Ideas

Parting Company? "Companies have become part of the furniture of our lives. Most of us work for them. They make almost everything we buy. Most of our savings are tied up in them. Yet now the furniture seems uncomfortable, broken or downright dangerous. Companies are cutting back jobs and slashing pensions. Far from proving a reliable source of future wealth, they seem to be picking the money out of our pockets. Above all, many who have worked most of their lives in companies have suddenly discovered that they are curiously impersonal things..." Financial Times 02/24/03

Visual Arts

Philadelphia Museum Of Art Expands The Philadelphia Museum of Art is starting construction of phase I of a long-range $200 million expansion which will take 15 years. The first phase expansion, when it opens in 2006, will, in essence, become a new wing of the city's largest museum." The museum hopes its long-term expansion will "boost its attendance from around 800,000 visitors each year to more than 1 million. The museum has raised $171 million of a $200 million capital campaign to pay for the construction, increase its endowment, and expand its programs. It hopes to raise the rest within 18 months." Philadelphia Inquirer 02/25/03

Terrorism Fears Limit Museum Artwork Loans Fears of terrorism are affecting museums' willingness to loan artwork for exhibitions. "Since 9/11, European institutions have become reluctant to lend their prize works of art to New York museums without new assurances of beefed-up security and increased terrorism insurance. For places like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the cost of such insurance has escalated so dramatically that it threatens to break budgets just as these institutions are struggling with dwindling sponsorships and cutbacks in public funds." The New York Times 02/25/03

Iraq War Would Imperil Archaeological Treasures Archaeologists worry that a war in Iraq will stop digs across the Middle East. "Researchers with long experience in Iraq say they are worried that postwar looting could cause even more damage to the antiquities than combat. They also fear that some art dealers and collectors might try to take advantage of any postwar disarray and change in government to gain access to more of Iraq's archaeological treasures." The New York Times 02/25/03

• Iraq War = Certain Destruction Of Artifacts Of Human History Iraq is rich in important historical sites and artifacts. "The country is one of the prime centers of Islamic art and culture. It is home to some of the earliest surviving examples of Islamic architecture — the Great Mosque at Samarra and the desert palace of Ukhaidar — and it is also a magnet for religious pilgrimage. The tombs of Imam Ali and his son Husein, founders of the Shiite branch of Islam, at Najaf and Karbala, are two of the most revered in the Muslim world." A war will surely damage some of it. The New York Times 02/25/03

Great Art Without Need Of A Story The Museum of Modern Art's Matisse Picasso show gathers up lots of great paintings. "With sixty-seven mostly top-drawer paintings, drawings, and sculptures by Picasso and sixty-six by Matisse, the show hardly needs a pretext, but it has one: a running dialogue of mutual attractions and abrasions between the twin godheads of modern painting. But to extract the story—an elliptical tale, full of hints, puzzles, and fine discriminations—while looking at so much stupendous art is like trying to check the oil in a speeding truck." The New Yorker 02/24/03

Battle Of WTC Design Criticism A few weeks ago New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp attacked Daniel Libeskind's design for the World Trade Center site. A number of observers were amazed at the attack and protested. The Times' response? "This past Sunday the Times published an attack on the THINK design [the other design finalist] by New York University Art History Professor Marvin Trachtenberg - and in the space usually reserved for Muschamp, no less. Trachtenberg, in a thinly concealed response to the besieged Times critic, dismissed the THINK design as 'an architectural Frankenstein monster' and went on to praise Libeskind's in glowing terms. '[I]t is in a class by itself in its deeply creative, organic relationship to the specificity of ground zero and its environment and meaning'." The New York Times 02/24/03

Music

Music From A Political Time - Does It Work? Do symphonic music and politics mix? "To a great degree, the medium defeats itself. The sheer time, effort and expense required to compose, rehearse and perform a full-scale symphonic work militates against writing one as an immediate response to a specific political situation. Works assembled quickly to make a point tend to show it, and in the concert world ephemera — even well-meaning ephemera — slips into the mist moments after its premiere, taking its message with it." The New York Times 02/25/03

