Researchers have confirmed that yet another piece of common observation is really so. Country folk sing and dance together more than city folk. And along with this revelation, comes another reminder of the definitional hoops we are constantly being expected to jump through. This time, it’s the faintly dismissive phrase ‘informal arts’, which, in the [...]

The March 3 edition of Arts Watch pointed me to the recent discovery by the LA Times that making music has more profound effects than listening to it. Given that we know that babies aren’t made by watching blue movies, it is perhaps surprising that this revelation is deemed newsworthy. I guess the not inconsiderable [...]

Bill Ivey, U.S. author and advocate for matters creative has been struggling for years to make a new language for arts policy. Douglas McLennan, the editor of Arts Journal, recently hosted a week-long conversation dissecting Ivey’s concept, Expressive Life. Douglas begins by asking, ‘are the terms “Art” and “Culture” tough enough to frame a public [...]

ccdnsw shut up shop last week after failing to renegotiate continued financial support from the NSW state government. In justifying the decision, NSW Arts Minister Virginia Judge, is quoted in the Sun-Herald as saying:  ‘ccdnsw is an advisory body.  It does not create or program any arts events.  [That is, it doesn’t offer me enough [...]