0:00:00.253,0:00:02.183 I am a cultural omnivore, 0:00:02.207,0:00:05.825 one whose daily commute is made possible[br]by attachment to an iPod... 0:00:05.867,0:00:08.096 An iPod that contains Wagner and Mozart, 0:00:08.119,0:00:10.136 pop diva Christina Aguilera, 0:00:10.160,0:00:11.776 country singer Josh Turner, 0:00:11.800,0:00:14.235 gangsta rap artist Kirk Franklin, 0:00:14.259,0:00:16.632 concerti, symphonies and more and more. 0:00:16.656,0:00:18.170 I'm a voracious reader, 0:00:18.194,0:00:21.125 a reader who deals with Ian McEwan[br]down to Stephanie Meyer. 0:00:21.149,0:00:24.354 I have read the Twilight tetralogy. 0:00:24.378,0:00:26.201 And one who lives for my home theater, 0:00:26.220,0:00:29.199 a home theater where I devour[br]DVDs, video on demand 0:00:29.223,0:00:30.613 and a lot of television. 0:00:30.637,0:00:34.018 For me, "Law & Order: SVU,"[br]Tina Fey and "30 Rock" 0:00:34.042,0:00:35.614 and "Judge Judy"... 0:00:35.638,0:00:39.035 "The people are real, the cases are real,[br]the rulings are final." 0:00:39.059,0:00:40.071 (Laughter) 0:00:40.095,0:00:43.376 Now, I'm convinced a lot of you[br]probably share my passions, 0:00:43.400,0:00:45.687 especially my passion for "Judge Judy," 0:00:45.711,0:00:49.201 and you'd fight anybody[br]who attempted to take her away from us, 0:00:49.225,0:00:52.965 but I'm a little less convinced that you[br]share the central passion of my life, 0:00:52.989,0:00:55.702 a passion for the live[br]professional performing arts, 0:00:55.726,0:00:58.708 performing arts that represent[br]the orchestral repertoire, yes, 0:00:58.732,0:01:01.376 but jazz as well, modern dance, opera, 0:01:01.400,0:01:03.133 theater and more and more and more. 0:01:03.148,0:01:06.276 Frankly, it's a sector that many of us[br]who work in the field 0:01:06.300,0:01:09.402 worry is being endangered[br]and possibly dismantled by technology. 0:01:09.449,0:01:13.169 While we initially heralded the Internet[br]as the fantastic new marketing device 0:01:13.194,0:01:15.382 that was going to solve all our problems, 0:01:15.406,0:01:17.803 we now realize that the Internet[br]is, if anything, 0:01:17.827,0:01:19.446 too effective in that regard. 0:01:19.470,0:01:21.976 Depending on who you read,[br]an arts organization 0:01:22.000,0:01:24.466 or an artist, who tries[br]to attract the attention 0:01:24.490,0:01:26.711 of a potential single ticket buyer, 0:01:26.735,0:01:31.976 now competes with between three and 5,000[br]different marketing messages 0:01:32.000,0:01:34.097 a typical citizen sees every single day. 0:01:34.160,0:01:35.877 We now know, in fact, 0:01:35.901,0:01:38.668 that technology is our biggest[br]competitor for leisure time. 0:01:38.692,0:01:39.943 Five years ago, 0:01:39.967,0:01:44.190 Gen Xers spent 20.7 hours online and TV,[br]the majority on TV. 0:01:44.200,0:01:46.035 Gen Yers spent even more... 0:01:46.059,0:01:48.621 23.8 hours, the majority online. 0:01:48.626,0:01:53.160 And now, a typical university-entering[br]student arrives at college 0:01:53.185,0:01:57.154 already having spent 20,000 hours online 0:01:57.186,0:02:00.556 and an additional 10,000 hours[br]playing video games... 0:02:00.556,0:02:03.774 A stark reminder that we operate[br]in a cultural context 0:02:03.798,0:02:08.571 where video games now outsell[br]music and movie recordings combined. 