The Art of the Steal

The Art of the Steal is an all-American story. A chronicle of the Barnes Foundation--the collection of post-Impressionist art in Merion, Pennsylvania--the film captures many of our nation's themes:

The iconoclast who thumbs his nose at the establishment.

The self-made man who doesn't forget his roots.

The neighbors who band together to defend their territory.

The city that robs its suburbs.

The power families who run everything.

The politicians who sleep with the elite.

The whiff of conspiracy that accompanies money.

The issue of race that haunts the landscape.

The rich and powerful who always succeed.

It's too bad that the Barnes Foundation can't stay where it is. Soon to be housed along museum row in Philadelphia, it will lose the character that Dr. Barnes intended to preserve. His American story--a visionary who saw and collected art for ordinary citizens to enjoy--collided with that other American story--the one where opportunists exploit vulnerability for power and wealth.

Go see the Barnes collection before it moves. Participate in the story that Dr. Barnes told, however quirky and unconventional you might find it.

You'll be glad you did.

Art to the Rescue

The teaching of art, at least in elementary school, isn't what it used to be. Gone are the days when you trace your fingers to make a turkey or spend weeks learning to paint a tree. Art teachers today use all types of media--yarn, paint, clay, beads--to help kids find the artist inside. Each child is successful; if you can't paint a tree, you can weave a mat. If you can't weave a mat, you can shape a pot. If you can't shape a pot, you can copy Matisse and produce a cutout. At day's end, each kid is an artist.

Which makes me wonder about all the handwringing over the state of education today. Good news, of course, goes unreported, so people don't know the amazing work in art and music and drama taking place in many of our schools. And, of course, some schools have dropped these programs altogether, so there's nothing to report. But if art teachers can find ways to educate kids and bring out their talent, why can't teachers of academic subjects do the same?

Perhaps the spirit of creativity and flexibility that underlies the teaching of art needs to be restored to the teaching of math and reading. Where there used to be time for academic teachers to engage their students through a variety of media--not unlike art teachers--they're now forced to prepare their students for standardized tests. If you feel a big yawn coming on, you're not the only one.

The tests are boring. Practice worksheets come home constantly. And despite the effort to make the tests inclusive and multicultural, the fact that Miguel buys 10 pounds of apples instead of Michelle doesn't eliminate the tedium. Standardized tests have an occasional place in education, but the everyday use of them has rendered inspired, creative instruction obsolete.


Thank God for the artists. In these bleak days when the "Race to the Top" means more standards and more tests, I'll take a sunflower any day. And it doesn't even need to be yellow.

Why the Silence, Mr. President?

Having received emails this week from both the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and North Carolinians Against Gun Violence, I'm reminded of President Obama's woeful lack of leadership in this area. Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Center, writes most recently of Obama's failure to appoint a director for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). This 18-month vacancy of a permanent leader is the longest in the agency's history.

The Center also issued a report, "President Obama's First Year: Lost Leadership, Lost Lives," in which the president is issued an "F" grade for his "concessions to the 'guns anywhere' mentality of the gun lobby and lack of leadership for common-sense gun laws." Though the report lists the bills that Obama has shamefully signed into law--allowing loaded guns in national parks and in checked bags on Amtrak--his ommissions are equally damning. He hasn't supported efforts to reinstate the assault weapons ban or worked to strengthen Brady background checks; above all, he hasn't stood up to the NRA.

Throughout the report Candidate Obama's strong statements in support of gun laws are paired with President Obama's couched statements in support of the status quo. As an example, when he accepted the presidential nomination in 2008, he said, "[D]on't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals." But on Face the Nation in March 2009, he said of the assault weapons ban, "Well, I think the main thing we need is better enforcement."

And so it goes, with one gun safety issue after another.

As we head into the November elections, plenty of talking heads are commenting on Obama's failure to court his base. This is another example. It's also an example of his playing it so safe that he doesn't play at all. He allows others to dominate his agenda. In the case of gun safety, the other player--the NRA--has more money and clout than most of us can imagine.

But doesn't the voice of the President of the United States count for more? Especially when he speaks for the majority of Americans?

Fashion for Everyone

No matter what my Saturday is like, I can always count on Bill Cunningham to perk things up. A fashion writer for The New York Times, Cunningham produces a short video each week, "On the Street," that features ordinary and stylish New Yorkers. Sometimes he follows them to places like The Hamptons or Newport, but usually he finds them on the streets of the city.

This week's episode--"Views"--which you can find on the Fashion and Style page, captured guests at the New York Fashion Week in a mixture of subdued style and outrageous fun. Earlier this summer "Color on Wheels" featured cyclists and skaters and anyone on wheels on a Sunday afternoon along Park Avenue.

