It’s time to take a fresh look at art in Tacoma.

As the economy continues its downward spiral, artists, gallery owners and other institutions dedicated to aesthetic engagement are falling apart. Not just here — everywhere. Well, except for India, for some reason, where art sales are skyrocketing. But here in the United States we’re all feeling the pinch. New York art auction giant Sotheby’s just posted what administrators called sobering sales for the first half of the year. Christie’s, another one that moves millions of dollars worth of art each year, is hurting too. In Tacoma, we’ve lost galleries by the handful. I spoke to a woman at the Freighthouse Square co-op gallery last week who said sales are slim to none — maybe a few postcards. She sounded heartbroken.

Is art dying because no one is buying?

The straight answer is, well, hell no. In fact, as art sales decline and the audience recedes, I find reason for cheer.

Sadistic, no?

No. I find cheer because this breakdown provides us with a rare opportunity — to reconsider the source of art’s value in our lives and in our community.

We have a chance to ask the question: If people aren’t buying, what’s left?

Plenty, Tacoma. Plenty.

Long ago, art historian Meyer Schapiro suggested that there was a vast difference between art’s spiritual value and its commercial value, and he warned strongly against ignoring that difference. These days it seems, in the minds of many artists and the buying public, that there is no difference. The commercial value of art has supplanted the values that once drove artists to create — esthetic, emotion, desire, self-exploration, spiritual need. These days sales and price points seem to determine the value of art more than anything else. Sure, art sales are wonderful — a far more satisfying way to make a living than slinging espresso or crunching numbers for some faceless agency. But there is a point at which we must realize that the absence of sales, the absence of commercial interest doesn’t create the vacuum we think it does. Or if it does, that money isn’t the only thing we can fill it with.

Tacoma prides itself on its growing arts community. We’ve invested millions of dollars in museums and have received plenty of press and recognition for our grand arts institutions. City planners have even gone so far as to dedicate an entire business district to the arts. Much of this is predicated on the assumption that art — and a vibrant arts community — is a tool for driving economic growth. And it is, or will be eventually.
In the meantime, we have a choice — sit and wait for the economy to recover or take this opportunity to rediscover why we make art, where its value truly lies, and what we want to fill this void with.

Starting next week, this column — Slouching Toward Utopia — is going to take a fresh look at art in Tacoma. As the cracks in our economy spread, we’ll provide glimpses of what’s emerging through them — something both valueless and priceless.