Visual Arts Walker To Close For A Year Minneapolis' Walker Art Center is closing in February for a year. "Plans call for the Walker to reopen in spring 2005, when a $90 million addition on its south side will be finished. The addition includes new galleries, a small theater, new dining facilities and other public spaces." The Star-Tribune (Mpls) 09/19/03 Posted: 09/19/2003 7:07 am A Lifetime Of Art "Dorothy Miller, who died in July at 99, was one of the first curators hired by the Museum of Modern Art in 1934. Over the years she championed painters like Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Frank Stella and Jasper Johns. The contents of her Greenwich Village apartment are to be sold in a series of auctions at Christie's beginning Nov. 11 and are expected to bring $9 million to $12.6 million. They chronicle the 35-year career of a woman who helped shape modern art." The New York Times 09/19/03 Posted: 09/19/2003 6:58 am Music Canadian Blank CD Tax Generates $19 Million For Music Industry A Canadian tax on blank CD and audio cassette sales is expected to pay out $19 million to composers, performers, publishers and record labels in the next three months. "The payments are calculated from two measurable factors - the airplay songs get on radio, TV networks and individual music programs, and the record sales logged and reported by labels." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 09/19/03 Posted: 09/19/2003 6:11 am At The NY Phil - The Maazel Question "As he begins his second season as music director, Lorin Maazel, 73, and the New York Philharmonic's board are grappling with some urgent issues. Naturally the proposed merger with Carnegie Hall has drawn most of the attention. But the more immediate question concerns Mr. Maazel's future. If the merger happens as planned, the Philharmonic will relocate in the fall of 2006, by which time Mr. Maazel's current four-year contract will have run out. Will he be reappointed? Or does the orchestra envision playing its first concert in its new home under a new conductor?" The New York Times 09/19/03 Posted: 09/18/2003 8:49 pm Big Recording Companies Jockey For Ownership Music recording giants BMG and Warner seem on the verge of forging an alliance worth $2 billion. EMI, which has been circling Warner and appears to be gearing up for another run at the company, would likely find the alliance too costly to swallow. The Guardian (UK) 09/18/03 Posted: 09/18/2003 6:21 pm Fort Wayne Symphony Fights Off Money Challenges The Fort Wayne Symphony in Indiana has frozen wages for all its employees and is looking at restructuring to fight off budget problems. "A weak economy, lagging ticket sales and a decrease in foundation giving all have taken their toll. The new $4.3 million budget for fiscal year 2003-2004, which projects expenses exceeding income by $219,000, was passed by the Philharmonic board at its monthly meeting Tuesday." Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette 09/18/03 Posted: 09/18/2003 5:48 pm Arts Issues The Denver Culture Tax In 15 years, a Denver tax initiative that set aside .01 percent of sales collections for cultural groups has pumped more than $300 million into arts and culture... Denver Post 09/19/03 Posted: 09/19/2003 5:58 am Theatre Speaking The Word - Fad Or New Art? Spoken-word poetry is catching on in some theatres, but is it more than just the latest fad? "This isn't poetry like you read it in the English Department. This is 'performance poetry,' and there's no roadmap for how the genre develops audiences. Part of it is that the industry doesn't know what to do with these people." Backstage 09/18/03 Posted: 09/18/2003 6:02 pm Building For The Future At a time when many theatres are struggling to keep going and having to downsize, a number of theatre companies - like Minnesota's Guthrie Theatre - are building and opening new projects. "Today's projects are more likely to be about gaining flexibility and space for new programs and activities than merely adding seats. Theater companies are creating 'campuses' that they aim to fill with a variety of artistic activity nearly round the clock. Many are producing extensive education programs' for both children and adults." Christian Science Monitor 09/19/03 Posted: 09/18/2003 5:21 pm Publishing The Death Of Reading In Egypt? "These people, this cultured generation, there aren't any of them left. I remember how, the first day of summer vacation, women would converge at these stalls with their sons and daughters to stock up on summer readings. Now all kids want are their computer games and Game Boys. Today people have no use for a book unless it's for their Masters or Doctorate degree. No one reads for recreation. Just look around Ezbekeya at these