Study: If You're Smarter, You Live Longer? As the body ages, so does the brain, and as it does, some people lose their mental ability. This loss can become especially pronounced as we reach our seventies and beyond. Because the quality of life in old age is influenced by how well mental ability is maintained, considerable research is now being carried out on how aging affects our ability to think, reason and remember." A new study reports that "the 70-somethings scored quite a bit better than they did at age 11; second, that mental ability differences are pretty stable from age 11 to age 77; with some interesting exceptions, the high scorers did well and the modest remained so." Discovery (ABC) 09/30/03
Posted: 09/30/2003 4:29 pm
In Between Nature And Nurture Is it nature or nurture? It's an old debate. But maybe it's both. "Recent genetic research has shown us not only how genes influence behaviour but also how behaviour influences genes. Genes are designed to take their cue from nurture: the more we lift the lid on the genome, the more vulnerable to experience genes appear to be. Gene expression can be a consequence as well as a cause of what we do. The adherents of the ‘nurture’ side of the argument have scared themselves silly at the power and inevitability of genes, and missed the greatest lesson of all: the genes are on their side. We pick the nurture that suits our nature: having ‘sporty genes’ makes you want to practise sport; having ‘intellectual genes’ makes you seek out intellectual activity. The genes are the agents of nurture.” Prospect 09/03
Posted: 09/30/2003 4:03 pm
How To Be A Collector So you want to get yourself some art, hmm? But the world of galleries and artists and collectors seems so far removed from your everyday life that you hardly know where to begin. And besides that, you're on a budget. The solution may just be simple education, and a new group known as Art Mob, based at the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota, seeks to provide it, with lectures on collecting, tours of artists' studios, and one-on-one chats with curators and museum directors. St. Paul Pioneer Press 10/01/03
Posted: 10/01/2003 6:37 am
Charge: Government Starving UK's National Gallery Manager's of London's National Gallery charge that the government is starving the museum of cash. "The difficulties faced in making big acquisitions had almost reached 'crisis proportions', and the decline in the annual grant left 'nothing to spare'. Taking inflation into account, the gallery would need an extra £2.5m on top of the 2002-03 government grant of £20.4m to match the support offered, say, eight years ago." The Independent (UK) 10/01/03
Posted: 09/30/2003 4:52 pm
US Supreme Court To Hear Nazi Loot Case The US Supreme Court says it will hear a case "about Nazi-era stolen art to clarify when foreign governments can be sued in U.S. courts. 'The diplomatic ramifications of a United States court holding that Austria, a nation friendly to the United States, must appear in a United States court to answer charges that it is actively advancing Nazi war-crimes in connection with a matter of extreme domestic importance to Austria, cannot be understated'." CBSNews.com 09/30/03
Posted: 09/30/2003 4:47 pm
Barnes Strides Toward The Future The way seems clear for the Barnes Collection to move to Philadelphia and have a shot at becoming self-sustaining. But still, some "critics worry that the groundwork is being laid for a new 'MacBarnes', a user-friendly museum/mall of gift shops and computer nooks designed to maximise the number of visitors. For now, the Barnes’s petition retains Albert C. Barnes’s ban on lending or selling works from the collection but critics warn that this might be reconsidered in the future if expansion plans collapse." The Art Newspaper 09/26/03
Posted: 09/30/2003 3:53 pm
A New Biennale For Edinburgh? There has been no small amount of grumbling about the fact that the big summer festivals in Edinburgh don't include a visual arts component. Now a high-profile group is attempting to start one. "The summer event - which would be modelled on the lines of the Venice Biennale, Europe’s leading visual arts festival, is likely to involve exhibitions, discussions and book-signings by leading figures in the art world, as well as giving contemporary Scottish artists a showcase opportunity." Scotland on Sunday 09/28/03
Posted: 09/30/2003 3:47 pm
No Nudes, Please. Not In Public When five of 60 artists participating in a group studio show in a California county building submitted pictures of nudes, they were told they couldn't display them. The artists were told it was a county policy for "no nudity:" "The artists were told to take the nudes down because it was our feeling since the art is being displayed in a public place where the public is not coming to the building to see art but rather to do business, that there's a more appropriate place for the pieces. It's a public building, they're asking our permission to put their art there, and we have a say." The Union (Nevada County, CA) 09/30/03
