To Bill Maher

I am a Democrat.

This is one of the charities of my choice.
(by the way it houses the LA Philharmonic not the LA Symphony)

This is another.

And here is another.

One more.

In your latest show (please everyone read the transcript of episode 247!!!) you trash charitable giving to the arts and argue that gifts to the arts should not be tax deductible. But modern civilization relies upon the gifts of its people to provide beauty and promise to everyone.  I support that calling.  As a dancer from just about birth, I have been privileged enough to study dance with greats like Bill T. Jones, Betty Jones of Jose Limon, Violette Verdy, Patricia McBride (one of the great Balanchine dancers and legacy teachers), Merce Cunningham, and the list goes on.  I have done these things as a student.  I remember making $150 a week, living in New York City as a nanny and spending every cent I had on my dance education.

I also attended Davidson Fine Arts School in Augusta, GA.  Davidson is an award winning public magnet school that introduced me to all genres of the arts.  There I studied Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Tennessee Williams, Sophocles, Thoreau (on whom I wrote my college entrance essay).  It is a magnet school available to any student in Richmond County that shows an inkling of talent and dedication to the discipline of learning an art form.

I was the Executive Director for the Augusta Ballet for three years in Augusta, GA.  We tried to rely on performance tickets sales only, but that is surely impossible.  Watching the decline of the National Endowment for the Arts during my tenure as Director of Development for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company was not only sad for me as a taxpayer but also devastating as an artist.  I can only write that without the tax deduction for charitable donations, our country will be without ballet, without art museums, without theater, without Mozart, as you pointed out.  And any research study that is worth its salt out there confirms that all of these things only enhance the learning and development of our children.  The children that we want to grow up to help other children with disease, without homes, with horrible living conditions that could only be imagined with empathy, with a spirit enlightened by the arts.

You are wrong Mr. Maher.  Terribly terribly wrong.  What is great about this country, that I love and admire so very much, is that we support and lift up organizations that would die and become a withered hand without the support of its people.  And for peanuts we support the most inventive and vibrant arts communities in the world. In a fifteen trillion dollar economy, Americans give just seventeen billion dollars a year to the arts, so the tax deduction on these gifts costs the government just $5bn a year. For $5bn of lost tax revenue we get the world's greatest symphonies, dance companies, and art museums, supporting the most dynamic new artists on the planet. And though you may think that you help our country and our world to persuade people not to give to these institutions, you are indeed bringing down society with these barbaric ideas.

Leibovitz + AKRIS + MOCA = Creative Inspiration

Annie Leibovitz: Niagra Falls, 2010

I go to a lot of events that support the arts.  It's something I find important to do, and though I support the arts in many other ways that don't include dressing up and going to lunches or dinners, I still think these are important.  It's a great vehicle to introduce an organization to a friend, for one.  And sometimes, you might just get inspired.

From left to right: Kory Blum, Annie Leibovitz, yours truly, Amber Hackett

MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) in Los Angeles celebrated Annie Leibovitz for this year's Distinguished Women in the Arts luncheon.  I, along with two friends, had the very special opportunity to meet Ms. Leibovitz in a pre-event reception held in the beautiful Royal Suite at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.  We got to have a chat with Annie (I think I'll go first name basis), and I began by discussing the impish and delightful qualities that she brought out in her portrait of Merce Cunningham.  

Annie Leibovitz: Merce Cunningham

Then she signed her new, stunning book: Pilgrimage.

MOCA has made a lot of progressive changes since Jeffrey Deitche's arrival in 2010.  Mostly, I'd say, for the better.  His background is from gallery owner in New York City to now MOCA Director in Los Angeles.  And he pushes the proverbial envelope.

Attended by the usual suspects of stars, socialites and donors, the event was packed.  

Jessica Trent

Marisa Tomei and Liz Goldwyn

Moving into the large ballroom, lunch began with a fall fashion preview from AKRIS.  Truthfully, I didn't get it.  I did not see the connection between AKRIS and Leibovitz.  But it was a nice show.  And there were some pieces that the whole table agreed were good...

Maria Shriver took the reins to introduce Annie after lunch.  As a photograph of Arnold S. flashed on one of the large screens, she continued to rave about Annie.  How Annie had come to an event for her after Annie's own very public financial lawsuit.  How Annie is a good friend and mother; she is loyal and faithful.  Having only spent five minutes with her earlier, I agreed.

Annie was greeted on stage with an appropriate standing ovation.  Her work has transfixed all of us for generations.  

But her story of her financial woes had us moved and seeing her not as some iconic figure of this era, but another person, an artist, who had suffered from the inconceivable happenings of 2008.  And yet, she moved on.  Remaining the artist, the storyteller, who she always has been.  It was the inspiration of hope that through even the worst, the most beautiful can evolve.

Annie Leibovitz: Freud's Couch

Annie Leibovitz: Dickinson (actual dress of and my favorite)

Her 'act of renewal', Pilgrimage

No Sleep Til MOCA

The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA is presenting Transmission LA: AV Club currently in Los Angeles, free to the public.  This visual fantasy land is like nothing you have ever seen, but that should be expected considering the curator is Mike D from The Beastie Boys.

The space of the Geffen is the perfect place to house the large installation of works by 17 multi media artists.  Once a police car warehouse, architect Frank Ghery renovated the building to create the perfect contemporary spot for avant garde and unusual exhibitions.

One of the first stunning works to see is Jim Drain's and Ara Pettersan's pinwheels: a psychedelic mobile.

With friend Amber Hackett

From the candy land of pinwheels we walked through the hallway designed by Ben Jones.  Something out of Tron, this spectacular laser path takes you into the world of a video game.  

Sanford Biggers has the sun setting and the moon rising from the point of view of the driver's seat in a fast paced car race.  

Feeling as if I had just spent hours in a carnival, I had to get outside for some fresh air and calm visuals.  However, I walked out the door to see Santigold performing on a stage - a stage that reflected the art from inside.   

Her music was good, and her performance was better.  Her back up dancers were like whimsical wind up dolls that were spinning colorful umbrellas behind her.  Her song Creator was a favorite of the crowd, and it seemed to be of Santigold as well.

Art truly manifests itself in many different ways.  It's exciting to see a compilation of painters, sculptors, experimental artist and other disciplines brought together under one roof.  It's not surprising that this show is the brain child of Mike D - the same artist who brought us The New Style.