0:02:08.604,0:02:10.327 We're afraid that technology 0:02:10.383,0:02:13.423 has altered our very assumptions[br]of cultural consumption. 0:02:13.447,0:02:14.611 Thanks to the Internet, 0:02:14.635,0:02:17.609 we believe we can get anything[br]we want whenever we want it, 0:02:17.634,0:02:19.083 delivered to our own doorstep. 0:02:19.107,0:02:21.719 We can shop at three in the morning[br]or eight at night, 0:02:21.744,0:02:24.677 ordering jeans tailor-made[br]for our unique body types. 0:02:24.701,0:02:27.224 Expectations of personalization[br]and customization 0:02:27.251,0:02:29.100 that the live performing arts... 0:02:29.124,0:02:31.976 Which have set curtain times, set venues, 0:02:32.000,0:02:35.374 attendant inconveniences[br]of travel, parking and the like... 0:02:35.398,0:02:36.656 Simply cannot meet. 0:02:36.681,0:02:38.366 And we're all acutely aware: 0:02:38.390,0:02:40.185 what's it going to mean in the future 0:02:40.209,0:02:42.385 when we ask someone[br]to pay a hundred dollars 0:02:42.409,0:02:44.877 for a symphony, opera or ballet ticket, 0:02:44.901,0:02:48.213 when that cultural consumer[br]is used to downloading on the internet 0:02:48.245,0:02:51.675 24 hours a day[br]for 99 cents a song or for free? 0:02:51.702,0:02:55.741 These are enormous questions[br]for those of us that work in this terrain. 0:02:55.765,0:02:58.876 But as particular as they feel to us,[br]we know we're not alone. 0:02:59.457,0:03:00.831 All of us are engaged 0:03:00.855,0:03:05.519 in a seismic, fundamental realignment[br]of culture and communications, 0:03:05.543,0:03:09.307 a realignment that is shaking[br]and decimating the newspaper industry, 0:03:09.331,0:03:13.361 the magazine industry,[br]the book and publishing industry and more. 0:03:13.810,0:03:17.672 Saddled in the performing arts as we are,[br]by antiquated union agreements 0:03:17.696,0:03:22.684 that inhibit and often prohibit[br]mechanical reproduction and streaming, 0:03:22.708,0:03:26.552 locked into large facilities[br]that were designed to ossify 0:03:26.576,0:03:29.923 the ideal relationship[br]between artist and audience 0:03:29.947,0:03:31.902 most appropriate to the 19th century 0:03:31.955,0:03:35.132 and locked into a business model[br]dependent on high ticket revenues, 0:03:35.157,0:03:36.885 where we charge exorbitant prices. 0:03:36.937,0:03:40.342 Many of us shudder in the wake[br]of the collapse of Tower Records 0:03:40.366,0:03:42.681 and ask ourselves, "Are we next?" 0:03:42.834,0:03:47.036 Everyone I talk to in performing arts[br]resonates to the words of Adrienne Rich, 0:03:47.061,0:03:49.174 who, in "Dreams of a Common[br]Language," wrote, 0:03:49.198,0:03:52.345 "We are out in a country[br]that has no language, no laws. 0:03:52.370,0:03:54.948 Whatever we do together is pure invention. 0:03:54.972,0:03:58.885 The maps they gave us[br]are out of date by years." 0:03:58.904,0:04:00.809 And for those of you who love the arts, 0:04:00.833,0:04:03.676 aren't you glad you invited[br]me here to brighten your day? 0:04:03.700,0:04:05.676 (Laughter) 0:04:05.700,0:04:07.142 (Applause) 0:04:07.166,0:04:10.676 Now, rather than saying that we're[br]on the brink of our own annihilation, 0:04:10.700,0:04:14.014 I prefer to believe that we are engaged[br]in a fundamental reformation, 0:04:14.039,0:04:17.212 a reformation like the religious[br]Reformation of the 16th century. 