Posted: 09/30/2003 2:11 pm
Taking On Ticketmaster A classic David-and-Goliath battle is shaping up over the way concert tickets are marketed and sold in the U.S., thanks to an ongoing dispute between ticketing behemoth Ticketmaster, and a wildly successful Colorado indie band known as The String Cheese Incident. The band has been doing something of an end-run around Ticketmaster, which has exclusive ticketing rights at venues across the country and often incurs the wrath of consumers with its famous "convenience fees" and handling charges which significantly boost the cost of tickets. "Ticketmaster's dominance is increasingly threatened as technology allows more [musicians] to sell tickets for low costs." Philadelphia Inquirer 10/01/03
Posted: 10/01/2003 6:24 am
Unpopular, But Effective When the recording industry began suing consumers in an effort to scare users of peer-to-peer file trading networks into ceasing their illegal trading of copyrighted songs, the chorus of protest was heard across the country. The RIAA's move was called draconian, unnecessary, and absurd. But the strategy appears to be working: new site tracking numbers out this week show that usage of the leading file-trading service, Kazaa, is down 41% over the last three months. Wired 09/30/03
Posted: 10/01/2003 5:41 am
Big Grant For Lincoln Center "Lincoln Center has received a $16 million grant from the Alice Tully Foundation toward the renovation of Alice Tully Hall, the center's prime stage for chamber music and jazz. The gift, announced yesterday, is the largest so far by a private donor for Lincoln Center's redevelopment project... The grant is contingent on Lincoln Center's raising two and half times the $16 million for a total of $56 million. Reynold Levy, president of Lincoln Center, said yesterday that he was optimistic that the center could come up with the rest of the money." The New York Times 10/01/03
Posted: 10/01/2003 5:26 am
Baby Steps Towards Solvency The San Antonio Symphony, which shut down in May and has effectively cancelled the 2003-04 concert season, says it is close to a new deal with its musicians, which would be a major step on the road back to fiscal solvency. "Federal Bankruptcy Court Judge Leif M. Clark gave the symphony and the American Federation of Musicians until October 15 to work out a new deal and submit it to the rank and file for approval. A new contract would insure that the musicians, many of whom have moved on to other jobs, would be available when the San Antonio Symphony is able to resume performances." WOAI Radio 09/30/03
Posted: 10/01/2003 5:21 am
Still Walking The Pickets In Charlotte It's been nearly a month now since the Charlotte Symphony musicians walked off the job in the face of management demands for pay cuts, reduced benefits, and a shortened season. Maria Portone says that the musicians should not have to make up for the mistakes of the orchestra's executives. "In my 23 years in Charlotte, the CSO has not mounted an endowment drive. As a result, its endowment is a meager $2.3 million. Similarly sized cities have far larger endowments, averaging $60 million, allowing them to support considerably higher budgets than Charlotte's. Indianapolis, a city about 30 percent larger than Charlotte, has one in excess of $100 million." Charlotte Observer 10/01/03
Posted: 10/01/2003 5:13 am
Closing the Gap in Florida The Florida Orchestra, buoyed by a flurry of last-minute contributions, has cut its deficit for the 2002-03 season to $500,000. The organization had been expecting to run somewhere between $1 million and $2 million in the red, due to slumping ticket sales and a drop-off in contributed income. Last month, the orchestra's musicians accepted a 16% pay cut in an effort to keep the orchestra afloat during the economic turmoil. St. Petersburg Times 10/01/03
Posted: 10/01/2003 5:06 am
Big-Time Funding, But At What Cost? "While many companies jockey for the naming rights to large sports stadiums, General Motors Corp. during the past few years has set its sights on cultural institutions. And this fall, the company is partnering with the mother of them all. When the General Motors Hall of Transportation opens at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History on Nov. 22, it will be the largest one-time financial contribution the company has ever made to a cultural institution. It will also add fuel to the ongoing controversy of the Smithsonian's acceptance of corporate gifts in exchange for naming rights." Detroit News 10/01/03
Posted: 10/01/2003 5:59 am
