PCAM: 21st C. "Arts" .org Too Ashamed to Mention Drawing, Painting, or Sculpture by Name

If you want another sign of how completely debased the word "art" has become in our twenty-first century civilization (not to mention the intellectually corrosive effects of an MFA in the visual arts), herewith the Friday, February 8, 2019 email announcing a new local arts .org (note the words drawing, painting, and sculpture are completely absent):

Dear Friends:

After several months of highly collaborative efforts to consolidate operations at our Fifth Avenue campus, while working aggressively to ensure our mission remains relevant to our region’s arts community and is sustainable for the long term, we have reached an important milestone that comes with some exciting news.

We are pleased to announce that Pittsburgh Filmmakers / Pittsburgh Center for the Arts has now become Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media – marking the true integration of two formerly independent operations into a cohesive, re-energized organization. Our name change follows a comprehensive strategic planning process that lays out a three-year transformational and community-based agenda for advancing excellence in film, digital video, photography and the spectrum of visual arts. Having strengthened our operational underpinnings and worked to enhance relationships with all stakeholders in our extraordinary community, the plan provides a road map to our future – a road map that has been conceived to realistically reflect our resources, play to our strengths and seize the opportunity to rethink our content and space to create new and increasingly relevant environments to facilitate the exchange of images and ideas.

At its core, Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media exists to serve the arts community by nurturing, encouraging and showcasing artists and making art accessible in myriad ways. The plan renews our commitment to filmmaking and photography with reimagined offerings and courses that spotlight the making of content that moves across platforms. It calls for expanded visual arts offerings featuring the latest creative technologies as well as increased artist residencies and master classes with a concerted effort to reach new audiences. We also will continue efforts to augment exhibition and cinema programming, taking advantage of synergies and appealing to a more diverse audience with curated films and special series. Particularly exciting is the planned return of the Three Rivers Film Festival in November 2019, one of several signature events and potential strategic partnerships designed to support, celebrate and expand our reach into our community.

With the new name identified, Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media is now undertaking a formal rebranding process that includes the development of a dynamic new website that will better reflect a united organization and further enhance communications and interactions with key audiences. Indeed, this is only the beginning of our next exciting chapter.

We want to thank our board and artist committee members, executive leadership, staff, local artists and stakeholders in the foundation and nonprofit communities, leaders at peer organizations nationally and distinguished consultants whose expertise and input has been invaluable to this critical effort. We would be delighted if you joined us at a reception this evening from 5:30pm - 9:00pm at 6300 Fifth Avenue to toast the unveiling of our new member exhibition and celebrate all that’s ahead.

Thank you, as always, for your support.

Sincerely,

Presumably, such quaint traditional arts as drawing, painting, and sculpture fall under the miscellany of "the spectrum of visual arts," too insignificant nowadays to single out.

More: Spectrum Disorder: Whither Drawing? Part II