Canada's New Painting Prize "Victoria painter Mark Neufeld is off to Berlin after winning the inaugural CAN$25,000 Joe Plaskett Foundation Award, one of the largest visual-arts awards in Canada. The new annual prize, eligible to students across Canada who are studying for their master of fine arts, or have attained an MFA this year, is designed to support a one-year residence in Europe. Most notable about the award -- besides its rich purse -- is that it is only available to painters." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 09/09/04
Posted: 09/09/2004 6:29 am
The Art Fair Sucks! Let's Make More! "The problem: An art trade fair that for 25 years has strip-mined the Midwestern collecting community, resulting in high-ticket dealers and big-spending buyers who no longer come. The solution: Next year hold three. How much does it take to see that this is not an answer?" Chicago actually tried the multiple-fair idea a decade ago, says Alan Artner, and the results were underwhelming. Yes, Art Chicago needs to reexamine itself, but the new push to become "the art fair of the people" seems doomed to failure, since the whole point of an art fair is to pander to the moneyed crowd that wants nothing to do with popular culture. Chicago Tribune 09/09/04
Posted: 09/09/2004 6:17 am
Tate Takes On Emin "Tracey Emin, not everybody's cup of tea, was officially declared a great artist yesterday when the Tate galleries revealed that they had bought eight of her works in a rare bulk deal." The Telegraph (UK) 09/09/04
Posted: 09/08/2004 10:30 pm
Where's that Good Political Art? There's a long proud tradition of political protest art. But though passions are high in this political season, the quality of the little political art that is being produced makes little impact. So why?... New York Magazine 09/07/04
Posted: 09/08/2004 10:02 pm
Who Will Control US Artist Selection For Venice Biennale? With the Pew and Rockefeller Foundations withdrawing funding for the annual American artist representation at the Benice Biennale, the selection process is in flux. "The State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (BECA) has indicated that it is unprepared to take over. Consequently, it appears the Guggenheim Foundation may gain control of the selection process for the American Pavilion in 2005 by default." The Art Newspaper 09/06/04
Posted: 09/08/2004 6:20 pm
Tanglewood Attendance Slips Attendance at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, fell by 11% this year, with BSO staff blaming the decline on lousy weather and a cutback in the number of free tickets available. It was an unusually rainy summer in the Berkshires - 20 rain days in July, and 22 in August - which can directly affect Tanglewood concerts, since many patrons sit outdoors, and even the main Shed, which is covered, has no walls to insulate concertgoers from the rain. Still, more than 320,000 people attended a concert at the famous venue over the ten weeks of the festival. Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, MA) 09/09/04
Posted: 09/09/2004 5:50 am
Barenboim To Miss CSO Season Opener Conductor Daniel Barenboim will miss the opening of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's new season after doctors advised him not to travel from his home in Berlin. Barenboim is being treated for several herniated discs in his back. Sir Andrew Davis, of the Chicago Lyric Opera, will lead the CSO this weekend in Barenboim's stead. So far, the orchestra expects Barenboim to return for his scheduled concerts later in the month, but isn't making any guarantees. Chicago Sun-Times 09/09/04
Posted: 09/09/2004 5:35 am
Court: Sampling is Stealing "A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that rap artists should pay for every musical sample included in their work — even minor, unrecognizable snippets of music." Other courts had already ruled that recognizable "samples" of another artist's work required payment, but the new ruling would make even the appropriation of a single note a matter requiring permission and payment. Some in the hip-hop industry are aghast... Wired (AP) 09/08/04
Posted: 09/09/2004 5:29 am
Gramophone Finalists Finalists for the Gramophone Recording of the Year have been announced... Gramophone 09/07/04
Posted: 09/08/2004 6:27 pm
Hush Hush: Classical Musicians And Hearing Loss "An often-cited study by Canadian audiologist Marshall Chasin measured hearing loss among rock musicians and found that about 30 percent were afflicted in some way. Among their classical music counterparts, the figure was 43 percent. Yet while noise-induced hearing impairment is a well-known issue in the rock world, long highlighted in educational campaigns featuring The Who's Pete Townshend and rapper Missy Elliott, the discomfort from loudness suffered by classical musicians is generally kept hush-hush." Chicago Tribune 09/08/04
Posted: 09/08/2004 9:16 am
Broken Funding Process in South Texas San Antonio's Cultural Arts Board is under fire for the way in which it doles out money to the city's cultural organizations. Critics charge that the process does not allow for input from local artists, and that applicants are treated as if they are signing up for the welfare roles, rather than as organizations which contribute significantly to the community in exchange for public dollars. The cash-strapped San Antonio Symphony, which is preparing to relaunch itself after emerging from bankruptcy, even chose to bypass the Arts Board completely, preferring to appeal directly to the mayor and the city council for funds. Board members concede that changes are needed. San Antonio Express-News 09/09/04
Posted: 09/09/2004 5:58 am
