Category Archives: Culture and democracy

The Field of Cultural Production – Pacoima

Posted on September 3, 2017 by lindaessig

I recently re-read Pierre Bourdieu’s influential essay “The Field of Cultural Production.” Just before, I had spent 36 hours in Pacoima (a northeast LA neighborhood) consulting on an arts incubator project there. The latter helped me to understand – and … Continue reading →

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The Morning after Charlottesville

Posted on August 13, 2017 by lindaessig

The morning after Charlottesville I woke up thinking about my father. He endured an anti-Semitic beating during basic training at Fort Dix before shipping out to Europe to fight the Nazi expansion into Brussels and France. Wounded twice, he came … Continue reading →

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A Humane Framework for Assessment

Posted on July 24, 2017 by lindaessig

NOTE: This post was written for Animating Democracy’s Excellence and Equity in Arts for Change Blog Salon July 24-28, 2017. You can also find it there. I was honored that Animating Democracy chose to debut the new Aesthetic Perspectives: Attributes of Excellence in … Continue reading →

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A Short Story of Cultural Bifurcation

Posted on July 18, 2017 by lindaessig

I include this short story of cultural bifurcation in one of the essays in An Ouroboros: Art, Money, and Entrepreneurial Action. In 2014, I traveled to a small rural town in western Washington State to observe an arts incubator that had been … Continue reading →

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One Paragraph at a Time

Posted on July 13, 2017 by lindaessig

Progress on An Ouroboros: Art, Money, and Entrepreneurial Action is slow, but steady, one paragraph at a time. Here’s one from yesterday: In my work as a scholar of arts entrepreneurship, I walk a fine line between critiquing the neoliberal economic … Continue reading →

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Framing Connections: Arts Entrepreneurship, Critical Response Process, and Creative Placemaking

Posted on June 21, 2017 by lindaessig

As convener/host of the Fifth Biennial Pave Symposium on Entrepreneurship and the Arts: Arts Entrepreneurship In, With, and For Communities, I used my opening remarks to draw connections between arts entrepreneurship, Critical Response Process, and creative placemaking, all of which … Continue reading →

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Polanyi and Wallace and Soup, Oh My!

Posted on June 11, 2017 by lindaessig

[Tracking some recent reading] One of the greatest gifts I received from my education in policy studies is the understanding that every issue has more than one side and that it is possible, and sometimes necessary, to hold different perspectives … Continue reading →

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Oh, the Irony

Posted on May 19, 2017 by lindaessig

I’ve immersed myself lately in reading about the decline or end of capitalism as background for the first essay in An Ouroboros: Art, Money, and Entrepreneurial Action. Last night, it was with some excitement that I had an opportunity to … Continue reading →

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An NEA Story: #SaveTheNEA

Posted on March 16, 2017 by lindaessig

One of the most impactful projects I have every worked on would not have been possible without a modest $32,000 investment from the National Endowment for the Arts*.  The project embedded nationally renowned visiting artists and ASU Herberger Institute faculty … Continue reading →

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Outrage is Easy; Strategy is Hard

Posted on March 6, 2017 by lindaessig

“Outrage is easy; strategy is hard. Outrage provides necessary motivation. But only strategy can deliver victory,” writes Tony Blair in a recent Op-Ed in the New York Times. I wasn’t a particular fan of Blair when he was Prime Minister … Continue reading →

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