An End To The Art Trail Nonsense

I really don't want to perpetuate the Art Trail nonsense anymore.  I never really wanted it to blow up.  As rockers, especially us older ones, we still remember being put upon or looked down on in this community.   It's okay, it was ignorance.  Heck, when I came to FMX banks and some car dealers wouldn't even advertise on FMX, they thought 'now way' those types would have money.  What they eventually found out was the rockers tend to have more money and be more willing to part with it; you see rockers tend to live life just a little on the edge, we like to get out and enjoy ourselves.  Anyways, that's off topic, but after being 'put upon' for many years, I can't just stand by and let it happen to anyone else.   More after the jump.

Before I go any further, I'm going to let the Buddy Holly Center off the hook.  It turns out they were having some kind of "Birthday Party for Buddy" and yes, it's best that we moved on from that and came back at another time.   Now onto the meat of the subject.

There are two types of bullying, the physical and the type known as 'information assimilation'.  The later is using information, or the victims lack of information to control them.  The official from LUHCA or whatever it is, Karen Wiley, used both on the Nightmare kids. She lied and said Avenue J was private property and used a cop to back her up (I kind of want to let the cop off the hook too because he's just trying to make a buck, but doing it at the expense of someones civil rights is a bit extreme).  I also have no doubt that if they ever speak publicly about the incident, they will try to lie their way out of that as well.  There is NO DOUBT in any of this. I've had several lawyers weigh in and these kids were treated not just badly but illegally. I contacted the mayors office and he turned the matter over to the city manager and their abuses of public funds will catch up with them.  You see what Ms. Wiley forgot was, the internet is to today what the six shooter was to the old west.  It's the great 'equalizer'.  We can spread information, expose lies, organize and general not let people pull any crap on us.

The bottom line is we don't want to hurt the arts walk.  Most of the people are accommodating and inclusive.  As artists they know what it's like to be different than others.  We can't let the people on Avenue J ruin it for everyone, we can just avoid the area.  Hopeful the artists themselves will realize that art is for everybody and their work deserves to be seen (and yes, possibly purchased) by everybody.

These days everybody wants a boycott and everybody wants a protest.  These snobs are not worth our time; the best way to pay them back is to deny them the attention they crave so desperately.  My deal all along has been to call 'B.S" on them and their false and illegal claims and move on.  Another great way would be to BUY art at the art walk, just not from them.  It would show you are a supporter of the arts, but you too believe it should be all inclusive.

We have over 100 actors that shuffle in and out at Nightmare. It's their "art".  They'll be showing off their 'art' beginning September 29th at Nightmare on 19th Street.  The art walk was their attempt to show what they do and instead of the community embracing that, the snobs shut it down.  We're cool with moving on.   We'll put the monsters back in their cages for another couple weeks.  I hope you'll come see them, because they are getting hungry for scares.  If you can't make it September 29th, may I suggest October 5th (that would be the day of the next art walk)?

UPDATE:  "The Rise Of The Synchophants"  As predicted, people who are not our 'friends' on Facebook, who all have 'art backgrounds' have started posting on your pages.  So the minute I try to kill this thing off, they drag me back in.  Screw the arts walk.  Let's pretend this was monster trucks.  If the guys driving the monster trucks were on CITY STREETS and they were using CITY BUSES to get people there and they exist partially because of a grant FROM THE CITY, then people should know when they treat others badly. Even then, it's muddying the issue.   CITY streets do not magically turn into private property during events.  IT DOES NOT HAPPEN. Now once again, this is a small group on the Arts Walk, and these evil people are not representative of the community as a whole, just like my opinion is not the opinion of the radio station as a whole.  KFMX has supported the Arts Festival every year because they are a wonderful all-inclusive event for the whole family.  We've never really been asked to support the Arts Walk, but we probably would have.

So once again, if this boring to the 99% of Lubbock who could care less about the Arts Walk, but your money is paying for this snobbery.