Of Value And Art Sure, there's the obvious connection between art and money, writes Thomas Crow. But art also "has its business in the world, in how a society functions and sees itself. As works of circulate from creator to patron, from dealer to collector, from private interior to public gallery, the transactions can be as much about sheltering the emotional, cultural and intellectual value of art as they are about money, even as prices climb and currency changes hands." Los Angeles Times 04/19/04
Posted: 04/20/2004 4:05 pm
The $3.6 billion Traveler Holding Pen Is there any structure more depressingly predictable than an airport? How much would a truly envigorating airline terminal be worth to travelers? Would it be worth, say, CAN$3.6 billion? The city of Toronto is hoping so, since that's what its new Terminal 1 cost to build. Lisa Rochon is impressed, if not overwhelmed: "So laborious has become the experience of travel that we no longer expect to find in it moments of pleasure. But at the new Toronto terminal there are delights to be had... Many who have lost faith in the power of public art will find themselves happily restored at the new terminal." And really, isn't a bit of post-travel restoration worth a few billion? The Globe & Mail (Canada) 04/21/04
Posted: 04/21/2004 6:43 am
Vettriano Sells In The Big Leagues Critics don't think much of painter Jack Vettriano's work, but the public likes it. And there's a market for it. "The Singing Butler, the Jack Vettriano painting - arguably Britain's most popular art image but loathed by critics - last night entered the financial territory occupied by the world's great contemporary artists when it sold at auction for £744,800." The Guardian (UK) 04/20/04
Posted: 04/20/2004 5:41 pm
Bellevue Museum Delays Reopening Because Of Money The Bellevue Art Museum, which surprised the art world when it closed suddenly last fall, has delayed its reopening from July to October. Why? "Six months later, money is still missing in action. BAM has raised $180,000 and can't reopen until it has at least $2.8 million." The museum says it has a plan though, and the money to reopen will follow. Seattle Post-Intelligencer 04/20/04
Posted: 04/20/2004 4:11 pm
- Bellevue Museum Plans Artistic Departure The Bellevue Art Museum's revival plan "unveiled yesterday marks a significant artistic and financial departure from the museum's earlier incarnation as an unconventional exhibitor of contemporary art. The plan also hinges on some big unknowns, including whether the museum can raise $2.8 million by the planned opening Oct. 28." Seattle Times 04/20/04
Posted: 04/20/2004 4:08 pm
- Previously: Why Did The Bellevue Art Museum Suddenly Close? The Bellevue Art Museum, in a suburb of Seattle, had a signature architect and significant community support when it opened three years ago. So why did the $23-million museum suddenly close its doors this fall and its managers declare the organization was out of money? "The museum's unexpected closure left Bellevue leaders stunned and arts patrons baffled that a cultural institution serving some of the country's wealthiest communities could fold for lack of money. Even the timing of the closure was bizarre, announced just two days before a new exhibit opened." Seattle Times 11/16/03
Taking The Measure of a Prodigy "Whatever Platonic fascinations they might hold, supremely gifted young musicians also live in a bruising real world of managers, agents, recording contracts, talented and carefully cultivated rivals, standard-bearing critics and a listening public fine-tuned by CDs, pirated downloads and the world-wide whir of Internet music sites and chat rooms." In other words, do not envy the prodigy: all the talent in the world can't spare him from the inevitable backlash of a world obsessed with the rapid rise and fall of celebrities. Case in point: the omnipresent Lang Lang... San Francisco Chronicle 04/21/04
Posted: 04/21/2004 6:26 am
Taking It To The Community The Philadelphia Orchestra is renewing its commitment to performing free summer concerts in underserved areas of its home community. The performances, which were briefly suspended last summer due to lack of funds, draw thousands of people to unconventional venues to hear one of the world's top orchestras, and music director Christoph Eschenbach has been said to be a key proponent of the idea. But it apparently took the financial security of a $50 million pledge from the Annenberg Foundation to make the orchestra, which has struggled with debt over the past several seasons, confident enough to move ahead with the three free concerts, which will cost the organization $375,000 in total. Philadelphia Inquirer 04/21/04
Posted: 04/21/2004 5:36 am
Royal Festival Hall To Get £90 million Makeover "Plans for a £90m refurbishment of London's Royal Festival Hall have been unveiled, with the news that £73m of the total sum has been raised so far... The Arts Council have given £25m to the project, while Heritage Lottery's donation is £20m." The aim is to give the hall an entirely new look, and in the process, create a world-class acoustical venue for London, which despite multiple tries, has never managed to build one. BBC 04/21/04
Posted: 04/21/2004 5:27 am