0:04:17.305,0:04:20.375 The arts reformation,[br]like the religious Reformation, 0:04:20.399,0:04:22.050 is spurred in part by technology, 0:04:22.074,0:04:24.811 with indeed, the printing press[br]really leading the charge 0:04:24.835,0:04:26.662 on the religious Reformation. 0:04:26.686,0:04:29.737 Both reformations were predicated[br]on fractious discussion, 0:04:29.761,0:04:31.170 internal self-doubt 0:04:31.194,0:04:34.235 and massive realignment[br]of antiquated business models. 0:04:34.246,0:04:37.632 And at heart, both reformations, I think,[br]were asking the questions: 0:04:37.656,0:04:39.376 who's entitled to practice? 0:04:39.400,0:04:41.106 How are they entitled to practice? 0:04:41.130,0:04:45.118 And indeed, do we need anyone[br]to intermediate for us 0:04:45.142,0:04:48.224 in order to have an experience[br]with a spiritual divine? 0:04:48.335,0:04:51.037 Chris Anderson,[br]someone I trust you all know, 0:04:51.061,0:04:54.073 editor in chief of Wired magazine[br]and author of The Long Tail, 0:04:54.097,0:04:57.201 really was the first, for me,[br]to nail a lot of this. 0:04:57.225,0:04:58.896 He wrote a long time ago, you know, 0:04:58.920,0:05:02.592 thanks to the invention of the Internet,[br]web technology, minicams and more, 0:05:02.617,0:05:06.024 the means of artistic production[br]have been democratized 0:05:06.048,0:05:08.513 for the first time[br]in all of human history. 0:05:08.523,0:05:10.976 In the 1930s, if any of you wanted[br]to make a movie, 0:05:11.000,0:05:13.276 you had to work for[br]Warner Brothers or RKO, 0:05:13.300,0:05:15.276 because who could afford a movie set 0:05:15.300,0:05:17.396 and lighting equipment[br]and editing equipment 0:05:17.420,0:05:19.203 and scoring, and more? 0:05:19.227,0:05:22.406 And now who in this room[br]doesn't know a 14 year-old 0:05:22.430,0:05:24.961 hard at work on her second,[br]third, or fourth movie? 0:05:24.985,0:05:26.780 (Laughter) 0:05:26.804,0:05:29.888 Similarly, the means[br]of artistic distribution 0:05:29.912,0:05:32.693 have been democratized[br]for the first time in human history. 0:05:32.717,0:05:35.668 Again, in the '30s, Warner Brothers,[br]RKO did that for you. 0:05:35.692,0:05:37.732 Now, go to YouTube, Facebook; 0:05:37.756,0:05:39.680 you have worldwide distribution 0:05:39.704,0:05:42.300 without leaving the privacy[br]of your own bedroom. 0:05:42.354,0:05:44.730 This double impact is occasioning 0:05:44.754,0:05:47.742 a massive redefinition[br]of the cultural market, 0:05:47.766,0:05:50.377 a time when anyone is a potential author. 0:05:50.402,0:05:52.828 Frankly, what we're seeing now[br]in this environment 0:05:52.853,0:05:55.953 is a massive time,[br]when the entire world is changing 0:05:55.977,0:05:59.115 as we move from a time[br]when audience numbers are plummeting. 0:05:59.139,0:06:01.553 But the number of arts participants, 0:06:01.577,0:06:05.390 people who write poetry, who sing songs,[br]who perform in church choirs, 0:06:05.414,0:06:08.583 is exploding beyond[br]our wildest imaginations. 0:06:09.220,0:06:11.713 This group, others have[br]called the pro-ams, 0:06:11.737,0:06:14.634 amateur artists doing work[br]at a professional level. 0:06:14.658,0:06:16.851 You see them on YouTube,[br]in dance competitions, 0:06:16.875,0:06:18.558 film festivals and more. 0:06:18.582,0:06:20.497 They are radically expanding 0:06:20.521,0:06:23.700 our notions of the potential[br]of an aesthetic vocabulary, 0:06:23.724,0:06:25.876 while they are challenging and undermining 0:06:25.900,0:06:28.876 the cultural autonomy[br]of our traditional institutions. 