English National Opera Cancels Performances Because Of Strike London's English National Opera has had to start canceling performances after the company's chorus voted to strike. Chrous members are protesting a plan to lay off a third of their number. "The savings they will make by making 20 choristers redundant for the current season will be as little as £120,000, because they will have to hire freelancers to make up the numbers. We do not believe that £120,000 is a make or break sum for an organisation that has an annual turnover of more than £30m." BBC 02/25/03

What A Hit Band Earns So how much does a hot new band earn from a hit recording? Let's say this hypothetical hot band sells 500,000 albums at $16.98. That's gross sales of $8,490,000. [Remember, of course, that this is a very hot band - only 128 of more than 30,000 records sold half a million recordings in 2002.] Well - after all the fees, commissions, fees, percentages, charges and expenses are deducted, the band comes home with $161,909 - split however many ways by band mambers. For a hit. Is this any way to run a business? New York Daily News 02/24/03

Arts Issues

Massachusetts Bracing For More Arts Cuts Massachusetts' governor will propose a state budget this week, and arts groups are fearful. Last August, former acting Gov. Jane Swift slashed the Massachusetts Cultural Council budget by 62 percent - from $19.1 million to $7.3 million - the most drastic cut to an arts agency nationwide. The agency eliminated 27 percent of its staff positions, dismantled eight of its 13 grant programs and cut funds distributed through the remaining programs by about 62 percent." Now the state faces a $3.2 billion deficit, and further cuts are being planned throughout the state... Boston Herald 02/25/03

Leadership Void - Arts Jobs Go Begging "Filling the top jobs at major cultural institutions has become increasingly difficult. The pool that you fish in is a very small pool, and that pool is shrinking. As the jobs become more difficult, there is a shrinking group of people, and the pool is not being replenished by people coming up from the ranks. At the same time, these posts have grown in visibility and importance to the local economy." Oh yes - the salaries to run the big organizations are tiny compared to corporate America. Philadelphia Inquirer 02/25/03

Monday, February 24, 2003

Working On A Piece Of Lincoln Center A fix-up of New York's Lincoln Center is said to cost $1.2 billion. Many are skeptical the money can be raised and the designs agreed upon by the arts center's many constituents. So maybe another way to get the project underway is to take a piece of it and make it real. With that in mind, plans are being developed to open up West 65th Street and make it more accessible and inviting. Even this plan costs $150 million, and in this fundraising climate... The New York Times 02/25/03

Are Our Public Universities Endangered? "Slashing support for public colleges, of course, is part of the ebb and flow of economic cycles. In bad times, state lawmakers use public higher education to balance their budgets, knowing that the institutions can raise tuition rates. Then, in good times, lawmakers funnel money back to the colleges to make up for the down years. It has worked that way for decades. But this time might be different." Is a wave of privatization of public universities in the works? Chronicle of Higher Education 02/24/03

Arts Are Worth Investing In "Do the states have budgetary problems? Absolutely. Do they need to sacrifice because of the shortfalls? Absolutely. Do important programs need to be trimmed? Yes, without question. But wipe out arts budgets altogether? No. The arts are a medium into our future. They are our vehicles for introspection, enlightenment and pleasure. They can't be manufactured, reproduced or legislated. We need to identify the new artists, nurture their gifts and support them, irrespective of how difficult it will be to afford them." Hollywood Reporter 02/24/03

San Jose Economic Impact Study Measures Arts A new economic impact study in San Jose "estimates the non-profit arts industry contributed $177 million to the San Jose economy during the 2001-2002 fiscal year. The study also says the industry contributed almost 6,000 jobs." So how come the city's arts institutions are in such financial danger? The city's arts leaders are meeting to plot a strategy. San Jose Mercury-News 02/24/03

• Creativity? Check. Inspiration? Check. Good Business? That Too... "If you can't be convinced that the arts deserve support for how they enrich our lives, how they feed the creativity that leads to the genius of high technology and other endeavors, or how they create a quality of life necessary to attract and keep a great workforce, consider simple economics." San Jose Mercury-News 02/24/03