San Antonio: Back From The Brink? The San Antonio Symphony's bankruptcy reorganization plan was approved by a federal judge this week, allowing the orchestra to move ahead with plans for a new season. Bankruptcy may be in the past, but so are many of the SAS's old musicians, who have moved on to new jobs in new cities. Still, hopes are high for a rejuvenated ensemble. "The new operating plan includes a slimmed-down budget with a shorter season and lower pay and benefits for musicians. It also features a new management team and increased emphasis on marketing, sales, corporate sponsorships and decreased telemarketing expenses. The proposed budget for 2004-05, based on a 26-week season and 72 musicians, lists operating expenses of about $5.5 million." San Antonio Express-News 04/19/04
Posted: 04/21/2004 5:13 am
Not Much Grand About Florida Grand Opera? Florida Grand Opera seems to be appealing to ticket-buyers, but artistically, there's plenty to complain about, writes Lawrence Johnson. "It's the logical culmination of several unsettling trends that have been apparent over the past few years, with the depths plumbed this season pointing to a company that seems to be artistically adrift." Florida Sun-Sentinel 04/18/04
Posted: 04/20/2004 4:37 pm
Building A Downtown Neighborhood (We Hope) As mid-sized American cities go, Minneapolis has a fairly thriving urban center. But what the city has always lacked is a heavily populated downtown neighborhood to anchor its impressive cultural scene. A new building spree aims to create that sought-after mix of residential and commercial space, but Minneapolitans have seen this type of ambition before, only to see the grandest plans fall to the budget knife or the wrecking ball. And at the core of the debate is the question of what makes a neighborhood vital: is it upscale boutiques? Affordable housing? Lots of coffee shops and bars? The goalposts seem to move with each passing year. City Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul) 04/21/04
Posted: 04/21/2004 6:18 am
Testing The Art Of The Free Market The new Savoy Opera in London is a grand experiment in the business of art, writes Norman Lebrecht. "The revolution was, unseen, in the bottom line. This was opera without subsidy, opera with an entrepreneurial spirit - opera as it used to be, organised by resourceful enthusiasts for an audience that consisted not of bow-tied aesthetes and glams in gowns but, in the main, of working men and women who might otherwise have been watching farce in Whitehall, a musical on Shaftesbury Avenue or a DVD at home. After sixty years of public support for the arts and a general recognition that they are a jolly good thing, here was a genuine attempt to test the market and see what sort of people, and how many of them, might go to the opera if it was brought to them at a guaranteed professional standard and at a reasonable price." La Scena Musicale 04/16/04
Posted: 04/20/2004 4:28 pm
Warning: US/Aussie Free Trade Proposal Will Harm Aussie Culture Cultural leaders in Australia are warning that a proposed free trade agreement with the US will impinge on Australia's home-grown culture. "The proposed deal caps the amount of local content at existing levels of 55 per cent on free-to-air commercial television and 25 per cent for commercial radio, and at 10 per cent on pay TV. If the government reduces these content levels, they cannot be raised again. The deal also prevents the government from regulating local content levels for new media without consulting the US, which can challenge any proposed changes." The Age (Melbourne) 04/19/04
Posted: 04/20/2004 4:00 pm
Writer McEwan Gets Apology From US Border Officials "British writer Ian McEwan was 'erroneously' prevented from entering the United States on March 30 at the Vancouver, B.C., international airport and has received an 'extremely rare' letter of apology from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security." Seattle Post-Intelligencer 04/20/04
Posted: 04/20/2004 7:15 pm
- Previously: McEwan Delayed At US Border On Way To Speaking Tour Writer Ian McEwan - winner of the prestigious Booker Prize and author of the best-selling "Atonement" - was refused entry into the US and delayed for 24 hours at the start of a speaking tour of the US Tuesday. One of Britain's most popular and acclaimed authors, McEwan "almost missed his appearance before Seattle Arts & Lectures after he was refused entry to the United States by American authorities at the Vancouver, B.C., airport and spent more than 24 hours in enforced limbo." Seattle Post-Intelligencer 04/01/04
Recreating A Shakespeare Experience (With Critical Success) Mark Rylance has made a big success of the Globe Theatre in London. "In the mid-'90s, the whole Globe experience - building and costumes made by 16th-century methods; no scenery, lighting or assisted sound for actors, productions as close as possible to Shakespeare's directions - smacked, many said, of an Olde England "theatre experience". But Rylance has proved his critics wrong and pulled off a remarkable success story. Most of the Globe's productions have met critical acclaim, and it sells an astonishing 90 per cent of its seats during its summer-only season." London Telegraph 04/21/04
Posted: 04/20/2004 6:27 pm