0:06:29.337,0:06:33.177 Ultimately, we now live in a world[br]defined not by consumption, 0:06:33.208,0:06:34.478 but by participation. 0:06:34.897,0:06:36.664 But I want to be clear, 0:06:36.688,0:06:39.468 just as the religious Reformation[br]did not spell the end 0:06:39.492,0:06:41.505 to the formal Church or to the priesthood; 0:06:41.529,0:06:45.713 I believe that our artistic institutions[br]will continue to have importance. 0:06:45.737,0:06:47.915 They currently are the best opportunities 0:06:47.939,0:06:50.215 for artists to have lives[br]of economic dignity... 0:06:50.239,0:06:52.424 Not opulence, of dignity. 0:06:52.448,0:06:54.230 And they are the places where artists 0:06:54.254,0:06:57.074 who deserve and want to work[br]at a certain scale of resources 0:06:57.098,0:06:58.307 will find a home. 0:06:58.336,0:07:02.412 But to view them as synonymous[br]with the entirety of the arts community 0:07:02.436,0:07:04.267 is, by far, too shortsighted. 0:07:04.662,0:07:08.372 And indeed, while we've tended to polarize[br]the amateur from the professional, 0:07:08.396,0:07:12.626 the single most exciting development[br]in the last five to 10 years 0:07:12.650,0:07:16.453 has been the rise[br]of the professional hybrid artist, 0:07:16.477,0:07:18.107 the professional artist who works, 0:07:18.131,0:07:20.852 not primarily in the concert hall[br]or on the stage; 0:07:20.876,0:07:24.176 but most frequently around[br]women's rights, or human rights, 0:07:24.200,0:07:27.097 or on global warming issues[br]or AIDS relief for more... 0:07:27.121,0:07:29.251 Not out of economic necessity, 0:07:29.275,0:07:31.829 but out of a deep, organic conviction 0:07:31.853,0:07:34.345 that the work that she or he[br]is called to do 0:07:34.369,0:07:38.045 cannot be accomplished in the traditional[br]hermetic arts environment. 0:07:38.234,0:07:40.705 Today's dance world is not defined solely 0:07:40.729,0:07:43.918 by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet[br]or the National Ballet of Canada, 0:07:43.942,0:07:46.388 but by Liz Lerman's Dance Exchange... 0:07:46.412,0:07:49.476 A multi-generational,[br]professional dance company, 0:07:49.500,0:07:53.108 whose dancers range in age from 18 to 82, 0:07:53.132,0:07:56.718 and who work with genomic scientists[br]to embody the DNA strand 0:07:56.750,0:07:58.688 and with nuclear physicists at CERN. 0:07:58.878,0:08:01.010 Today's professional theater community 0:08:01.034,0:08:04.299 is defined, not only the Shaw[br]and Stratford Festivals, 0:08:04.323,0:08:06.867 but by the Cornerstone Theater[br]of Los Angeles... 0:08:06.891,0:08:09.676 A collective of artists that after 9/11, 0:08:09.700,0:08:13.187 brought together 10 different[br]religious communities... 0:08:13.211,0:08:14.999 The Baha'i, the Catholic, 0:08:15.023,0:08:16.676 the Muslim, the Jewish, 0:08:16.700,0:08:18.428 even the Native American 0:08:18.452,0:08:20.625 and the gay and lesbian[br]communities of faith, 0:08:20.649,0:08:23.676 helping them create[br]their own individual plays 0:08:23.700,0:08:25.676 and one massive play, 0:08:25.700,0:08:28.330 where they explored[br]the differences in their faith 0:08:28.354,0:08:29.676 and found commonality 0:08:29.700,0:08:33.075 as an important first step[br]toward cross-community healing. 