empty stalls, and then go look at any fuul stand and see how many people are there in comparison." Egypt Today 09/18/03 Posted: 09/18/2003 9:53 pm Of Books And Mortality It's easy to see old brittle books and wonder at their fragility. But encountering them later in life one wonders: "What are 20 years to a book that survived the Inquisition? I, meanwhile, am more than twice the age I was when I saw it last. I am married, I have children and I am mourning my father, who died this year. I can't help thinking that part of the dread I felt seeing those fragile books as a teenager was unconscious anticipation of the moment when I would see them again as an adult and realize that I was the ephemeral one." The New York Times 09/19/03 Posted: 09/18/2003 8:56 pm Book Sales Figures That Put It All In Perspective "David Beckham may be barely literate, but he has outsold all six Booker Prize nominees in the first two days of his autobiography going on sale. The England soccer captain's book, My Side, sold 86,000 copies in two days, 21,000 more than the combined sales of the six shortlisted Booker candidates, which have been on sale for months. " Sydney Morning Herald 09/19/03 Posted: 09/18/2003 8:43 pm Agentless Rejected Author Beats Literary Majors For Booker Nomination "A piano teacher from Birmingham, whose first four novels were rejected by publishers, has beaten Martin Amis to the last six of the Man Booker Prize. 'I suppose it is a strike for all those of us who have unpublished books under our beds and wonder is it worth going on. Well it is,' Clare Morrall declared. 'Keep going'!" The Guardian (UK) 09/17/03 Posted: 09/18/2003 8:38 pm Media Diplomacy, Stallone Style How to improve Egypt's image in America? How about Sylvester Stallone in an action series? No kidding: "It's going to be a suspense series, there will be crime shows, and recovery of lost artifacts, kidnaps and retrieval, action and adventures where good triumphs over evil," Stallone said, suggesting it would bridge the gap between Americans and Arabs that has widened since 9/11. "I think people are scared of what they don't know, so the more you expose the different cultures to one another, you are going to see that they love their families, they go to work, they do the same things as us and right away you start to listen, and I think that's very important." Egypt Today 09/18/03 Posted: 09/18/2003 9:55 pm London Movies Booming The London film industry has had a couple of down years. But 2003 looks to be a record year. "Now experts reveal income from the industry this year will top $1 billion (£623 million), smashing the 2000 record. Britain's studios are running at full capacity after two difficult years, with a string of high-profile Hollywood and domestic projects in production." London Evening Standard 09/18/03 Posted: 09/18/2003 9:38 pm Reviewing The BBC's Right To Life The BBC's charter is up for renewal in 2006, and the British government is in a mood to examine the value of the public broadcaster. "We need to ask ourselves what we want and expect the BBC to deliver; what range and scale of services it should provide; how it should be positioned in relation to the market; how it should be funded and regulated; and whether it delivers good value for money." BBC 09/18/03 Posted: 09/18/2003 5:55 pm Finding A New Direction For The BBC Government review of the BBC signals that major change is on the way. "Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, yesterday signalled the start of a 'root and branch' review of the BBC's purpose and funding with a guarantee that its independence from government would be preserved. But she gave a stern warning that the BBC cannot expect to continue in its present form when its royal charter is renewed in 2006." The Guardian (UK) 09/18/03 Posted: 09/18/2003 5:33 pm Dance Dismissed Bolshoi Dancer Threatens To Sue Anastasia Volochkova, the ballerina fired this week by the Bolshoi Ballet after the company claimed she was overweight, says she may sue the company. "It's a myth that partners refuse to dance with me. In fact, the managers are trying to discourage them from dancing with me." BBC 09/19/03 Posted: 09/19/2003 7:55 am Under The Umbrella London's experimental Dance Umbrella is 25 years old. "A couple of critics concluded that if they ignored this anti-dance malarkey, it would go away. But it stayed. Val Bourne, who has directed Dance Umbrella throughout its 25 years, is a woman of infinite tenacity and vision. Hopeful experiments and extreme ideas have always been precious to her. Of course, there have been seasons where the sight of dancers ardently meditating on their inner organs have tested the public's patience..." The Guardian (UK) 09/18/03 Posted: 09/18/2003 6:13 pm