2011: A Creative Odyssey

2011 – a glorious new year to embark on a mission! The holidays naturally invite us to contemplate “New Year’s resolutions.” And yes, I have a resolution too: I want to put DC’s cultural identity on the map.

As WALA’s president, I spend a great deal of time envisioning our organization's role in D.C.’s cultural landscape. This week, my contemplation happily coincided with a segment on the Kojo Nnamdi Show, The D.C. Area’s Unique (?) Cultural Identity. Amid familiar commentary that DC is a “government town” with a “small town” cultural landscape, Kojo’s guests also made approving nods to what our city has become. We have art, theater, music, film, fashion, and museums (and I am not only talking about the megalith complex we call “America’s Treasure Chest”). We even have food. So it would seem that despite the omnipotent presence of agencies, contractors and other going concerns that drive our nation’s government, we have evolved into a city with cultural distinction.

Still, as guests on Kojo’s show quickly noted, we are not New York. Regrettably, the comparison is unsurprising. Detractors of DC’s cultural scene commonly cast a shadow over our community’s accomplishments, either by drawing comparisons to other cities or by distinguishing DC’s (lack of) attributes (a “small transitory government town”) to justify why culture will never take root.

If our community is to distinguish itself for the cultural attributes that it has -- and not the ones it is lacking -- we must invest in our creative community. Cultural identity is built on community. Community develops a cultural identity through space - places where people come together to exchange ideas – and relationships formed by common experiences. How a community celebrates, how it mourns and simply how it goes about daily routines all define a common cultural identity. The narrators of that cultural identity are a community’s creatives: its artists, storytellers, musicians, designers curators and, yes, culinary masters. Our creatives shape and define our collective identity.

In the coming year, WALA will do its part to invest in our creative community and put DC’s cultural identity on the map. WALA will develop two white papers on legal issues in the creative economy. It will be stepping up efforts to educate and train economically challenged and emerging artists on legal aspects of creative entrepreneurship. It will build upon efforts to raise awareness of legal and regulatory challenges that hinder the development of a vibrant and sustainable creative economy. Finally, it will continue to serve the hundreds of artists and arts organizations in our community that seek legal advice. I invite you to roll up your sleeves and join us. Together, we can put to rest once and for all the question of whether a distinct cultural landscape exists in the District of Columbia, our nation’s (cultural) capital.