The fail city---Philadelphia, PA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The fail city---Philadelphia, PA - Essay Example It has an art and culinary mix that is reflective of its ethnic mix of Irish, Scottish, and German immigrants in the seventeenth century, then followed later mostly by immigrants from southern and eastern Europe such as Poles, Italians, Hungarians, etc. and followed again by another immigrant wave of African-Americans during a period called as their Great Migration in the early twentieth century. Before the European settlers and colonizers came to Pennsylvania, this state is the home of the Delaware native-American tribe as well as other Indian tribes like the Iroquois, Shawnee, Erie, and Susquehannock. Pennsylvania is one of the original thirteen states which declared independence from Great Britain. Although its state capital today is Harrisburg, it is Philadelphia which has a rich historic legacy in most important events of American history, like the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the signing of the Constitution (1787), as it was the preferred meeting place of the Founding Fathers. Philadelphia once surpassed Boston as a chief seaport in the mid-Atlantic seaboard. This paper examines the success factors of Philadelphia from an anthropological, economic, and political viewpoint during its heyday. Discussion Philadelphia had always been the center of most human activities since its early time as a European settlement. As such, its success can be viewed from an anthropological angle or perspective because it was, and still is today, a melting pot (or salad bowl) on the East Coast. The original settlers of Philadelphia were the Indians and a first wave of European colonizers was the Dutch, followed by the British, and then a bit later, by the Swedes. The resulting mix of various European settlers intermarried with the natives. This mixture of peoples produced a tolerant attitude towards other cultures and got the best aspects of each culture to make the present culture of Philadelphia today which is progressive, flexible, and open to new ideas. The peopl e of Philadelphia are composed mostly of white Europeans (almost 82%) who are non-Hispanic with the next big majority being either black Americans or African- Americans (non-Hispanic origin). Besides these two, there are also many ethnic groups in the city’s population such as Native Americans (descendants of the remnants of original tribes) and Asians such as Pakistanis, Chinese, Indians, Vietnamese, Koreans, and Cambodians. The composition of Philadelphia’s population is truly cosmopolitan hence it is similar to New York City in terms of ethnic diversity. The different groups learned to live with each other in peace due to close proximity and tolerance for their differences. Philadelphians have learned to accommodate, cooperate and collaborate in the racial politics of culture (Baker 130). Although anthropology has four main areas of concentration in terms of study (the sociocultural, biological-physical, archaeological, and lastly, linguistics anthropology) it is th e sociocultural aspects of Philadelphia’s anthropology which can best explain its success as a big, modern city. This is to examine the city in terms of its sociocultural features such as in social patterns, religious beliefs, and cultural practices, as defined (American Anthropological Association, para. 2) because it determines justice, balance of

Marketing of Art Products Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marketing of Art Products - Assignment Example This analysis focuses on the various aspects of arts marketing and evaluates whether the different conduits for arts sales could be considered as efficient in their sales and marketing approach. The sales outlets for marketing of art products largely depend on direct consumers, festival or exhibition visitors and also on sponsors. Olkonnen et al (2000) argue that there is little or no academic interest or research studies on the phenomenon of commercial sponsorship on arts, sports and media events. Sponsorship as a study of marketing management is largely defined by marketing mix and mass communication and Olkonnen et al claim that sponsorship could be better defined by applying the approach towards networking and interaction. Networking in marketing of arts focuses on understanding the dynamics of sponsorship as a method of networks and relationships and also interpersonal communication rather than sponsorship as a measure of effects on the audience or consumers. The art festival is one of the major marketing tools through which a large number of art enthusiasts could be assembled to focus on both the academic and the commercial aspects of art. Waterman (1998) writes that despite the prominence and ubiquity of such art festivals these festivals have not been studied or researched to an appropriate degree. These art festivals serve as a platform for new artists and also from a social perspective transform places and settings into environments thriving with the production and processing ad even consumption of the very essence of culture which seem to be available within a specific location. The way a particular culture in manifested and projected becomes very obvious in festivals and festivals play a major role in highlighting cultural aspects of art apart from being a major conduit for the sale and marketing of arts. Waterman (1998) goes a bit further in discussion the implications of these festivals and suggests that support for arts is a pro cess used by elites to distance themselves from the other classes of society. Thus being a patron of arts marks out someone as member of refined or higher social class. However the changing nature of festivals is obvious as from being traditionally innovative and being controlled by artistic directors, these festivals are now increasingly controlled by marketing managers and agencies who have been transforming arts into an industry with a strong potential for marketing and attracting consumers at a large scale. Arts festivals are now seen as serving the dual purpose of marketing the arts products as also advertising the place in which such festivals are held and thus tend to attract sponsors and agencies that have many different marketing approaches and motivations. Waterman (1998) suggests that the concept of festival for arts and economics may be related to tensions between culture and cultural politics. Direct marketing of art objects is one of the more traditional and common ways of marketing and selling art products. Arnold and Tapp (2003) suggest that direct marketing is being increasingly used by non profit organisations to reach consumers, raise sales and revenues and improve long term consumer relationships. In case of selling of arts