The inaugural Curb Lecture sponsored by Vanderbilt’s Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy will feature Leonard Garment, president of the National Jazz Museum planned for Harlem, who will demystify the business of the arts and call for a new model of collaboration between non-profit arts organizations and the entertainment industry. Garment says non-profit and commercial arts sectors view themselves as competitors and are consumed with "placing blame and finger-pointing." He cites successful examples of "imaginative collaboration" and urges that arts policy must change to discourage this competitive relationship. Garment, author of Crazy Rhythm and In Search of Deep Throat, noted jazz saxophonist and former legal counsel and assistant to President Richard Nixon following the resignation of John Dean, will speak at 4:10 p.m. on Sept. 12 in Vanderbilt’s Featheringill Hall. The event is free and open to the public, and a reception with Garment will follow.
According to center Director Bill Ivey, former chairman for the National Endowment for the Arts, "Garment is one of the most versatile and thoughtful cultural observers in the nation, and his remarks promise to be lively." The Curb is the first university-based policy program to fully explore the sources of cultural policy in the United States.
WHAT: Leonard Garment to deliver the first Curb Lecture
WHERE: Featheringill Hall auditorium
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 12, 4:10 p.m. Garment will be available from 10 a.m. to noon for media interviews (call to arrange).
Media Contact: Susanne Loftis, (615) 322-NEWS susanne.loftis@vanderbilt.edu