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Tuesday, November 30, 2004

New Lobbyists Lobby For Fairer Copyright A new lobbying group has been formed to argue for copyright laws that are fairer to consumers. "IPac pledges to support candidates and elected officials who fight for a balance in copyright law: The group will support those who advocate for laws that will pay creators without limiting political expression, innovation or research and education, and back laws that foster new creativity. The group says it believes that intellectual property laws should be clear so technologists can innovate without being sued." Wired 11/30/04

Did Vikings Discover America? A controversial parchment map might rewrite the historical record of who "discovered" America. "The map, which is said to date from 1434 and was found in 1957, is believed by some to be evidence that Vikings who departed from Greenland around the year 1000 were the first to discover America." Discovery 11/30/04

Monday, November 29, 2004

Giving Ground - Arts Philanthropy In Canada A new portrait of philanthropic giving to the arts in Canada points to some big challenges. "Less than 2% of the population make financial donations to the arts sector. The average donor is described as being over 45 (57% of donors), university-educated (38%), and with a household income exceeding $50,000 (71%). Nonetheless, while the value of donations is increasing – 22% from 1997 to 2000 – the number of donors has actually decreased, a worrying trend for the future." La Scena Musicale 11/29/04

Sunday, November 28, 2004

Seattle Opera, PNB Caught In Funding Fight Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet are on the hook to pay for a shortfall in funding for their new home. The companies agreed two years ago that the city might finance the shortfall with their rent. Now the bill is due, and both the opera and ballet companies say paying would be a big hardship. Seattle Post-Intelligencer (AP) 11/29/04

A Portrait Of Chicago Arts Chicago is a city of the arts. But what does the arts community look like? A new survey takes the measure of what the arts in Chicago look like. Chicago Tribune 11/28/04

Arts Community Protests NYT Ax Of Sunday Listings Waves of protest have greeted the New York Times' decision this fall to discontinue the comprehensive Sunday arts event listings that had been featured for decades. The Times' public editor takes up the case: "Editors reacted to the petition, I soon learned, the way editors almost always react when readers rise against a long-planned, well-intended innovation: a little dumbfounded, a little defensive, a little dismissive..." The New York Times 11/28/04

Sea Slug Or Not, Cardiff PAC Is Open For Business The £106 million Wales Millenium Centre in Cardiff may be the most maligned new performing arts center ever to receive public funding, but on its opening weekend, organizers were giddy with excitement, and promised that the center, which has been derisively referred to a "beached whale" and a "sea slug", will finally fulfill the dream of a uniquely Welsh performance venue. The Guardian (UK) 11/27/04

Newspaper: SPAC Must Change Its Corporate Culture, And Fast The blistering audit of New York's Saratoga Performing Arts Center that was released this week offered stunning revelations of mismanagement and near-criminal conduct by those in charge of the popular summer venue. Still, SPAC cannot be allowed to wither further on the vine, says its hometown newspaper: "The public trust has been understandably shaken. But to turn away from SPAC would be a grave mistake. SPAC is too wonderful a venue and too valuable to the community." The Saratogian (NY) 11/28/04

  • Previously: Saratoga Center Dinged For Poor Management The Saratoga Performing Arts Center, which last summer tried to end a longstanding summer residency by New York City Ballet, has been cited for bad management by an audit of the organization. "Over the last few years, the Saratoga arts center has struggled with an annual deficit of $400,000 to $500,000 on an operating budget of $13 million and been forced to dip into its $7 million endowment to cover operating expenses." The New York Times 11/23/04

Big Cuts At Interlochen Interlochen Center for the Arts, the northern Michigan-based arts academy which runs a full-time arts high school as well as a massive summer camp program, has made some big cuts to its summer offerings. 37 faculty members received notification this week that they would not be brought back in 2005, and the summer camp will be shortened from eight weeks to six. Interlochen administrators say that the cuts were necessary to insure financial stability and allow for basdly-needed raises for the remaining faculty. The summer program had 247 instructors and more than 2000 students this past summer. Traverse City (MI) Record-Eagle 11/27/04

  • Lean & Mean, Or Just Watered Down? AJ Blogger Drew McManus, an alumnus of Interlochen, has a number of questions about this week's cuts, and is curious about the creation of 18 new positions for "teaching assistants," who will presumably be paid considerably less than the more experienced full-time faculty. "These assistants report directly to the newly created area coordinators, the same people responsible for evaluating and recommending the faculty members who were on the current 'massacre' list... I don’t know how enthusiastic I would be to send my son or daughter off to camp if part of their instruction is not going to come directly from resident faculty members." Adaptistration (AJ Blogs) 11/28/04

