Our sister paper the Chicago Reader weighed in earlier this week with an informative piece by Deanna Isaacs that criticized the Obama arts platform as "optimistic but vague." Arts bloggers are rushing to fill that vacuum with specific proposals — like this one from Tyler Green, who recommends a White House arts adviser.
Mark Swed, on the LA Times' "Culture Monster," says he's willing to believe that Obama is an "arts president." But he was underwhelmed by the all-star quartet (Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Anthony McGill, Gabriela Montero) that played on the inaugural program, calling it "a little hokey." More interesting is Swed's list of musicians he'd like to see at the White House.
This article appears in Jan 21-27, 2009.