Post by edwinwnorth on Apr 16, 2009 7:17:21 GMT -5
The following letter was sent to the city of Harrisburg at the following addresses I urge any performer to read, and forward this or re write it and send it to teh same folks, or anyone you know who can help. Street performig is an ART, it should NOT be a crime
lthompson@harrisburgcitycouncil.com, bkoplinski@harrisburgcitycouncil.com, dmiller@harrisburgcitycouncil.com, mpeiffer@cityofhbg.com, mcoulter@cityofhbg.com, tking@cityofhbg.com, cschulz@cityofhbg.com, Viewpoint@abc27.com, HollySteuart@cbs21.com, 8onyourside@thewgalchannel.com, news8@thewgalchannel.com, ron.giovanniello@cumulus.com, ken.carson@citcomm.com, citydesk@patriot-news.com, friends@harrisburgarts.org, info@whitakercenter.org
Dear Harrisburg City,
Please I hope at least some of you spend a few minutes in your very busy day and take a quick look. It is not crude rude or subversive. It is a very moving piece.
vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2539741
I have lived in this area all my life, and I love my city. I feel that artistically our Mayor and council have done much to try and help our capitol city grow. And yet a few years ago a proposition was put for regarding street performances in Harrisburg. A practice commonly known as busking.
The response? "Pan handling is not allowed in the city of Harrisburg"
Pan handling is the indiscriminate practice of asking people for spare change, poor folks asking for a hand out, what was called being a bum. Obviously this practice is associated with people who make folks uncomfortable and offer no appreciable return for this "hand out"
In her documentary movie and book, Underground Harmonies: Music and Politics in the Subways of New York (Anthropology of Contemporary Issues), Susie J. Tanenbaum examines how the old adage "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast" plays out in regards to busking. Her sociological studies showed that in areas where buskers regularly perform, crime rates tended to go down. She also discovered that those with higher education tended to appreciate and support buskers more than those of lesser learning. Some cities are encouraging buskers because they can be a tonic to the stresses of shopping and commuting, and can be an influence which is entertaining and beneficial for all. Some cities give preference to "approved" buskers in certain areas and even publish schedules of performances. In the USA they have to be careful that such things are not exclusionary, judgmental or discretionary.
Busking or street performing is NOT pan handling. Look at the above video link and see.
I have been fortunate enough to spend time in great cities of the world, London, Paris, Amsterdam, San Antonio, New York, Munich, Berlin, Pisa, Venice, Salzburg, Brussels and I have some of the most amazing people performing spontaneous acts of art and music on street corners, subways and parks.
In the United States there has been a rebirth of this art form as the new millennium has started. Buskers are found at many locations: in New Orleans all over the place, in New York around Central Park, Washington Square, and the subway systems, in San Francisco at Fisherman's Wharf area, Market Street, Union Square and the Cable Car turnarounds and BART stations, in Washington DC around the transit centers, in Los Angeles around Venice Beach, the Santa Monica Third Street Promenade, and the Hollywood area, in Chicago on Maxwell Street and many other locations throughout the US. Busking is still quite common in Scotland, Ireland, and England with musicians and other street performers of varying talent levels.
I was also told that people could obtain paid for license from the city to perform at city parks. That defeats the whole purpose. Art is a feeling, it is a need for the performer and people enjoy stopping a few minutes on their way to work, or lunch or busy meetings and experience a moment of peace and serenity.
Recently in New York City subway a great world-class violinist spent 45 minutes playing on a train landing. For free. People who could never afford to see him play in concert got a free spontaneous show.
This is not obstruction, this is not pan handling. And no it is NOT a source of direct income for the city. But if Harrisburg purports to be a supporter of arts and wants to compete with "big" cities, she should re think this view of street art as pan handling.
If busking is good enough for Moscow, Caracas, Rio, Monaco, London and Paris it should be good enough for Harrisburg.
In the United States under Constitutional Law and most European common law, the protection of artistic free speech extends to busking. In the USA and most places, the designated places for free speech behavior are the public parks, streets, sidewalks, thoroughfares and town squares or plazas. Under certain circumstances even private property may be open to buskers, particularly if it is open to the general public and busking does not interfere with its function and management allows it or other forms of free speech behaviors or has a history of doing so.