The More The Merrier In Denver Nothing strikes terror into the hearts of planners of local holiday shows like the news that the Rockettes are coming to town. The touring version of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular has been a mass-marketing juggernaut in many cities, severely cutting into ticket sales for local productions of The Nutcracker and other holiday favorites. But in Denver, where the Radio City show is debuting this year, "the show's ubiquitous advertising and numerous public appearances have brought earlier and increased awareness to all consumers of their impending holiday entertainment choices. And early returns indicate everyone seems to have benefited." Denver Post 11/27/04

Putting The Public Back In Public Art Chicago artists have long complained that the city's public art program is unnecessarily secretive and unresponsive to public concerns. A corporate lawyer named Scott Hodes has been fighting to get the program's inner workings open to scrutiny for years, and now, he appears to have won. Among other accusations of impropriety, Hodes "alleged that $20,600 in program funds were improperly channeled to artists and apprentices through a charity directed by [Chicago's First Lady Maggie] Daley." The city, which has always maintained that the program operates completely above board, has now agreed to meet with Hodes and, presumably, to satisfy his demands for a more transparent process. Chicago Tribune 11/27/04

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

America's Biggest Philanthropists Arts groups may have a tough time prying much money out of the government these days, but 2004 has been a record year for private giving, with enormous single gifts dominating the philanthropic landscape. The biggest donors of the year were Bill & Melinda Gates, who pumped a whopping $3 billion into their own foundation, and while most of the truly outsized gifts went to universities and foundations, arts groups got their share of the largesse as well. Business Week 11/29/04

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

The Culture Wars - Back To The 80s The culture wars are heating up again, and it's depressing to think we'll be refighting battles of the 80s (shouldn't that be 50's? or 1850s...?) "The danger of the return of the culture war is not only the damage that the right will inflict, but also artists' responses. I dread a new round of right-wing-baiting art and its cycle of abuse. Art lobs a spit ball and the firestorm of outrage arrives right on schedule, followed by lame dodges." The Stranger (Seattle) 11/23/04

Saratoga Center Dinged For Poor Management The Saratoga Performing Arts Center, which last summer tried to end a longstanding summer residency by New York City Ballet, has been cited for bad management by an audit of the organization. "Over the last few years, the Saratoga arts center has struggled with an annual deficit of $400,000 to $500,000 on an operating budget of $13 million and been forced to dip into its $7 million endowment to cover operating expenses." The New York Times 11/23/04

Monday, November 22, 2004

US Senate Passes New Copyright Bill "The US Senate passed a scaled-back version of a controversial copyright bill Saturday, keeping a provision that imposes severe penalties on people caught with camcorders in movie theaters but scrapping other provisions that copyright-reform activists had criticized." Wired 11/22/04

America's Top Arts Private Fundraisers Which American arts organizations raised the most money from private donors last year? Carnegie Hall came first, bringing in $82.7, and the Met Opera was second with $68.6 million. But No. 7 was the Nashville Symphony? Chicago Tribune 11/22/04

Iraqi Art's Coming Out Artists worked in Iraq during the Saddam years, but the art being made in Iraq now is different. "Artists are emerging from the atrophied, censorious Saddam years, from the distortions of taste provoked by state patronage and control and the horizons foreshortened by sanctions, and are beginning to document what is around them." The Guardian (UK) 11/22/04

Sunday, November 21, 2004

Arts Outlook: Funding After The Election What's the arts funding outlook after recent US elections? "In a country divided on nearly everything else, funding for the arts is inching toward bipartisan support. That has some arts leaders feeling cautiously optimistic. Others in the art world wonder whether risky, boundary-pushing art is itself at risk." The Star-Tribune (Mpls) 11/22/04

Sticking Up For Wales Why are people so dismissive of Wales? It's almost a national sport. And yet, Wales is coming into its own culturally... The Observer (UK) 11/21/04

A Culture Of Culture What does it take to have a thriving arts community? Well, money of course, but there's a whole culture of support that distinguishes a city that works culturally. Take Cleveland, for example... The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 11/21/04

