Author: Anne L'Ecuyer

Anne is a strategist, facilitator and consultant who stays closely connected to an international network of city leaders, cultural professionals, and individual artists. She is an expert in the creative industries and cultural tourism in the United States, as well as the contributions of the arts toward educational, social, and environmental goals.

Omaha: Interrupting Narratives

Omaha was an immersion in visual and conceptual art. I visited the Hot Shops Art Center, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, KANEKO, Film Streams, and El Museo Latino. Though I had interesting conversations with all involved, I felt strangely disconnected by the time I left. There was an unsettling feeling that an important insight was alluding me.

I called Ree Kaneko from the road, somewhere on Route 80 heading west out of Nebraska. “Artists give people permission to do things differently,” she said. The glowing molten glass, the giant spiral head, and the ex-votos imbued with prayers of safe passage, it all began to make sense.  The social purpose of art delves deep. Art interrupts our regular narratives and causes us to think differently, or at least to be reminded that different thoughts are possible.

Minneapolis: Practical Places

If anything, the Twin Cities are practical. Everywhere I looked, I found examples of sensible people who make things work.  A restaurant stayed open late to feed restaurant workers a meal they’d enjoy.  A bed-and-breakfast created a community by providing international visitors with a few simple rules of engagement. A mind-melding show at the Walker Art Center explained the history of conceptual art in America in perfectly accessible terms.

It’s been a pleasure to remember how good conversations work too, loosening up logic, giving it shape and story. Love, effort, experience, music, heritage—it’s all connected.  Erin McLennon and I had it figured out over two diet cokes and a plate of cajun steak tips with horseradish sauce.

Where is Bronzeville?

Bronzeville is a southside suburb distanced from Chicago’s marbled institutions by both miles and history, but situated immediately adjacent to the Obama’s family home.  I was invited there by a colleague who is renovating a place for his family.

A few important markers and some grand old houses tell you what Bronzeville once was, but there are still questions about what it is becoming.  I’m not sure I know, either.  I’m beginning to enjoy that feeling.