0:08:33.138,0:08:36.650 Today's performers, like Rhodessa Jones,[br]work in women's prisons, 0:08:36.674,0:08:40.186 helping women prisoners[br]articulate the pain of incarceration, 0:08:40.210,0:08:43.107 while today's playwrights[br]and directors work with youth gangs 0:08:43.131,0:08:47.131 to find alternate channels to violence[br]and more and more and more. 0:08:47.358,0:08:49.976 And indeed, I think,[br]rather than being annihilated, 0:08:50.000,0:08:52.478 the performing arts[br]are poised on the brink of a time 0:08:52.502,0:08:55.113 when we will be more important[br]than we have ever been. 0:08:55.541,0:08:57.304 You know, we've said for a long time, 0:08:57.328,0:09:00.668 we are critical to the health[br]of the economic communities in your town. 0:09:00.692,0:09:01.851 And absolutely... 0:09:01.875,0:09:05.838 I hope you know that every dollar spent[br]on a performing arts ticket in a community 0:09:05.862,0:09:08.960 generates five to seven[br]additional dollars for the local economy, 0:09:08.984,0:09:11.002 dollars spent in restaurants[br]or on parking, 0:09:11.026,0:09:13.574 at the fabric stores[br]where we buy fabric for costumes, 0:09:13.598,0:09:16.076 the piano tuner who tunes[br]the instruments, and more. 0:09:16.101,0:09:19.629 But the arts are going to be more[br]important to economies as we go forward, 0:09:19.641,0:09:22.142 especially in industries[br]we can't even imagine yet, 0:09:22.166,0:09:26.102 just as they have been central to the iPod[br]and the computer game industries, 0:09:26.126,0:09:29.959 which few, if any of us,[br]could have foreseen 10 to 15 years ago. 0:09:30.542,0:09:33.305 Moreover, even if you're not[br]in the arts industry per se, 0:09:33.330,0:09:37.652 Business leadership will depend[br]more and more on emotional intelligence, 0:09:37.676,0:09:39.641 the ability to listen deeply, 0:09:39.665,0:09:41.148 to have empathy, 0:09:41.172,0:09:43.884 to articulate change,[br]to motivate others... 0:09:43.908,0:09:47.728 The very capacities that the arts[br]cultivate with every encounter. 0:09:47.776,0:09:50.021 And last week, both Yale and Harvard 0:09:50.046,0:09:54.379 announced massive curriculum restructuring[br]in their MBA programs 0:09:54.410,0:09:59.053 to, in the future, emphasize critical[br]and creative thinking. 0:09:59.732,0:10:02.775 As we move forward, the arts[br]are going to be even more important 0:10:02.800,0:10:03.831 to education. 0:10:03.871,0:10:07.378 Now again, arts activists - we can recite[br]these statistics out the wazoo - 0:10:07.403,0:10:10.712 It's surely Bryce Heave,[br]a great demographer at Stanford University 0:10:10.752,0:10:14.870 found that in working with innercity kids[br]in east Palo Alto, California, 0:10:14.895,0:10:17.331 and comparing the arts kids[br]to the athletes, 0:10:17.354,0:10:19.870 and the after school religious groups[br]and all others, 0:10:19.895,0:10:22.855 it was the arts kids who blew[br]everybody else out of the water. 0:10:22.886,0:10:25.433 It was the arts kids who became[br]four times more likely 0:10:25.458,0:10:29.347 to run for calss office,[br]to participate in math and science fairs 0:10:29.372,0:10:33.180 the arts kids who showed major reductions[br]in disciplinary infractions 0:10:33.212,0:10:37.728 the arts kids who were exponentially[br]more likely to graduate from high school, 0:10:37.745,0:10:39.624 than their non-arts coleagues. 