Ideas

The Great Florida Debate Ever since Richard Florida published his book, The Rise of the Creative Class, urban planners and thinkers around the U.S. have been lining up either to sing Florida's praises or to knock his ideas as half-formed and unrealistic. "Many of Richard Florida's critics try to marginalize his theory of the creative class as being just about a few kooky artists in Austin. They are wrong... As governments take a serious look at his ideas, billions of dollars spent on subsidies of politically-connected industries hang in the balance." So isn't it time for a serious, substantive debate on the issues that Creative Class raised? The Next American City 06/04
Posted: 06/14/2004 11:17 pm

Get Paid For Your Opinions! You can make a nice little income as a focus-group member: "If they ask you whether you’ve done one in the past six months, just say no. They never check. If they ask you something off-the-wall, like “Have you purchased a treadmill in the past year?,” say yes; they wouldn’t ask if that weren’t the answer they wanted. If they ask you what brands you purchase most often, always name big ones: Sprint, Budweiser, Marlboro. They’re representing either one of those companies or a smaller one trying to figure out how to steal you away. And, most important, let the recruiters lead you. Before you answer a question you’re not sure about, pause for a couple of seconds. They’ll tip their hand every time." New York Magazine 06/14/04
Posted: 06/14/2004 6:22 am

Visual Arts

A Beijing Bubble Ready To Burst? "Some compare it to a globe severed at the Equator. To others it resembles a phosphorescent egg floating in a crystal sea. One prominent Beijing architect said that when the desert dust kicks up around Beijing, lathering the expansive glass dome in a pall of gray grime, it resembles nothing so much as dried dung. But the most apt analogy for the $300 million National Theater of China, now nearing completion in the political heart of Beijing, near Tiananmen Square, may be a hot potato." The New York Times 06/15/04
Posted: 06/15/2004 7:28 am

Thoroughly Modern Met "Pledging to increase its commitment to modern and contemporary art, the Metropolitan Museum is planning a major reorganization of its departments of European painting and modern art, it announced yesterday. Gary Tinterow, 50, the museum's longtime curator of 19th-century European paintings, will run a new, expanded modern art department, which will include European paintings from 1800 to the present as well as international 20th-century sculpture, drawings, prints, decorative arts and design." The New York Times 06/15/04
Posted: 06/15/2004 7:17 am

Scratching Out A Living In The Art World A new gallery has opened in Brooklyn, showcasing the artwork of one Tillamook Cheddar. Tillie's works, which consist mainly of semi-random scratch marks and are always executed in blue, yellow, black, or red, "have drawn comparisons to such abstract artists as Jackson Pollock and Cy Twombly." Prices at the gallery range from $40 for a lamp to $1000 for a full-size painting, which sounds quite reasonable, except for one caveat: Tillie is a 5-year-old Jack Russell terrier. Chicago Tribune 06/15/04
Posted: 06/15/2004 6:27 am

A Virgin Gets Her Saints Back "Three masterpieces painted by El Greco for the same chapel but separated for nearly 400 years went on display together for the first time in Spain yesterday, at Madrid's Prado museum. The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, a towering altarpiece considered to be one of El Greco's greatest works, was reunited with two paintings of saints, lit up by her radiance, which the artist designed to flank her." The Guardian (Reuters) 06/15/04
Posted: 06/14/2004 10:56 pm

Pop Art Comes To Asia The pop art movement is hitting the Pacific Rim in a big way, with the legacy of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein dramatically in evidence among young Asian artists. A combination of encroaching capitalism and the global influence of American popular culture is fueling the movement, but the Asian version of pop art isn't a perfect mirror of the Western version. "What's different is the way the Asian artists approach it in their portrayal of identity issues, alternative lifestyles and fashion consciousness of the people." Financial Times 06/14/04
Posted: 06/14/2004 10:48 pm

sponsor

Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative: Discover the power of mentoring. Launched in 2002, the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative programme pairs gifted young artists with renowned artists in their fields, for a year of one-on-one mentoring. The mentors for the Second Cycle are Sir Peter Hall, David Hockney, Mario Vargas Llosa, Mira Nair, Jessye Norman and Saburo Teshigawara. The Second Year of Mentoring begins in May 2004. http://www.rolexmentorprotege.com/

