PRAGMATIC: On "On 'Excellence'"
Scott Walters has a great post up about the NEA's focus on "excellence" and how it perpetuates certain biases in the granting process:When I consulted the NEA as to why my own "Our Town" grant was not funded, the notes from the review committee focused on excellence: WHO is going to be providing the art, and what are their credentials? Notice that my proposal was for a participatory arts program, and so the artists w…