0:10:39.649,0:10:41.347 And what we've heard today already 0:10:41.387,0:10:43.835 about science and engineering[br]and technology, 0:10:43.859,0:10:46.192 as we move into educational reform, 0:10:46.208,0:10:48.208 emphasis on those things alone 0:10:48.233,0:10:52.057 cannot promote the integrated[br]left brain-right brain thinking 0:10:52.082,0:10:53.359 that a creative age - 0:10:53.562,0:10:57.839 a creative age that demands[br]our ability to think and behave creatively 0:10:57.878,0:10:59.123 will demand. 0:10:59.548,0:11:01.101 Especially now, 0:11:01.130,0:11:03.847 as we move forward into an increasingly[br]diverse world 0:11:03.889,0:11:06.164 driven by plurality[br]rather than by majority. 0:11:06.189,0:11:09.132 The arts will be[br]increasingly critical to us. 0:11:09.649,0:11:12.049 As Francois Massaro has pointed out, 0:11:12.708,0:11:16.577 the arts allow people with non-majority[br]values, lives and beliefs 0:11:17.176,0:11:21.576 to present themselves as the subjects[br]of their own characterizations, 0:11:21.601,0:11:25.640 rather than to be reduced as the objects[br]of the characterizations of others. 0:11:26.474,0:11:30.007 How ofthen has our understanding[br]of the incarserated 0:11:30.053,0:11:31.520 and criminal injustice 0:11:31.561,0:11:33.585 been expanded by the exhonorated? 0:11:33.633,0:11:37.347 A play that's derived from transcripts[br]from prisoners on death row. 0:11:37.363,0:11:40.236 How has our understanding[br]of the emerging power of women 0:11:40.292,0:11:42.958 been amplified by the Vagina Monologues? 0:11:43.124,0:11:45.844 Or by the HIV positive[br]in the gay and lesbian communities 0:11:45.869,0:11:48.609 by plays like "The Normal Hearth"[br]with the Laramie Project 0:11:48.649,0:11:50.664 or films like "Philadelphia"? 0:11:50.784,0:11:53.184 Even before Charles Dickens' writing 0:11:53.236,0:11:56.169 spurred massive change[br]in child labor laws, 0:11:56.212,0:11:58.490 and Harriet Beecher Stowe's[br]"Uncle Tom's Cabin" 0:11:58.514,0:12:00.363 galvanized the abolitionist movement, 0:12:00.403,0:12:04.164 we know first-hand the power of the arts 0:12:04.209,0:12:08.037 to promote understanding of the other[br]and to be spursed to social action. 0:12:08.695,0:12:10.394 Those of us old enough to remember, 0:12:10.434,0:12:13.283 know that we started every anti-war rally[br]in the Vietnam war 0:12:13.323,0:12:14.910 by singing "Blowing in the Wind." 0:12:14.934,0:12:17.672 And every civil rights demonstration[br]in the 60s by singing 0:12:17.678,0:12:19.011 "We shall overcome." 0:12:19.036,0:12:22.434 And we cannot be surprised[br]by the power of singing and music 0:12:22.459,0:12:26.370 and of singing together,[br]making art together, 0:12:26.824,0:12:31.045 to bind the community of disparate[br]citizens apt for social change. 0:12:31.634,0:12:35.767 Times are historically hard right now[br]in the performing arts. 0:12:36.569,0:12:39.502 But I'm deeply optimistic[br]about the future. 0:12:40.181,0:12:44.181 In part because of gatherings[br]like the one we are at today. 0:12:44.228,0:12:46.517 As someone who grew up,[br]and whose first computer 0:12:46.549,0:12:49.596 occupied the entire floor[br]of a basement room with punch cards, 0:12:49.604,0:12:50.929 (Laughter) 0:12:50.954,0:12:54.786 and who for many years still thought[br]my PC was a typewriter with a screen, 0:12:55.738,0:12:58.704 I several years ago decided to plunge[br]into the belly of a beast 0:12:58.728,0:13:00.839 and attended my first[br]high-tech conference, 0:13:00.864,0:13:02.997 a conference callen Poptech[br]in Camden, Maine. 