I thought it was silly at the time. Turn a factory town into an outsized Nashvile, Indiana sounds silly right there. The silliness was more than that.
Another part of the silliness goes a lot further than Anderson and extends throughout our politics today. Come up with a slogan and sell that slogan to us citizens. Whether it be "Shock and Awe" or "We'll stand down when the Iraqis stand up" or "Major Moves". There is no more content to these slogans than there is to most advertising slogans. I find this more than annoying. Do politicians really think that we citizens cannot think, are unable to understand the nuances of public policy? Hey, they are playing with our tax dollars so maybe they ought to take the time to explain what they are trying to do and why.
The last bit of silliness about the plan was it showed no understanding of Florence. Renaissance Florence was a working town. A center of banking and trade during the 14th-16th centuries. Da Vinci and the other famous artists existed because there was money there. The money did not come to Florence because of the artists.
So why even talk about such a silly plan? Because the plan had some good ideas under all the silliness.
So let's talk about some of these good things.
First, people are more than units pouring in and out of a factory where they work and then go home to sleep to do the same thing the next day. Art does go to that creative spark that lies within all of us. Promoting that spark is a Good Thing
Second, changing the perception of Anderson as being more than a rundown factory town affects all of us for the better. I remember the doom and gloom of the early Eighties all too well. Maybe, just maybe, we need something to be proud about here other than the size of the paychecks from GM?
However, I think moving from these ideas to the old Florentine Concept something got lost. No one traveled to Renaissance Florence just to see the art. Neither was art the principal the economic engine of Renaissance Florence. So making the Florentine Concept the centerpiece of economic development enters its silliness phase by not recognizing the differences and needs of Anderson from Renaissance Florence.
First, the arts are never going to be sufficient in and of themselves to be an economic engine for Anderson but they could be an important part of economic development. Think about Anderson as a product. Now, think about all that you think of that product which would make someone want to live here and/or open their business here. Some people want more than cheap housing and fast food restaurants. Some of those people put their businesses and their homes where they can get some enjoyment out of their paycheck before retirement age. So adding the cultural stuff into the mix is necessary for economic development. So let's call the arts thing, a component of economic development.
Second, the arts component must also be able to draw people here. For that me, that means some sort of attraction to catch people's attention. That brings us back to the original Florence - a lot of their artwork was public (as well as being about public events). These were frescoes (paintings on the wall) commenorating events in the city. Anderson started something like this years and years ago - take a look at the backs of the buildings facing Main Street between Ninth and Tenth Street.
So here is a proposal for revising the Florentine Concept:
- Create an art contest. Start with the lowest category - students in the local schools and work up to professionals.
- Make it yearly.
- Open it to the public. The public in Anderson and the wider public.
- Get with the banks and local contributors for prize money.
- Get local businesses as well as governments downtown to contribute their walls for designs.
- Get a panel of judges which will include people from Anderson and outside with enough stature to draw attention themselves.
- Display the student artwork in City Hall.
- Coordinate the contest with other events downtown to increase the draw.
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