Friday, November 19, 2004

KC Arts Center Stalled Over A Garage "[Kansas City] officials, in a dispute that affects other downtown developments, are at loggerheads with backers of the proposed performing arts center over the location of a promised garage. The clash has complicated the city's effort to acquire land controlled by backers of the performing arts center for a $50 million ballroom planned for the Bartle Hall convention center, city officials say. And Kansas City Ballet officials say that until the flap is resolved, their plan to build a $25 million home on the east side of Wyandotte Street between 16th and 17th streets is on hold." Kansas City Star 11/19/04

Thursday, November 18, 2004

Teaming Up Six Hartford-area arts groups have joined forces to offer a multi-genre season ticket package designed to allow younger residents uninterested in tradition season passes to a single organization to pick and choose among the arts offerings available in the city. "The $99 price tag is a significant discount over regular priced tickets, more than 50 percent for some events," and purchasers can redeem the vouchers at the local symphony, opera house, museum, theater, or dance company. Town Times (CT) 11/18/04

The Censorship Logic Problem Censorship rears its head in the UK. But what a crazy policy. "The insoluble problem for censors in free societies today is the impossibility of establishing codes of the harmful and offensive that will obtain across every race, minority and interest group. There are so many clashing boundaries. Caught between the rock of freedom of expression and the hard place of our respect for the sensibilities of minorities, every cut or ban he makes ends up looking illogical and faintly ridiculous." The Telegraph (UK) 11/17/04

The Culture Wars Are Back (Hold On!) The culture wars are back, and censorship is already sending a chill throughout the country, writes Frank Rich. "Merely the threat that the F.C.C. might punish a TV station or a network is all that's needed to push them onto the slippery slope of self-censorship before anyone in Washington even bothers to act. This is McCarthyism, "moral values" style." The New York Times 11/18/04

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Analysis: Arts Maintain Position After US Election An analysis of the recent American election from an arts advocacy position suggests that the arts will neither gain or lose in the next Congress. "At the federal level, arts policy will likely remain on its current course, with no major policy shifts anticipated that would negatively impact the arts within the administration or the new 109th Congress," states an analysis -- called '2004 Election Impact on the Arts' -- from the advocacy group's Arts Action Fund." Back Stage 11/17/04

Revisiting Childhood Through The Arts "Childhood has become a boundless new frontier in the arts, a terrain of seemingly infinite magnitude, emotional density and thematic complexity. Audiences may find themselves disoriented and unnerved, as the conventional views of innocence, precociousness and predatory corruption give way to deeper vistas of childhood experience and meaning. In complicated, challenging and sometimes confounding ways, children occupy an increasingly large share of our collective imagination." San Francisco Chronicle 11/17/04

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Pittsburgh To Nonprofits: Help Us Out, Or Else Pittsburgh is asking nonprofit corporations in the city to kick in $6 million towards its financial recovery efforts, and warning that groups refusing to participate could face political retribution down the line. Among the threats from city and state lawmakers are that non-participating nonprofits could have state grants withheld, or even face the loss of their nonprofit status, which allows them to operate tax-free. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 11/17/04

The End Of Copyright As We Know It? This week the US Congress could vote on a major copyright bill that would radically redefine the legal use of creative work. "The Senate might vote on HR2391, the Intellectual Property Protection Act, a comprehensive bill that opponents charge could make many users of peer-to-peer networks, digital-music players and other products criminally liable for copyright infringement. The bill would also undo centuries of "fair use" -- the principle that gives Americans the right to use small samples of the works of others without having to ask permission or pay." Wired 11/16/04

Monday, November 15, 2004

43 Cuban Actors Defect In Las Vegas "Members of a theatrical production staged the largest mass defection of Cuban performers to date yesterday as 43 cast members of Havana Night Club applied for political asylum at a US federal court in Las Vegas... The performers said they had decided to stay in the US after the authorities told them they could be jailed or barred from performing in Cuba." The Guardian (UK) 11/16/04

Sunday, November 14, 2004

Creative History Evolution is no longer the last word on lerning about life in one Pennsylvania school district. "With a vote last month, a school board in a rural south-central Pennsylvania community is believed to have become the first in the nation to mandate the teaching of 'intelligent design,' which holds that the universe is so complex that it must have been created by an unspecified higher power." MSNBC (AP) 11/12/04

Entertainment Journos - Just Fans With Better Access? Entertainment journalism isn't really journalism at all, writes Geoff Pevere. "You have to wonder if the admittedly integrity-challenged dodge of 'entertainment journalism' hasn't given up, bought fishnet stockings, miniskirt and stiletto heels and hung out the red light. When an actor walks into a room full of alleged professionals and is greeted by a shout, the jig is up. We're just fans with better access." Toronto Star 11/12/04

