Another year is coming into the queue and you've lined up the usual suspects for improvement: your health, relationships, and career.  (My mother told me never to discuss politics and religion in a blog, so we're not going there!) You're going to eat and drink less, exercise more, check; find that special someone and/or spend quality time with your family, right; and get a grip on your floundering dead-end job (or hold onto to it) - maybe network or take a course or enroll in a program, ditto.  Blah, blah, blah ... they were on your list last year and they'll be there next.  Why not shift gears, this time around, and attend to something important in your life, but flying below the radar - your cultural needs? Here are some suggestions and a take-home test for the coming year:      

• See one performing arts show a month during the season (10 months) - this can be varied, i.e., theater, dance, music, etc., and include large as well as community venues (2 points per performance, up to 20).

• Pick three shows - one you liked, one you hated, one you had mixed feelings about - and write a review.  Describe how you would improve it (10 points).

• Read a play, listen to recordings, get DVDs, etc., to prepare for some of the shows you will attend ( 1 point per resource, up to 5).

• Attend five pre- and/or post-show discussions at various venues (1 point per program, up to 5).

• Get your program signed after the show and meet the artist.  It will deepen your appreciation of the work and connect you to the artist (1 point per program, up to 5).

• Write a fan letter or e-mail to a local or regional artist.  They'll appreciate it and so will you (5 points).

• When traveling out of town on business, check out the local arts scene.  Skip the working dinners and pub crawls; arrive a day early and stay a day late, on the company's dime (they do want you to hit the ground running and travel on your free time) or your own, if needs be (2 points per extended stay, up to 10).

• Develop a new art appreciation and get out of your comfort zone. Check out dance, opera, modern music, or contemporary art, if you haven't. And sample the narrative and performance space of diverse and alternative cultures, ethnicities, and genders (10 points).

• Instead of exchanging traditional gifts at birthdays, anniversaries, or holidays, select one significant purchase of art, such as a performing arts subscription, painting or craft, course or program, or culture trip.  Think of it like an IRA: only you are investing in your cultural future (10 points).

• Pick up a pen, brush, instrument, or script and create something.  Whether you're a newbie or established in another media - artists develop creatively by stretching themselves - there's no better way to learn about an art-form than by doing it (20 points).

90 to 100 points - On your way to becoming a cultural maven - I want to hear from you!

60 to 89 - A serious student of the arts, one with an adventurous spirit and initiative - Go for it!   

40 to 59 - Laying the foundation for a life-long adventure - What a ride you're in for!

20 to 39 - You've taken it to the next level.  Congrats!

Below 20 - The interest is there, but not yet focused. Time to channel it as a critic or Helen Hayes Awards Judge!  

© John F. Glass All rights reserved

Photo credit: Tom Andrews/LAist