Kansas City Dumps Acoustician The board in charge of building a $304 million performing arts center in Kansas City has fired Russell Johnson as acoustician, and replaced him with Yasuhisa Toyota of the Japan-based Nagata Acoustics. Johnson is known as the world's preeminent acoustical designer of large concert halls, and consulted on the new Disney Hall in Los Angeles, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, and the renovation of Toronto's Roy Thompson Hall, among others. The board cited rising costs as a major reason for the change, and also expressed concern with Johnson's tendency towards using "expensive sound chambers and movable panels" in his recent projects. Kansas City Star 09/30/03
Posted: 10/01/2003 5:32 am
Art For Dummies? Yee-Haw! John Weeks applauds attempts to "bring art to the masses" by explaining it in simple terms. "We're all familiar with those books like 'Auto Repair for Dummies' and 'Computers for Dummies,' and it seems like there is a growing movement to accommodate dummies of all kinds. Apparently, the trend has finally spread to the arts world. This is exciting. Art truly can extend its reach if it makes itself more accessible to America's largest demographic group, namely idiots. Now, when I say 'idiots,' you know I don't mean you and me. Well, yes I do, but I mean it in a loving, affectionate way." Los Angeles Daily News 09/30/03
Posted: 09/30/2003 4:42 pm
America: Tallying Up State Arts Cuts In America, state budget season has ended for another year, and the arts didn't make out very well. "State art spending dropped from $409 million in fiscal year 2002 to $355 million in 2003, and, with State deficits projected to balloon from $60 million to $80 billion this year, arts funding will fall another 23%, bringing the 2004 total to around $274 million." The Art Newspaper 09/26/03
Posted: 09/30/2003 3:50 pm
Filmmaker Jewison Among Governor General Recipients "Veteran filmmaker Norman Jewison, musician Ian Tyson and ex-Royal Canadian Air Farce comedian Dave Broadfoot are among this year's winners of [Canada's] Governor General's Performing Arts Awards. The three were among six people recognized yesterday for lifetime artistic achievement. The others were soprano Pierrette Alarie, actor Douglas Campbell and screenwriter-actress Micheline Lanctot. The awards were announced in both Montreal and Toronto." Toronto Star 10/01/03
Posted: 10/01/2003 6:52 am
Remembering Kirk Varnedoe Curator Kirk Varnedoe played a crucial role in the building of the Museum of Modern Art. He "came to the museum at a transforming moment in its evolution. Circumstances forced him to leave before that transition was complete, and after a long battle with cancer he died, on August 14, at the age of 57. But when MoMA celebrates its 75th anniversary next year with the opening of its new building on 53rd Street, his indelible mark will be upon it." ARTnews 10/03
Posted: 09/30/2003 3:43 pm
Shaw Expands Season The Shaw Festival, one of two legendary theatre fests in southern Ontario (Stratford is the other,) has announced plans to expand its season. In past years, Shaw has begun its annual run in late May, and closed up shop in November. But beginning next year, the festival will open in early May, and stretch into December. Shaw will also highlight two contemporary Canadian playwrights in 2004. Toronto Star 10/01/03
Posted: 10/01/2003 6:47 am
Stage Collapses In Birmingham A stage in Birmingham, England, collapsed, injuring 15-20 people. "The audience was taking part in a 'sing song' before the show. Members of the audience who were dressed as nuns were asked to get on the stage and take part in a sing song. There were about 30 or 40 people on the stage and as they walked forward to the area which covers the orchestra, the stage collapsed." BBC 09/30/03
Posted: 09/30/2003 4:35 pm
Watch For Nobel Literature Prize Announcement The Nobel Prize for Literature - traditionally the first of the Nobels to be announced - will be revealed this Thursday. "The Nobel Literature Prize is the only Nobel Prize whose announcement date is revealed only two days in advance, and the prizewinner's name is traditionally made public on a Thursday." The Age (Melbourne) 10/01/03
Posted: 09/30/2003 3:34 pm
fFIDA On The Ropes The largest non-curated dance festival in North America is in danger of shutting down. The fringe Festival of Independent Dance Artists (fFIDA), which runs for two weeks every August, says that it needs to raise $20,000 by the end of October in order to avoid bankruptcy. Funding cuts and poorer-than-expected revenues at this summer's fFIDA led to the cash crunch, which organizers are trying to alleviate with an e-mail campaign asking for 1,000 individuals to donate $20 apiece. So far, the campaign has raised $2000. The Globe & Mail (Canada) 10/01/03
Posted: 10/01/2003 6:03 am