The Death Of The Great Philanthropists It is one of the topics that gets whispered about in arts circles, but rarely confronted head-on: a generation of great philanthropists is beginning to die out, with no replacements in sight. "These folks were more than just rich people who gave their money away out of a sense of noblesse oblige... They weren't especially interested in having their names on buildings. In their best days, you'd see them — frequently — in the buildings of the organizations they supported and in other arts venues they simply found interesting." These days, corporations are replacing individuals in major giving, and that doesn't bode well for art, music, theatre, or the people who make it. St. Paul Pioneer Press 11/14/04

Urban Planning With An Artistic Edge Newcastle and Gateshead were two of the UK's most blighted cities. But a new wave of culture-based rejuvenation is sweeping the area, with impressive results. "Today the derelict wharves and warehouses have been transformed into restaurants, art galleries and loft apartments... The district, known as the Quayside, thrums with activity day and night. The Quayside's most impressive projects are the Baltic Center for Contemporary Art, the Sage Music Center and a pedestrian bridge over the Tyne that tilts upward to let ships pass." Chicago Tribune 11/14/04

Is Europe Heading Towards The American Funding Model? European museums are rapidly being forced to confront a new economic reality in which the centuries-old tradition of government funding appears to be withering on the vine. "Such is the crisis in government financing for British museums that their acquisitions budgets can no longer match market prices. In the case of the Tate, its buying power is about 5 percent of what it was two decades ago... Is this the moment when corporate sponsorship of major arts institutions finally becomes respectable in Europe? The answers seem obvious. How else can museums remain vigorous?" The New York Times 11/13/04

Friday, November 12, 2004

Canadian Tax Code To Artists: You're On Your Own (Yay!) Canada's artists are now considered self-employed. "Performing artists have had the tax status of independent contractors for many years in Canada. In recent years, however, the Canada Revenue Agency had changed their interpretations of some statutes and concluded that artists were, in fact, employees. While such a move would have given artists some immediate benefits such as EI, it also would have deprived them of numerous long-term deductions that allow them to make ends meet. If performers were employees, they would no longer be able to write off any transportation, housing or other expenses that they incurred while trying to make a living across this geographically vast country." Toronto Star 11/12/04

Thursday, November 11, 2004

Seattle Opera, Ballet Asked To Cover Construction Bill The city of Seattle is telling Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet that they'll have to pay a share of the bill on their new home. "The city is asking the opera and ballet to come up with $114,000 each to pay the first year of debt under the council's plan. That amount will increase to $227,000 for each of the arts groups in 2006." Seattle Post-Intelligencer 11/11/04

Fund Seeks To Fund Bay Area Creativity "The Ford Foundation's Leveraging Investments in Creativity initiative, which conveniently spells LINC as an acronym, surveyed Bay Area artists over a 15-year period and came up with some important and distressing findings: Sixty-three percent of artists earned less than $7,000 from their art. Seventy-eight percent of artists worked more than one job, and all artists surveyed had a median gross income from all sources of $35,000. In 2004, artists have less time to spend on their art than they did 15 years ago." San Francisco Chronicle 11/11/04

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Edinburgh Fests Rally To Stay On Top With other UK cities planning big new summer festivals, the 11 Edinburgh festivals have formed a new association to better represent themselves. "The new Association of Edinburgh’s Festivals will act as a unified voice and lobbying group at a time when Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle are preparing for major arts events of their own." The Scotsman 11/12/04

Irish Arts Council Warns Government About Money The Irish Arts Council has warned that it needs more money this year to fund its obligations, and if it doesn't get it "arts centres around the country may be forced to close and theatres could go "dark" if the Government does not provide €68m to fund the arts sector next year. Irish Independent 11/10/04

Tuesday, November 9, 2004

Surprise! Chicago Arts Groups Lose Betting Income Traditionally, the state of Illinois has distributed some of its income from Off Track Betting operations to cultural institutions. But in closing a state budget deficit, the money was taken off the table. "The lack of OTB grants this year will mean a combined $1.1 million loss for Chicago attractions that include the Art Institute of Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History, Museum of Science and Industry, Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium, attractions that officials say pump an estimated $500 million into the economy every year." Chicago Sun-Times 11/09/04