0:13:03.006,0:13:04.873 Contrary to my expectations, 0:13:04.903,0:13:07.497 this was not a conference about[br]start-ups and financing 0:13:07.530,0:13:08.622 and computer behavior. 0:13:08.655,0:13:10.360 This was, and is - like this one - 0:13:10.377,0:13:13.643 a conference about[br]how we will change the world. 0:13:13.964,0:13:16.140 How we will conquer AIDS. 0:13:16.953,0:13:19.410 How we will conquer global warming. 0:13:19.873,0:13:23.267 How we will leave the world[br]a more ecologically balanced, 0:13:23.292,0:13:26.045 less poverty ridden place[br]than the one we inherited. 0:13:26.529,0:13:28.569 Indeed, I think[br]the unspoken assumption is, 0:13:28.594,0:13:30.927 there is nothing we cannot achieve. 0:13:30.952,0:13:33.878 And in a world of high tech,[br]truly anything is possible. 0:13:34.887,0:13:37.221 Now, you might call this arrogance, 0:13:37.511,0:13:39.386 you might call it the folley of youth - 0:13:39.427,0:13:42.493 and a lot of these people[br]were really young - 0:13:43.212,0:13:44.910 but I think what became clear to me 0:13:44.958,0:13:46.990 was in the world[br]of infinite possibilities, 0:13:47.021,0:13:49.370 there's infinite new value in the arts. 0:13:49.506,0:13:52.045 I was cheered at this conference[br]on several levels. 0:13:52.077,0:13:54.061 I was cheered the artists were embraced - 0:13:54.109,0:13:57.053 artists appeared in many clusters[br]like the one we hhad today, 0:13:57.077,0:13:59.243 a live performing artist[br]concluded or followed 0:13:59.268,0:14:01.410 every one of the clusters[br]throughout the day. 0:14:01.450,0:14:02.847 I remember Vanessa German - 0:14:02.879,0:14:05.418 an African-American[br]young spoken word poet 0:14:05.451,0:14:09.807 who blew the roof off with her raw[br]evocation of power and feeling. 0:14:09.920,0:14:12.767 I remember a hip-hop dancer[br]who dances on crutches, 0:14:12.839,0:14:14.299 shattering our preconceptions 0:14:14.356,0:14:17.061 about what phisical limitation[br]and expressivity can mean. 0:14:17.093,0:14:20.664 And I especially remember a choir[br]of HIV positive Africans 0:14:20.712,0:14:22.013 from the African continent, 0:14:22.062,0:14:25.339 whose very singing embodied[br]in ways words cannot 0:14:25.387,0:14:28.831 the [unclear] between[br]social ostracization and disease. 0:14:29.247,0:14:31.331 You know, I was encouraged even more 0:14:31.387,0:14:33.787 that this group fought to get there. 0:14:33.831,0:14:37.005 Camden, Maine, if you've never been[br]is not an easy place to get to. 0:14:37.053,0:14:39.331 You fly to one airport,[br]then you fly to Boston, 0:14:39.379,0:14:41.751 then to Portland,[br]and then you drive 90 more miles 0:14:41.776,0:14:44.505 but still, people fought[br]for those 500 seats. 0:14:44.530,0:14:46.878 Even though this community[br]can convene virtually, 0:14:46.911,0:14:48.311 if any community can, 0:14:48.339,0:14:51.997 they fought to get there because they know[br]first-hand in the bodies 0:14:52.022,0:14:55.061 the power of live[br]face-to-face interaction. 0:14:55.086,0:14:58.259 Of conspiring - in its Latin sense,[br]which I love - 0:14:58.291,0:15:02.021 to conspire literally means[br]to breathe together. 