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Music

New Leadership for NYC Chamber Music Society Husband-and-wife musicians David Finckel, cellist of the Emerson String Quartet, and Wu Han, the pianist who used to run the La Jolla Festival, have been named the new artistic directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Finckel and Han are also the co-directors of the new California summer festival Music@Menlo. The pair replace clarinetist David Shifrin at the helm of CSM. The New York Times 06/15/04
Posted: 06/15/2004 7:12 am

iTunes Launches European Service The online song market is officially getting crowded in Europe, with the continental launch of Apple's iTunes, which has sold 70 million songs in its first year of operation in the U.S. The cost of a single download from the European site will be 79p (€1.19), and a full album will cost £7.99 (€12). Meanwhile, media company OD2 announced plans to launch an online "penny jukebox" where listeners can hear songs for 1p apiece, although they cannot download the songs. BBC 06/15/04
Posted: 06/15/2004 5:27 am

Be A Classical Star! (virtually, that is) "Australia's Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and a local software designer have created 'In The Chair,' a cross between a karaoke machine and flight simulator, which allows you to play your favorite symphony via a computer, with a conductor on screen and tuition while you play... The orchestra sees 'In The Chair' as a tool to teach young musicians, build appreciation for orchestral music and help pay its bills. It hopes the product will eventually provide it with a steady $345,000 a year." Reuters UK 06/14/04
Posted: 06/14/2004 10:29 pm

Arson Suspected At Strathmore An arson fire appears to have been set at the unfinished Strathmore Music Hall in suburban Washington, D.C., causing $500,000 of damage to a building which has already been beset by delays and cost overruns. When completed, the hall will be the second home of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Washington Post 06/15/04
Posted: 06/14/2004 10:15 pm

Scottish Opera: Is The Music Director the Problem? The chorus members of Scottish Opera, who may lose their jobs as part of the proposed restructuring of the troubled organization, are publicly attacking music director Sir Richard Armstrong for his "inappropriate and elitist programming," "prima donna tantrums," and "systematic exclusion" of the chorus from programs. Staffers at the company are also voicing complaints about Armstrong's extravagant spending on such seemingly unnecessary elements of staging as £270 Versace shoes, £700 mannequins, and top-of-the-line plasma screen monitors. The Sunday Herald (Glasgow) 06/13/04
Posted: 06/14/2004 9:55 pm

• Government Is The Problem, Not The Solution Kenneth Walton cannot believe what the government is doing to Scottish Opera: "What we witnessed last week from the Executive was an act of cultural vandalism. This is an administration that has enshrined mediocrity as a standard for Scotland. We have a First Minister who recognises the manufactured celebrity of short-term Pop Idol winner Michelle McManus above the lasting, nurtured, talent of violinist Nicola Benedetti. By committing Scottish Opera to this ludicrous deal, it is closing the door to the access and development of opera in Scotland." The Scotsman 06/14/04
  Posted: 06/14/2004 9:54 pm

Arts Issues

Grand Jury Impaneled In Kurtz Case The case of the chemical-hoarding art professor gets serious today, as a grand jury begins hearing testimony to determine whether charges should be brought against Steven Kurtz under the U.S. Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act. Kurtz's friends and colleagues remain incredulous that the government is even remotely suspicious of him, since he has a long history of using agricultural chemicals in his work. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 06/15/04
Posted: 06/15/2004 8:01 am