Monday, November 8, 2004

Cycling Beats Tate In UK Lottery Affections Which of the UK's National Lottery projects has made the biggest impact on the public? "In a rare examination of public views on how lottery money should be spent, the £43.5m national cycle network - said to have saved 38m car journeys - was picked as the project which had made the biggest overall impact on UK life during the first decade of lottery funding. It beat Tate Modern and the Eden Project, the Cornish greenhouse complex, for its section of the national lottery day's "helping hand" awards." The Guardian (UK) 11/09/04

Manchester To Launch Big New Festival The city of Manchester is launching a new summer festival to rival the Edinburgh Festival. "The new endeavour will take over the city for three weeks of July every other year, starting in 2007. The festival will have a budget of £5m - compared with Edinburgh's £7.2m - and its artistic director is to be Alex Poots, currently head of contemporary arts at English National Opera." The Guardian (UK) 11/09/04

Georgia School Board Sued Over Creationism Stickers A Georgia school board is being sued by a group of parents who believe stickers afixed to textbooks by the school district "push the teaching of creationism and discriminate against non-Christians and followers of a number of other religions.The stickers read: 'This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered'." Yahoo! (Reuters) 11/08/04

In Arts - Where The Money Goes Just what so arts institutions spend their money on? You might think it was musicians' or actors' salaries. But most of the costs of running the modern arts enterprise are behind-the-scenes costs. Take Detroit arts groups, for example... Detroit News 11/08/04

Bay Area Artists Weigh In On Election How are artists feeling about last week's re-election of George Bush? The San Francisco Chronicle asked several... San Francisco Chronicle 11/08/04

Sunday, November 7, 2004

Bloom: Key To Cleveland's Renaissance "In 1915, Cleveland's city fathers had the foresight to recognize that if Cleveland was to become a major business center, its citizens would require a first-rate cultural environment. In that year, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Play House were established. At this critical juncture in Cleveland's history, we desperately need arts, corporate and civic leaders to come forward and demonstrate the same understanding. The arts are one of Cleveland's great success stories. But even a newcomer such as myself knows it is one of America's best-kept secrets." The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 11/06/04

Does Banning Musicians For Content Make Us Safer? The UK has banned two reggae artists from perfoming and is investigating the lyrics of 8 others for their homophobic lyrics. "Reported homophobic assaults have risen 10 per cent in the past year and racially motivated attack and abuse, up elevenfold, reflect a wider picture." But will banning singers really make gays safer? Hmnnn... The Observer (UK) 11/06/04

Culture's Impact On Politics: Zilch, Apparently John Kerry had a lot of star power behind him in his losing bid to become President of the United States, with major stars in the world of music, film, and literature lining up to support the Democrat. But though "the 2004 election turned mainly on cultural issues, as distinct from matters of economics or public policy... the vast majority of those who think of themselves as cultural professionals found themselves firmly on the losing side. In an election that many arts people saw as being of cataclysmic importance, that clear disconnect spawned a lot of soul-searching in studios, offices, screening-rooms and theaters over the latter half of the week." Chicago Tribune 11/07/04

Friday, November 5, 2004

Survey: Scottish Art Fails To Serve Deaf People A survey of Scottish arts institutions shows that few are equiped to serve deaf people. "It showed that although selected centres welcomed deaf and hard of hearing visitors, in some cases producing access guides, most failed to be sufficiently accessible." Edinburgh News 11/05/04

The Artist Factor - Did It Matter? "Rarely have so many artists committed themselves to the defeat of a politician as Bruce Springsteen, Michael Moore and many others did in opposing George W. Bush. Now, with the president's re-election, those artists find themselves asking whether they made a difference and whether they would do it again." Hoston Chronicle 11/04/04

Thursday, November 4, 2004

Scottish Arts Council Calls For New Arts Minister The Scottish Arts Council has called on the government to appoint a dedicated minister for the arts. "The council has about 100 employers overseeing some £60 million in arts funding a year. It laid out its ideas in a submission to the Scottish Executive’s Cultural Commission." The Scotsman 11/05/04

Miami Voters Approve Big New Arts Bond Issue Even though Miami's new performing arts center is way over budget and behind in its construction schedule, voters in Mimai/Dade County approved a huge new $552.7 million property tax bond issue for cultural facilities. "It includes $100 million toward a $175 million Miami Art Museum and $175 million toward a $267 million Museum of Science and Planetarium -- both probably in Bicentennial Park. It also funds 59 other projects..." Miami Herald 11/04/04