That Cunningham loves people and loves watching people is evident in every clip. He's not at all critical or snooty, and his seemingly simple commentary makes fashion accessible for even the most unfashionable among us. I love his gentle sense of humor and his opening music that hums.

Feeling like your weekend isn't what you'd hoped? Google Bill Cunningham and watch his latest "On the Street."

Tea Party Treachery

Christine O'Donnell, the new Republican Tea Party candidate for Senate in Delaware, said on Tuesday night that the "same people who are supposed to be protecting our freedoms are taking them away." I wonder what she meant. The last time I checked, most of us still have the freedoms guaranteed to us by the Constitution--unless she meant Muslims in New York and Latinos in Arizona.

She also said that the cause of her campaign is "restoring America." Everyone in her audience nodded and cheered. They knew what she meant. I didn't. Restore America to what? A past where we didn't have a black president? A past where gays weren't advocating marriage and open military service? A past where Muslims hid behind burkas?

Hypocrisy in America is at an all-time high. I hope too many people aren't fooled by it.

A Dog's Life: The Buddha and His Protege

Get Off the Couch and Support Elaine

It's easy to feel discouraged about the coming election. Predicted gains for naysaying Republicans, who consistently block legislation to help ordinary (meaning non-rich) Americans, make me want to sit this one out.

But there's hope in North Carolina in the senatorial campaign of Elaine Marshall, our current Secretary of State. I first became aware of Marshall in 2002, when I contacted her office to establish my new business. Her staff couldn't have been more helpful in guiding me through a complex process. If there's one thing I've learned about office staffs, it's this: the treatment you get by the front-line people reflects the attitude of the boss. I knew then that Elaine Marshall was topnotch.

When I started receiving emails earlier this year about her campaign for US Senate, I was struck by her direct, straightforward tone. No games, no bragging, no stretching the truth. She lays out our problems and provides solutions. Check out her website. She proposes a fee of .25% on certain stock transactions to fund a comprehensive jobs program. She advocates aggressive Wall Street reform, having addressed investment and securities fraud in North Carolina. She believes it's time to end the Afghanistan War and to redirect our resources (1) to protect our borders and ports and (2) to disrupt terrorist activity wherever it occurs, rather than mire ourselves in unstable nations.

Marshall's opponent, Richard Burr, has been an automatic vote for the powerful and well-to-do. He opposed legislation that kept state workers employed--teachers, fire fighters, and police officers. He currently opposes a bill to help small businesses, which even the North Carolina Bankers Association has endorsed. He supports continued tax breaks for millionaires, and his campaign is bankrolled by Washington lobbyists.

Elaine Marshall is a vote for the future. A future where we all have a voice, regardless of how much money we make. We're lucky that Marshall hasn't given over to doubt and cynicism, the way so many have. She's tough, and she'll act on our behalf, and--if anyone can--she'll begin to change the elitist culture of that club that calls itself our United States Senate.

I'm putting my money, and time, with her.

Hanging by a Thread

The 18-year-old son of the art teacher died last week in a car accident, along with his good friend. In the past year two other staff at my daughter's school lost their sons, one to a car accident and one to cancer. None of the boys lived beyond their early 20s.

We are--all of us--hanging by a thread. It's only every so often that we're made aware.

A Punctuated Presidency

Can Labor Day—that turning point, that burst of fall energy, that end to summer ennui—come soon enough for President Obama? He's in one of those passive stretches again, where he's passionate about nothing and allows others to seize his agenda.

Watching his speech this week about Iraq, I found myself wondering what he really thought. He was scripted as he so often is. His salute to the troops, his summary of the war, and his unrealistic call for unity as we tackle domestic challenges were all delivered in the same wooden manner.

He's been like this all summer. The one moment of hope, when he burst out with enthusiasm for something, ended with a thump: his eloquent endorsement of religious freedom for Muslims, undercut the next day by his tepid language, left us uncertain about what he believed.

Whether we agreed with them or not, we knew what his predecessors thought. Though George Bush issued ignorant and often inane observations, his intent was clear--"I'm the decider," "Bring them on," "Mission accomplished." We knew where he stood. Bill Clinton talked spontaneously to us all the time. As if a popular professor, he explained complex subjects--Bosnia, welfare reform, Oklahoma City--while munching on a cheeseburger or boarding Air Force One. We knew where he stood.

Obama, on the other hand, is too often like a comma, a pause, a hesitator. Americans like their presidents declarative.

When he emerges from these passive states, as he did during his campaign and when he finally fought for health care legislation, President Obama, too, speaks from the heart. We know where he stands. But these moments don't come often enough. He's a wise man, but somehow his wisdom gets buried.

Perhaps this, his season of hibernation, will come to a close and we'll see more of the man we elected. God knows we need him.