Any competent musician will attest to the importance of playing in tune and in time.Harmonies get muddled when instruments are out of tune with one another; music loses energy when players aren't rhythmically synchronized.
Stretching that fact to metaphor, it could be said that Missoula's visual and performing arts community tends to play like a band of deaf virtuosos. Despite the fact that this town can boast of nationally recognized theater and dance troupes, a regional gem of an art museum, multiple nationally respected arts and film festivals, one of the few symphony orchestras in America that is making money and building attendance, a dizzying number of celebrated novelists, some of the most important visual artists in the West, a thriving gallery scene, and more than a few musicians who are better-known outside of Montana than here at home, Missoula still isn't widely known for what it has to offer, culture-wise, outside of the immediate region.
Last week, a group of about 50 local artists, arts leaders, and tourism advocates gathered at the Missoula Art Museum to discuss this issue - which most in attendance blamed on a combination of poor communication between arts organizations, and a lack of a coherent marketing message.
Laura Millin, executive director of the MAM, summed up the goal of the meeting: “It feels like it's time for us to figure out ways to promote ourselves as a whole.”
Whether or not you buy the idea of Missoula as an arts mecca worth telling the world about, it's easy to find far more egregious examples of errant civic self-proclamation.
North Carolina still clings to the lie that it was “First in Flight.” Utah wants us to know that it is the place “Where Ideas Connect.” (Can “polygamists” be considered “ideas?”)
Anchorage, Alaska - where the sun hardly rises in the winter - assures us it is the “City of Lights.” Ada, Ohio, claims to be “The Football Capital of the World.”
And the residents of Audrain County, Mo., think we'll fall for their claim to being “The Firebrick Capital of the World.”
On second thought, maybe we'll let them have that one.
Our own state boasts a real zinger. The Helena Chamber of Commerce boasts on its Web site that, “We are proud to be called the ‘best small art town in America!' ” But look around and you'll find dozens of communities, from Eureka, Calif., to Northampton, Mass., that claim the exact same sobriquet.
Seems the only folks giving Helena that honor are ... well, folks from Helena. And Qwest, which paid for a bunch of banners to promote the claim.
“You can self-proclaim whatever you want,” said Arni Fishbaugh, head of the Montana Arts Council, at the meeting last week.
Truth is, much of our modern reality started out as effective marketing. Many artists are loath to acknowledge the crass reality, but financial success and scholarly recognition in art is as much or more about pushing yourself as about simply producing great art.
That's certainly true when it comes to drawing tourists who come for the arts. While Missoula gets its share of tourists thanks to our glorious natural surroundings, tourism proponents feel we're missing out on some great potential with our local arts community.
Pointing to studies that claim so-called “cultural tourists” spend far more time and money in Montana than other types of vacationers, Barb Neilan, executive director of the Missoula Convention and Visitors Bureau, said last week that Missoula's arts community is “missing a lot of opportunity” - opportunity that could benefit not just artists and galleries, but the greater Missoula economy.
Fishbaugh, meantime, mentioned that 53 percent of arts attendees and patrons get their arts info from the local newspaper.
Hmmm. More arts tourists. More readers. ... This is starting to sound like good business for me, as well.
Suddenly, I'm liking the sound of “Missoula: Art City, USA.”
Or, at the very least: “Missoula - More Art Than Helena.”
There's a tune we can all sing proudly.
MCLEAN HATCHES
Attendees at last October's HATCHfest may have noticed a pretty sweet tour bus buzzing around town. Painted from stem to stern with references to Gibson guitars, and outfitted with a mini-recording studio, a big-screen TV, a huge rack of acoustic guitars, and every other toy that a musician could possibly want, the bus looked like the kind of rad rig that might serve as portable home to the rockin' famous.
In fact, it carried a soft-spoken Christian singer-songwriter from Spokane, a guy previously only recognizable to coffeehouse denizens of a few towns scattered across the inland northwest.
His name is Marshall McLean. If you've heard of him, it may be from his past gigs at Liquid Planet (where he returns this Friday) and Break Espresso. Now, you can call him something different: the Gibson New Musician of the Year.
McLean was actually nominated for the honor by Liquid Planet owner Scott Billadeau. Earlier this fall, McLean learned he'd won the competition. Gibson - which builds its acoustic guitars in Bozeman - sent the tour bus to pick up McLean in Spokane and bring him to HATCHfest, where he was feted at a ceremony at the Ellen Theater. J.D. Souther, the songwriter who penned “Victim of Love” and “New Kid in Town,” presented McLean with a brand new Gibson Songwriter Deluxe Cutaway acoustic guitar.
Ironically, McLean has long been a Taylor man. But, he says diplomatically, “they're both great guitars. I play the Gibson a lot now.”
Given the award, you might expect McLean to be some kind of fingerpicking dazzler. In fact, his music tends more toward plaintive folk-pop, in the vein of Jack Johnson or Tom Catmull. He clearly knows his way around a guitar; but he doesn't let that get in the way of a sweet song.
McLean will perform at Liquid Planet this Friday at 7 p.m. The show is free, with donations accepted.
Reach Joe Nickell at 523-5358 or at jnickell@missoulian.com.