NEA Announces New Writing Program For Troops "The NEA this week is unveiling 'Operation Homecoming,' in which troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will attend workshops run by such writers as Tom Clancy, Tobias Wolff and James McBride. The best submissions will be published in an anthology, scheduled to come out at the end of 2005. 'I've always believed that one of the signs of a healthy society is when all aspects of that society communicate with each other,' NEA chairman Dana Gioia said." Los Angeles Times (AP) 04/20/04
Posted: 04/20/2004 7:05 pm
The Netflix Connection In a world of human connections frequently reduced to brotherhoods of similar technological interests, the cult of Netflix is emerging as the new dorky connection point of the high-minded film buff. The online movie-rental service, which offers a nearly unfathomable catalog of foreign and independent films, is the hottest thing in movie rental, but can it be sustained in an industry so bent on constant reinvention? New York Observer 04/26/04
Posted: 04/21/2004 6:54 am
Is Passion Too Violent For TV? "Despite being the year's biggest blockbuster so far, The Passion Of The Christ seems unlikely to find a home on a U.S. network. Mel Gibson's Icon Productions has been shopping the movie to TV. Only ABC has confirmed turning it down, but executives speaking on condition of anonymity said it was doubtful for CBS, NBC and Fox, too. The movie's graphic scenes of Jesus Christ's crucifixion were said to make broadcasters skittish, particularly in the post-Janet Jackson era when government officials are closely watching what goes on television." Toronto Star (AP) 04/21/04
Posted: 04/21/2004 6:15 am
Disney Fires Two ABC Execs, Hires More of the Same "To the surprise of no one, unless you're counting the Hollywood trade papers that called it 'stunning' and a 'surprise,' Disney has ushered out ABC entertainment division chief Susan Lyne and ABC Television Entertainment Group Chairman Lloyd Braun." ABC finished fourth out of four major broadcast networks in the February "sweeps" period, and has been hemorrhaging viewers for several years. Replacing Lyne is Touchstone TV exec Stephen McPherson, who, ironically, was in charge of creating many of the ABC prime time shows which have tanked so spectacularly over the last few seasons. Washington Post 04/21/04
Posted: 04/21/2004 6:08 am
Post-Rukeyser, A Public TV Net Struggles Mightily Maryland Public Television just hasn't been the same since it fired Louis Rukeyser from the popular "Wall $treet Week" program two years ago. Since letting Rukeyser go with the stated goal of taking the program in "a new direction," MPT's paying subscriber rolls have dropped by 15%, and there is an undeniable credibility problem with viewers. The appointment of a new private-sector businessman to run the network is providing some hope that a turnaround may be in the works, but others worry that knowledge of how to wield a sharp budget knife is only the first skill set that MPT needs in order to stay relevant. Baltimore Sun 04/21/04
Posted: 04/21/2004 5:49 am
Broadcasters Protest FCC "The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) have joined the likes of Viacom and Fox Entertainment Group -- as well as liberal bastions such as the American Civil Liberties Union -- in challenging the constitutionality of the FCC's condemning singer Bono's use of an expletive last year on the televised Golden Globe Awards." Backstage 04/20/04
Posted: 04/20/2004 6:35 pm
Getting Your Hands Around The Meaning Of "Obscene" "Abruptly, the FCC is frantically following its mandate to bar "obscene, profane and indecent language" from "radio communication." Those adjectives seem more like a rhetorical flourish in the U.S. Code than specific categories, but the difference between indecency, obscenity, and profanity has become a real question. It's almost impossible to prove that broadcasts on public airwaves are obscene by the statutory definition." Village Voice 04/20/04
Posted: 04/20/2004 4:45 pm
The Paper DVD A new DVD made of paper can hold five times more data than the current model. "The disc is 51% paper and could offer foolproof security, said officials. Since a paper disc can be cut by scissors easily, it is simple to preserve data security when disposing of the disc." BBC 04/20/04
Posted: 04/20/2004 4:10 pm
Martins Proposes New Lincoln Center Dance Company "Peter Martins, the ballet master in chief of New York City Ballet, has suggested creating a modern dance company at Lincoln Center that would be the first new cultural organization there since Jazz at Lincoln Center was established in 1996. The company would replace New York City Opera as the ballet's co-tenant at the New York State Theater, if the opera troupe succeeds in building a new home at the World Trade Center site or elsewhere." The New York Times 04/21/04
Posted: 04/20/2004 6:40 pm
Dancing In New York - Most Work For Free "Dance/NYC recently reported that over 8,600 people work for local dance organizations on a volunteer basis—77 percent of the entire workforce in the professional dance community. Substandard conditions exist because dancers and management are unlikely to challenge them. They tend not to think of art as work or artists as workers." Village Voice 04/20/04
Posted: 04/20/2004 5:03 pm
To Dance - Portrait Of A Miserable Life The economics of the dance world are depressing. Pay is poverty-level low, the physical demands are crippling, and success is measured in teaspoons. After looking at the New York dance world, it's a wonder anyone would devote their life to it. Village Voice 04/20/04
Posted: 04/20/2004 4:52