• Previously: Sounds Like The Next Michael Moore Film, Doesn’t It? Steven Kurtz is a widowed art professor who uses agricultural products in his work to create protest art aimed at the genetically modified food industry. But to the government of the United States, he is a dangerous potential terrorist hoarding controlled agricultural chemicals in his home with unknown intent. It all started when a paramedic, called to Kurtz’s home when the artist’s wife had a fatal heart attack, spotted some of his chemicals, and called the feds. Now, "several of Mr Kurtz's colleagues and artistic collaborators have been subpoenaed and a date for a federal grand jury hearing set for Tuesday. Both artist and his art are set to go on trial for their alleged links with terrorism." The Guardian (UK) 06/12/04

Arts Groups Jump Into Canadian Election Fray For the first time in ages, Canada's Liberal Party, which dominates national politics, is in serious danger of losing its grip on power, and arts organizations are getting worried about what a Conservative victory could mean for them. The current Liberal culture minister has been fanning the flames, implying that the Tories would adopt "a scorched-earth policy" towards national arts funding, but some independent observers say that such dangers are being grossly overstated. Still, there's no doubt that the Conservatives are strongly in favor of lower government spending and open markets, which arts advocates fear could further sink Canada into the ocean of American culture. The Globe & Mail (Canada) 06/15/04
Posted: 06/15/2004 7:49 am

Will Anyone Care About Ground Zero's Cultural Tenants? Now that we know which of New York's arts groups will be housed at Ground Zero, it's time to ask an important question: will these art centers really have any significant cultural impact? John Rockwell isn't sure: "The winners were picked not because anyone gave first thought to their worthiness as art, but because they represented a canny mix of institutions likely to make downtown a better place to live and do business... [but] arts gentrification tends to work best in this city when applied to underutilized old industrial neighborhoods, rather than already-crowded residential districts." The New York Times 06/15/04
Posted: 06/15/2004 7:18 am

• Lincoln Center Concerns Affected Ground Zero Decisions The decisions handed down by New York city and state officials concerning which cultural groups will be allowed to make their home at the Ground Zero site in lower Manhattan was apparently strongly influenced by financial issues at Lincoln Center. The city-owned complex is kept running largely by the rent paid by its various resident groups. That fact made it unlikely that the city would approve any move to Ground Zero by New York City Opera, which went to great lengths to keep its proposal alive in the face of mounting opposition from city leaders. The New York Times 06/15/04
  Posted: 06/15/2004 7:04 am

• Where Are The Headliners? Terry Teachout is perplexed by the selection of a collection of, frankly, second-string arts organization for Ground Zero's cultural component. The groups selected are "serious and respectable, but they simply don't add up to anything remotely approaching a world-class center for the arts... What a disappointment. What a wasted opportunity." The Wall Street Journal 06/15/04
  Posted: 06/15/2004 7:00 am

Taxing Sports To Pay For The Arts? Michigan is hoping to restore the 50% of state arts funding that was cut from last year's budget with an unprecedented per-ticket tax on sports and entertainment events. Despite the financial difficulties faced by many of Michigan's arts groups, the state ranks sixth in the nation in arts funding, and the new tax would bump it up to second. But the proposal faces a tough road ahead in the conservative state legislature, and the governor has yet to even take a position. Detroit Free Press 06/14/04
Posted: 06/14/2004 10:42 pm

Hoping For Status Quo The upscale Marshall Fields department store chain is being purchased from Minneapolis-based Target Corporation by the decidedly cut-price May Department Stores, and the changeover is causing some nervousness in the Twin Cities' top arts organizations. Marshall Fields has a history of being extremely generous to Minnesota cultural groups, and while May insists that it has no immediate plans to scale back Fields' charitable arm, such largesse doesn't seem to fit May's overall business plan. Minnesota Public Radio 06/14/04
Posted: 06/14/2004 10:21 pm

Is Stability For The Arts Too Much To Ask? The UK Arts Council has released a study indicating that the arts are more popular than ever in Britain, and yet, the Council is concerned about its own future. "The council is a government arts body to promote, fund and develop the arts. Its current funding deal will see it receive £412m in 2005/6. But it is worried it may lose out when it learns details of its new funding settlement in the next few months." BBC 06/14/04
Posted: 06/14/2004 9:37 pm

