their hard work and success at being singled out! And here’s to Karen Finley, Tim Miller, John Fleck, and Holly Hughes!

    Jesus H. Christ… I thought Jesse Helms was dead!

  • http://zoestrauss.blogspot.com zoestrauss

    And burning in hell.