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There’s no money for arts because there’s hardly enough money to keep city services going; buildings lie empty, a breeding ground for urban blight; a long musical history seems to be irrelevant, or forgotten completely.

This description of Detroit in 2010 actually sounds like cause for optimism, because it reminds me so much of New York in 1975.  And we know how that worked out – unwanted real estate and unvented frustrations led to punk, hip hop, and the so-called “Downtown” arts scene.   

Unfortunately, the things that allow a musical underground to form don’t usually work as well for bigger arts institutions, like the Detroit Symphony Orchestra or the Detroit Institute of the Arts.  So the question is, what to do about these institutions.  If you just let them disappear then it becomes much harder for younger generations to acquire a taste for the so-called fine arts.  Plus, there is evidence that a high-profile arts scene can be help drive a city’s economy:  the so-called “Bilbao Effect,” named after the Spanish town where Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum transformed the city into a major destination.  And if the auto industry isn’t doing it for Detroit, something has to fill that void.   

If the government can’t help – and Detroit voters said no to a plan to funnel tax dollars to the arts twice in the past decade – then what?  If you have a rich benefactor underwrite the whole thing then you have an organization focused not on its audience but its powerful patron.  It’s a tough nut to crack.

Detroit is the birthplace of Aretha Franklin, Motown, techno, Eminem, and the White Stripes, to name just a few stars in a very crowded firmament.  I’m not too worried about the Motor City’s ability to keep producing creative artists.  Whether it can continue to support a top-10 orchestra, and a world class arts scene, is an issue that will require some really creative thinking.