Theatre

Troubled Or Not, That's A Great Name For a Theatre Company "The Soulpepper Theatre Company broke ground yesterday morning for a new $12-million theatre and school in Toronto's Distillery District... The 13-acre site of the historic Gooderham's Distillery has been made over as an arts and entertainment district, which opened a year ago. But the project has been troubled, with disappointing public attendance and financial conflict among its developers." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 06/15/04
Posted: 06/15/2004 7:45 am

Getting Their Day In Court, Sort Of The Bush Administration has been adamant in its claims that the detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba do not have a legal right to trial, or even a right to have a lawyer question the circumstances of their confinement. But on a stage in London, the issue is being hashed out nightly before sold-out crowds. Guantánamo: 'Honor Bound to Defend Freedom', which pits U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld against detainees, judges, and lawyers arguing for due process, is drawn directly from actual statements made by the principals in the debate, and it is intensifying the political debate in the UK. The New York Times 06/15/04
Posted: 06/15/2004 7:23 am

Media

There's No Irony In The TV Business An upcoming Canadian TV show depicting the hard life of artists in Toronto is soliciting actual works of art by the city's actual artists to hang on the set. But there's a catch: "Although Bang! is a drama about the difficulties of living off one's art, the producers see no reason to actually pay real artists for their work. The chance to reach a large audience, they argue, is payment enough." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 06/15/04
Posted: 06/15/2004 7:46 am

Lesbian Film Begets Violence In India "Police are to guard dozens of Indian cinemas after Hindu hardliners tore up posters and burned effigies in protest at a film about a lesbian love affair. Officers will flank cinemas showing the Hindi film Girlfriend in Bombay, New Delhi, Lucknow, Varanasi and Bhopal." The film has upset both right-wing groups who are angry about the whole concept of homosexuality, and women's rights groups who claim that the film promotes stereotypes. BBC 06/15/04
Posted: 06/15/2004 5:36 am

Just In Case You Were Worried That Roseanne Was Getting Ripped Off... An agreement has been reached between the recording industry and the union that represents TV and radio performers which would give the artists the right to audit their recording companies to insure proper royalty payments. The deal must be approved by the California legislature before becoming law. Backstage 06/14/04
Posted: 06/14/2004 11:12 pm

Moore's Latest Crusade Filmmaker Michael Moore is kicking dust yet again over the American distribution of his anti-Bush film, Fahrenheit 9/11. This time, his wrath is directed at the Motion Picture Association of America, which is apparently engaged in a vast conspiracy to prevent teenagers from viewing Moore's work by giving it an 'R' rating. The MPAA points out that the film contains graphic images of burned and dismmbered corpses being dragged through the streets of Iraq, but Moore counters that, since the 15- and 16-year-olds of today are very likely to be recruited to be the military men of tomorrow, they should have the right to see the nightmare into which they could be sent. BBC 06/14/04
Posted: 06/14/2004 9:41 pm

Dance

PA Ballet: From Ugly Duckling To... Well, You Know When Pennsylvania Ballet commissioned a new version of Swan Lake from Christopher Wheeldon, the company was hoping that its $1.5 million investment would bring a significant return in increased prestige and ticket sales. The gambit appears to have worked, with the new production garnering wide critical praise, and amazing audience support. Philadelphia Inquirer 06/15/04
Posted: 06/15/2004 7:57 am

Baryshnikov's New Art Commune? Mikhail Baryshnikov has worn many hats over the years, but these days, all his energy is going into the development of the new Baryshnikov Arts Center in midtown Manhattan. The center, for which he is hoping to raise $25 million, is designed to encourage collaboration between artists, and its namesake is clearly excited about the possibilities: "Musicians, artists, costume designers, lighting designers, playwrights, choreographers, actors will meet to work on the same projects. It will be a private place with no pressure from outside, where people can exchange their ideas. It's a bit of a socialist idea, but what the hell!" Contra Costa Times 06/13/04
Posted: 06/15/2004 7:31 am