Centers of culture

I was reminded earlier this week, after citing this article, of the geographical disparity between where many Christians (with, I’m assuming, an interest being a “counterculture for the common good“) actually live and where the cultural centers in the U.S. actually are. John Seel’s article suggests that “Boston, New York, San Jose — representing the Silicon Valley — and Los Angeles” are the the national centers of cultural influence. Seel refers us to places like Colorado Springs, Orlando and Wheaton as places with high concentrations of Evangelicals; it seems to me that we could generalize by saying that Christians typically reside in the midwest.

New York City came up, somehow, in the very brief conversation I had with painter Makoto Fujimura last year. He was convinced that I would love living in the city, despite the fact that I’ve never been there — the closest to the Big Apple my feet have trod is at the Statue of Liberty. My wife enjoyed the city during the few days she’s spent there during MacWorld some years back.

My gut level reaction to the suggestion that I move to the city, as an artist with a desire to influence culture, is one of financial reservation. Knowing how expensive it is to live in places like NYC and knowing how difficult it is to feel financially comfortable living in one of the least expensive parts of the midwest, it’s very difficult for me to imagine how we’d be able to make it in the city. This is especially true were I to try and make a living as an artist.

In some ways I’d much rather try and make a go of it in a smaller community. It seems like I would have more flexibility without so much financial pressure. It seems like quality of life would be better without the potential monetary strain of such high cost of living (granted, this may be a selfish reasoning). And there are some vibrant art communities in smaller towns — even if the quality of work in these places isn’t what it is in the American cultural centers.

But I do desire to, in a most humble way, be a part of changing culture for the better as an artist. I believe this can happen even if a person isn’t living in Boston or L.A., although probably to a lesser degree and requiring more intentionality on the part of the painter or sculptor.

Thus, in my mind, I’m at an impasse. At this point of my life I’m not exactly looking to move anyway, but the idea of being in the thick of the counterculture for the common good comes back to my mind with some regularity and, tied to that thought, the idea of moving to a big city.