Art, Culture and Enterprise (Routledge Revivals) : The Politics of Art and the Cultural Industries

In recent years, the arts world has sought to defend its corner in terms that tend to be untenable, while free marketeers have argued with increasing confidence that support for art and culture is best left to the market place. Justin Lewis suggests that the questions we should address is rather what of cultural value is the free market unable to provide? In so doing he confronts the issue of cultural and artistic values head on, and attempts to rescue cultural values from definitions that are elitist, unjust, and increasingly irrelevant. His assessment includes popular commercial art forms as well as more fine arts and also appraises the community arts and cultural industries approaches to arts funding. He draws examples from specific venues all over Britain, showing how innovative projects work in practice. First published in 1990, this investigative overview of the politics of arts' and cultural funding examines the question of public support for the arts. Looking at both popular commercial forms of culture, including radio, pop music and cinema, and the more traditional highbrow arts such as drama and opera, Art, Culture and Enterprise was the first book of its kind to deal systematically with the politics of contemporary culture. Drawing examples from specific British venues, Justin Lewis shows how innovative projects work in practice, and considers arts marketing and the promotion of culture as an economic strategy. A particularly relevant title in the context of the debate surrounding Arts Council funding, this reissue will prove valuable for artists, administrators and students of media and cultural studies, alongside those with a general interest in the future of public art and culture. But What Does It Mean? -- Public Arts Funding-who Benefits? -- Reaching The Parts Other Arts Don't... -- Commercial Culture -- From Mass Production To Popular Production -- Money Money Money -- Changing The System. Justin Lewis. A Comedia Book. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 159-161) And Index. Content: 1. But what does it mean? -- 2. Public arts funding : who benefits? -- 3. Reaching the parts other arts don't ... -- 4. Commercial culture -- 5. The subsidized culture -- 6. From mass production to popular production -- 7. Money money money -- 8. Changing the system. A discussion about the relationship between culture and the free market which attempts to define cultural values in concise terms. This assessment includes commercial art and fine art and appraises community arts, arts funding and how these projects work in practice.