Cleveland Arts Center Keeps Raking In The Cash Cleveland's $42 million "Idea Center", which will house dance studios, a small theater, and broadcast facilities for local public radio and TV stations when it is completed, got another major gift this week when the Reinberger Foundation pledged a cool million to the project. "This is the third major gift for the project this year. The George Gund Foundation contributed $1.6 million in July. Key Bank donated $1 million in March. The two nonprofit partners have raised about $10 million. They hope to raise an additional $17 million, with the rest of the money coming from historic tax credits and the state." The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 11/04/04

Wednesday, November 3, 2004

Culture Lottery - Ten Years Of Good Work "In England, £1.86bn of lottery money has been pumped into the arts over the past decade, £1.3bn of which has been capital investment to create 100 new venues and refurbish 500 others. The arts councils in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have disbursed another £400m, and the UK film industry has received over £100m. The arts - museums in particular - have also been able to tap into huge amounts of cash from the millennium fund and heritage fund, taking the investment into the stratosphere. No wonder Arts Council England (ACE) wants to blow its own trumpet." The Guardian (UK) 11/04/04

Congress' Arts Report Card Americans for the Arts has released report cards on members of Congress for their support of legislative arts issues. "The highest-ranked states tended to have smaller delegations. Among states with delegations of 10 or more House members, Massachusetts and New York finished in front. Thirty-three House members received the highest possible grade (A+). However, the average grade for the House was a B. Arts support is increasingly bipartisan, the report card shows, a relief to arts advocates who saw conservative Republicans attempt to scrap the NEA in the mid-'90s." Backstage 11/03/04

Lyrics Illegal? Scotland Yard Investigates "Detectives are investigating claims that lyrics penned by eight leading reggae artists incite violence against homosexuals and are therefore illegal. Lyrics by Beenie Man, Elephant Man and Bounty Killer are among those being scrutinised by Scotland Yard." BBC 11/3/04

Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Ten Years Of UK's Cultural Jackpot The UK's national lottery has transformed the cultural landscape in the past ten years. "From large-scale projects such as Cornwall's Eden Project to much smaller, community-based projects, such as in-school football coaching in primary schools, the lottery has, to date, raised £16bn for good causes." The Guardian (UK) 11/03/04

  • Could Arts Lose Lottery Funding? Sir Christopher Frayling, the chairman of Arts Council England, has warned that the arts could get edged out of National Lottery money in favor of sports. Frayling points to a number of reasons, adding that "ministers were happy being photographed at football matches, but afraid of being seen at any remotely controversial [arts event]." The Guardian (UK) 11/03/04

  • Gambling On Culture The Heritage Lottery Fund has made an impact on culture. But what kind of impact? "So what has HLF achieved in the past ten years? Has it been too conservative? Or too politically correct? Is it right that a non-governmental body, funded by our gambling appetite, should be the last refuge for Britain's most important distressed buildings, artworks and natural environments? And has the HLF's change of direction since Labour came to office meant support for too many "inclusive" projects at the expense of the more traditional kind? The HLF has presided over a decade of unrivalled munificence towards the heritage world - £3.33bn awarded to 1,680 projects throughout Britain." Prospect 11/04

Monday, November 1, 2004

Pop Goes The Ballet Recently, some of the UK's most prestigious arts organizations have taken a walk on the pop side. The Royal Ballet is working on a piece set to music by Jimi Hendrix. But is such pop-lust a good thing for traditional art forms? A debate. The Guardian (UK) 11/02/04

A Decade Of Culture How have the arts changed in the past ten years? The Telegraph celebrates ten years on the web by looking at the past decade in the arts... The Telegraph (UK) 11/02/04

Overnight At The NYT For the first time in years, overnight reviews are back at the New York Times. "Not all NY Times reviews will be overnights, according to classical music editor James R. Oestreich, only those deemed practical and/or appropriate because of an event's importance. He told a conference of music critics at Columbia University several weeks ago that the move is part of the paper's effort to give its arts coverage more zing." Straight Up (AJBlogs) 11/01/04

Belfast Arts Center On Hold Plans for a major new arts center in Belfast have been put on hold. "The proposal was to house the Lyric Theatre, the Old Museum Arts Centre and the School of Music on a site within the Cathedral Quarter. It was hoped that the move would create a thriving cultural area in the heart of the city. However, the £27m price tag and disagreements over the details of the plan have seen it fail to develop." BBC 11/01/04


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