Scott Chamberlain continues covering the FWSO fiasco with an epic takedown of a statement by FWSO management:
… one of these is first among equals: artistic development. Art is the reason the group exists. A group isn’t simply raising money, it’s raising money for the art. It isn’t just trying to “right size” the staff, but to build a staff appropriate to do the art. And so forth. If a group doesn’t keep the art central to its thoughts and actions, why do any of it?
And so looking at Mr. Nurdin’s four pillars, I admit I shudder. Note that his list starts with “generous benefactors.” In both placement (first on the list) and wording, this is completely wrong. Perhaps “benefactor” is a non-weighted regionalism in Texas, but to me the word implies a level of ownership. It implies a dominant and submissive role, where a benefactor is a guardian angel with all the resources and power, and the beneficiary is a passive supplicant hoping for favor. Like the relationship between Miss Havisham and Pip in Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations.
For this exact reason, I bristled at the similar views expressed by Karen Cohn, the former board chair of the San Diego Opera. In particular, I was dismayed by her claim that the board “provided” opera to the city. My response to her works well in Fort Worth, too:
The wording here deeply disturbs me, implying a clear sense of ownership and entitlement… you state that you provided the Opera to the public. You most certainly did not do so, nor should you have. This was not a private enterprise. You were a key source of support to the Opera so that it could fulfill its mission, but you were hardly the only source of support. Does board giving eclipse ticket sales? Does board giving surpass non-board giving? Board giving without these additional sources of support would not begin to be enough to keep the Opera running, so I find it odd that you feel you were “providing” the Opera to the community.
I figure the FWSO management should tell Scott to put up or shut up – and then hire him as Chairman of the Board, or Executive Director, or whatever position is best fit for cleaning house.
