Originally published on ForYourArt on January 22, 2009

It’s official – things have changed and although there are serious issues to face on all sides, hope, albeit reserved, is in the air. The cultural and arts communities continue to discuss what—exactly—will come to pass, particularly as it relates to the possibility of increased public funding. As Mark Swed noted in the Los Angeles Times, “we have reason to believe we have an arts president.”

Everyone from Americans for the Arts (PDF) to Quincy Jones is chiming in on what this could, and should, really look like. Art Talk’s host Edward Goldman suggested on his KCRW weekly show that the President and First Lady could start by simply taking the girls on a stroll through the National Gallery. With all the special events in Washington this week, they could also, of course, join the hundreds of other visitors who have contributed to Yoko Ono's Wish Tree for Washington D.C. at the Hirshhorn Museum or stop by the Smithsonian which features the timely and poignant exhibition Road to Freedom.

Whether Obama appoints an “Arts Czar” or not (and there are arguments on both sides), it’s clear that arts non-profits must re-examine the way they function in relation to each other, their audiences, and the for-profit sector. It remains to be seen how the current model in the U.S., which relies heavily on private funding, will fare.

As we face the reality that much of the wealth of the past years was largely imagined, or virtual, we welcome a new President who is not afraid to wield the power of perception. Novelist Lynne Tillman argues on artforum.com that through Obama’s clever manipulation and use of media, from his video messages and creation of a "virtual" office before he took oath on Tuesday, (and now whitehouse.gov) he has helped usher in a linguistic shift: virtual is the new actual.

Considering Obama’s messages of responsibility and remembrance, and the fact that he used the media to draw attention to service, saying things like “it’s not ‘I’ it’s ‘we’,” how will this spirit impact the art world system and, in a broader sense, art and culture's role in America?

Yesterday, President Obama announced a salary freeze at the White House for all employees making more than $100,000. This gesture brings reality to rhetoric and symbolizes that we are all in this together. With the crisis over money, pay-cuts, lay-offs and thinner wallets, support for the kind of conceptual work whose success is not measured by money but by the intensity of the discourse it inspires is sure to rise.

This week we are pleased to announce weekly contributions from photographer Joshua White and the anonymous blog Art and Fart. Check foryourart.com for updates and more additions on the way!