People

Terry Gross At Bargain Basement Prices Terry Gross is host of Fresh Air, one of America's public radio top interview shows. But WHYY in Philadelphia, where the show originates, doesn't list Gross among its top-paid employees. In 2001, Gross earned $85,000, making her one of the lowest-paid national hosts. "In an interview, Gross said she had considered herself underpaid compared with other hosts of nationally aired public radio shows. Since then, though, the station has raised her salary 'substantially,' she said. 'I'm satisfied,' she said." Philadelphia Inquirer 02/24/03

Alex Ross Remembers Lou Harrison: "A roly-poly guy who reminded everyone of a sun-kissed Santa Claus, Harrison seemed for a long time to be the only happy composer in America; unlike so many of his congenitally embittered ivory-tower colleagues, he not only accepted his marginal status in the nation's culture but revelled in it. Yet he was, in many ways, an imposing figure—at once the prophet of the minimalist movement and the last vital representative of the mighty populist generation led by Aaron Copland." The New Yorker 02/24/03

Publishing

Is Random House Unraveling? Some of Random House's biggest writers are considering leaving the publisher "after the ouster five weeks ago of its publisher and editor in chief, Ann Godoff, who soon began seeking to lure many of them to a new imprint. The shake-up is raising questions among authors, agents and critics about the future of the venerable Random House imprint, the home of William Faulkner, Robert Penn Warren and Truman Capote, and an important institution in modern American letters." The New York Times 02/24/03

One Book, No Interest Several cities around North Ameria have embraced the "if everyone read the same book" idea. Not in Pittsburgh. Since the launch of that city's porogram, "several activities - including a theatrical presentation of the book's rape trial at the Hazlett Theater, North Side, and classes sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Lifetime Learning - have been canceled for lack of interest." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 02/20/03

Salon Scrutiny Is Unusual For A New Magazine So Salon magazine is on the financial ropes. But Salon's publisher says the online mag's finances are not unusual for a magazine. " 'Being a public company has been a huge burden. How long does the average magazine take to reach profitability? Sports Illustrated — 12 years. USA Today — 10 years.' But these publications were developed inside corporations big enough to hide the years of losses in a dark corner of the accounting department. Salon does not have that luxury. Every expenditure drops directly to the bottom line, where it's paraded past the investment community." Los Angeles Times 02/24/03

Media

War Fears Discourage Movie Shooting "Concerns about the prospect of a war in the Middle East have forced most major productions shooting overseas to take out supplemental insurance to guard against the possibility of a war-related shutdown or terrorist incident." Some - like a new production of "Fiddler On The Roof" have canceled shooting altogether. Toronto Star 02/25/03

Movie Studios, Electronics Firms Meet To Combat Piracy Holly wood movie studios and electronics companies are meeting to find ways to stop illegal copying of movies. "The new group will explore ways to use electronic watermarks and other signaling techniques that could remain embedded in a program after it's converted to analog. Many DVD recorders already incorporate one such technology, which hides copying restrictions within an unused portion of a standard TV picture." Los Angeles Times 02/24/03

Movies Without The Books Is it important to read the book that a movie is based on before seeing the movie? Not at all. In some cases, knowing the book may make it difficult to enjoy the adaptation. "A film may be well able to stand on its own without comparison to its source. To dwell on changes from the origin can load the film with obligations that may be aesthetically irrelevant." The New Republic 02/24/03

The Sony Conundrum Sony used to be an innovator. It invented the Walkman. "What's changed since the original Walkman debuted is that Sony became the only conglomerate to be in both consumer electronics and entertainment. As a result, it's conflicted: Sony's electronics side needs to let customers move files around effortlessly, but its entertainment side wants to build in restraints, because it sees every customer as a potential thief. The company's internal divisions reflect those in the marketplace, where entertainment executives have declared war on consumers over file-sharing. But Sony's position is unique. It can settle the fight and flourish, or do nothing and be hobbled." Wired 02/03

Dance

Ballet With Regional Accents Ballet is ballet, right? Just as in music, a global sensibility has eradicated national styles, right? Not exactly. "Variations in ballet style make life for balletgoers more interesting, by reminding audiences that companies from different countries and schools have very different, culturally inflected ways of performing a codified technique that is generally thought to be the same everywhere." The New York Times 02/23/03