0:15:02.479,0:15:03.894 Which I love. 0:15:04.744,0:15:07.410 And throughout the conference,[br]I heard this hunger. 0:15:07.538,0:15:09.482 Hunger in the background. 0:15:10.366,0:15:12.899 This group was desperate to slow down, 0:15:13.079,0:15:14.546 to connect to passions 0:15:15.386,0:15:19.926 to connect to experiences that would[br]provide contemplation, captivation, 0:15:19.957,0:15:22.371 that would provoke intelectually, 0:15:22.561,0:15:25.704 delight emotionally,[br]resonate spiritually - 0:15:25.760,0:15:29.427 the very things that the arts[br]always are called to do. 0:15:30.390,0:15:32.267 Especially now, 0:15:32.523,0:15:37.053 as we all must confront[br]the fallacy of a market-only orientation, 0:15:37.077,0:15:39.424 uninformed by social conscience; 0:15:39.448,0:15:42.253 we must seize and celebrate[br]the power of the arts 0:15:42.277,0:15:44.837 to shape our individual[br]and national characters, 0:15:44.861,0:15:47.928 and especially characters[br]of the young people, 0:15:47.952,0:15:50.976 who all too often are subjected[br]to bombardment of sensation, 0:15:51.000,0:15:53.000 rather than digested experience. 0:15:53.046,0:15:56.038 Ultimately, especially now in this world, 0:15:56.062,0:16:00.683 where we live in a context of regressive[br]and onerous immigration laws, 0:16:00.707,0:16:04.046 in reality TV that thrives on humiliation, 0:16:04.070,0:16:05.776 and in a context of analysis, 0:16:05.800,0:16:10.478 where the thing we hear most repeatedly,[br]day in, day out in the United States, 0:16:10.502,0:16:13.607 in every train station, every bus station,[br]every plane station is, 0:16:13.631,0:16:14.894 "Ladies and gentlemen, 0:16:14.918,0:16:18.948 please report any suspicious behavior[br]or suspicious individuals 0:16:18.972,0:16:20.934 to the authorities nearest to you," 0:16:20.958,0:16:22.896 when all of these ways we are encouraged 0:16:22.920,0:16:25.968 to view our fellow human being[br]with hostility and fear 0:16:25.992,0:16:27.333 and contempt and suspicion. 0:16:27.358,0:16:30.159 The arts, whatever they do,[br]whenever they call us together, 0:16:30.183,0:16:34.825 invite us to look at our fellow[br]human being with generosity and curiosity. 0:16:35.110,0:16:39.321 God knows, if we ever needed[br]that capacity in human history, 0:16:39.345,0:16:41.363 we need it now. 0:16:41.814,0:16:43.676 You know, we're bound together, 0:16:43.700,0:16:47.127 not, I think by technology,[br]entertainment and design, 0:16:47.151,0:16:48.390 but by common cause. 0:16:49.221,0:16:52.504 We work to promote[br]healthy vibrant societies, 0:16:52.528,0:16:54.969 to ameliorate human suffering, 0:16:54.993,0:16:59.597 to promote a more thoughtful,[br]substantive, empathic world order. 0:17:00.471,0:17:03.051 I salute all of you[br]as activists in that quest 0:17:03.075,0:17:06.242 and urge you to embrace[br]and hold dear the arts in your work, 0:17:06.267,0:17:08.017 whatever your purpose may be. 0:17:08.046,0:17:10.964 I promise you the hand[br]of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation 0:17:10.989,0:17:13.688 is stretched out in friendship[br]for now and years to come. 0:17:13.712,0:17:16.098 And I thank you for your kindness[br]and your patience 0:17:16.122,0:17:17.780 in listening to me this afternoon. 0:17:17.804,0:17:19.044 Thank you, and Godspeed.