Many performers get their chops on the streets of these major cities.
Please let us not make art a crime.
Edwin A Hazell
lthompson@harrisburgcitycouncil.com, bkoplinski@harrisburgcitycouncil.com, dmiller@harrisburgcitycouncil.com, mpeiffer@cityofhbg.com, mcoulter@cityofhbg.com, tking@cityofhbg.com, cschulz@cityofhbg.com, Viewpoint@abc27.com, HollySteuart@cbs21.com, 8onyourside@thewgalchannel.com, news8@thewgalchannel.com, ron.giovanniello@cumulus.com, ken.carson@citcomm.com, citydesk@patriot-news.com, friends@harrisburgarts.org, info@whitakercenter.org
Dear Harrisburg City,
Please I hope at least some of you spend a few minutes in your very busy day and take a quick look. It is not crude rude or subversive. It is a very moving piece.
vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2539741
I have lived in this area all my life, and I love my city. I feel that artistically our Mayor and council have done much to try and help our capitol city grow. And yet a few years ago a proposition was put for regarding street performances in Harrisburg. A practice commonly known as busking.
The response? "Pan handling is not allowed in the city of Harrisburg"
Pan handling is the indiscriminate practice of asking people for spare change, poor folks asking for a hand out, what was called being a bum. Obviously this practice is associated with people who make folks uncomfortable and offer no appreciable return for this "hand out"
In her documentary movie and book, Underground Harmonies: Music and Politics in the Subways of New York (Anthropology of Contemporary Issues), Susie J. Tanenbaum examines how the old adage "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast" plays out in regards to busking. Her sociological studies showed that in areas where buskers regularly perform, crime rates tended to go down. She also discovered that those with higher education tended to appreciate and support buskers more than those of lesser learning. Some cities are encouraging buskers because they can be a tonic to the stresses of shopping and commuting, and can be an influence which is entertaining and beneficial for all. Some cities give preference to "approved" buskers in certain areas and even publish schedules of performances. In the USA they have to be careful that such things are not exclusionary, judgmental or discretionary.
Busking or street performing is NOT pan handling. Look at the above video link and see.
I have been fortunate enough to spend time in great cities of the world, London, Paris, Amsterdam, San Antonio, New York, Munich, Berlin, Pisa, Venice, Salzburg, Brussels and I have some of the most amazing people performing spontaneous acts of art and music on street corners, subways and parks.
In the United States there has been a rebirth of this art form as the new millennium has started. Buskers are found at many locations: in New Orleans all over the place, in New York around Central Park, Washington Square, and the subway systems, in San Francisco at Fisherman's Wharf area, Market Street, Union Square and the Cable Car turnarounds and BART stations, in Washington DC around the transit centers, in Los Angeles around Venice Beach, the Santa Monica Third Street Promenade, and the Hollywood area, in Chicago on Maxwell Street and many other locations throughout the US. Busking is still quite common in Scotland, Ireland, and England with musicians and other street performers of varying talent levels.
I was also told that people could obtain paid for license from the city to perform at city parks. That defeats the whole purpose. Art is a feeling, it is a need for the performer and people enjoy stopping a few minutes on their way to work, or lunch or busy meetings and experience a moment of peace and serenity.
Recently in New York City subway a great world-class violinist spent 45 minutes playing on a train landing. For free. People who could never afford to see him play in concert got a free spontaneous show.
This is not obstruction, this is not pan handling. And no it is NOT a source of direct income for the city. But if Harrisburg purports to be a supporter of arts and wants to compete with "big" cities, she should re think this view of street art as pan handling.
If busking is good enough for Moscow, Caracas, Rio, Monaco, London and Paris it should be good enough for Harrisburg.
In the United States under Constitutional Law and most European common law, the protection of artistic free speech extends to busking. In the USA and most places, the designated places for free speech behavior are the public parks, streets, sidewalks, thoroughfares and town squares or plazas. Under certain circumstances even private property may be open to buskers, particularly if it is open to the general public and busking does not interfere with its function and management allows it or other forms of free speech behaviors or has a history of doing so.
Many performers get their chops on the streets of these major cities.
Please let us not make art a crime.
Edwin A Hazell