No Logos On The Timpani? A new sponsorship deal between UBS, an international wealth management firm, and the Utah Symphony Orchestra is getting some attention in the music industry. Under the deal, UBS will contribute over $1 million to the orchestra, in exchange for which the company's logo will be featured prominently in program books and orchestra advertising, and will also receive special recognition at four concerts in the 2004-05 season. It's a more blatant marketing strategy than many orchestras have been comfortable with, but with corporate support ever more important for the survival of the industry, the deal may be a harbinger. Salt Lake Tribune 09/09/04
Posted: 09/09/2004 5:41 am
Culturally Olympicizing Now an ambitious plan for a kind of cultural Olympics. The World Culture Open is considered by its organizers to be "a combination of the Olympics and the Nobel Peace Prize to encourage and provide money for arts groups that emphasize cultural understanding, something they feel neither the United Nations nor other international groups do in a comprehensive way." The New York Times 09/09/04
Posted: 09/08/2004 11:06 pm
Some Art Dealers Tread Into Presidential Politics "Art dealers are typically cautious not to offend their clientele by taking strong positions on controversial topics. This year, however, the rules have changed. Dealers and artists in New York have become visibly politicised and have been actively raising funds and campaigning for Democratic candidate John Kerry in the run up to the US presidential election on 2 November." The Art Newspaper 09/05/04
Posted: 09/08/2004 6:17 pm
National Theatre's Record Season London's National Theatre has had a record year at the box office. "The experiment of using sponsorship to slash ticket prices for half the seats in the largest auditorium throughout the summer paid dividends. Sceptics feared it would give regulars a cheap night out, but the season attracted 50,000 first timers. A third of those returned regularly, buying full-price tickets for other shows. Overall the National sold 750,000 tickets, an 11% rise on the previous year." The Guardian (UK) 09/09/04
Posted: 09/08/2004 10:11 pm
- At The National: Cheap Tickets Make Good Business "The National's success with £10 tickets reinforces a basic law of economics. As budget airlines found, passengers will fly to remote destinations if the price is right, so theatre-goers will fill the stalls. Yet theatres must reassure their audience that quality has not been discounted along with the ticket price, or risk suffering the fate of the Savoy Opera earlier this year." The Guardian (UK) 09/09/04
Posted: 09/08/2004 10:09 pm
Republican Convention Defeats Broadway The Republican Convention was death on Broadway box office. "For the week ending Sun., Sept. 5, all but five of the 22 shows running on the Main Stem suffered significant shortfalls at the box office." Back Stage 09/08/04
Posted: 09/08/2004 9:30 pm
Petition: Save Broadway Recordings Seventeen thousand people have signed a protest over the decline of the Broadway original cast album. "Original cast recordings are on the verge of extinction. More and more record executives consider cast recordings a waste of time and money, and have made it clear that the days of recording Broadway shows are numbered." Back Stage 09/08/04
Posted: 09/08/2004 9:26 pm
Lawsuit Shakes American Pen Women A bitter lawsuit has roiled the National League of American Pen Women in Washington DC. "A lawsuit between two factions in the organization alleges financial misdeeds, abuses of authority, libel and fraud. The vitriol between the opposing sides is at odds with the 4,000-member group's refined image and has disgusted many in its 176 local chapters." The New York Times 09/09/04
Posted: 09/08/2004 11:15 pm
Bookstore Giant Grows A Publisher In the past year, bookstore giant Barnes & Noble has grown a significant publishing business of its own. This has made some publishers nervous, but the company says not to worry. "I take issue with the opinion that we are taking sales away from other publishers. This is just part of a long continuum of simply getting better at what we're doing." The New York Times 09/09/04
Posted: 09/08/2004 10:54 pm
NEA Reading Report Is Misleading? The recent NEA report on the decline of reading in America is a flawed document, writes Paul Collins. Its methodology isn't clear, and the premise - that people aren't reading literature any more reveals a narrow perspective and misleading... Village Voice 09/07/04
Posted: 09/08/2004 9:48 pm
First-Time Author Vs. The Publishing Machine (Is This How It Works?) A writer spends a couple of years researching and writing a long book, only to be apalled by the process of getting it to print. Where's the editing? The support? The promotion? Is this really the state of book publishing in the early 21st Century? Columbia Journalism Review 09/04
Posted: 09/08/2004 10:03 am
- Teachout To First-Time Author: Get Real Terry Teachout is a self-described "cynical old author with several books under his belt" and is amused by a first-time author's expectations of how the publishing business works. Here's "a more realistic perspective" on the way things work. About Last Night (AJBlogs) 09/08/04
Posted: 09/08/2004 10:01 am
Films, Celebs, and General Bedlam The Toronto International Film Festival is one of those cultural events that has risen beyond its stated purpose and become an excuse for a gigantic citywide party in Canada's largest city. The films are the focus, of course, but the official TIFF-related parties alone could qualify as a whole seperate event. "From long days to even longer nights, it's just a fact of festival life for the many people in the city that function within or around it. It is, of course, a vast economic boon to the city — $65 million in annual economic impact, according the festival itself, more than half of that in tourist dollars." Toronto Star 09/09/04
Posted: 09/09/2004 6:42 am
'GBH Cancels Arts Show Boston's public TV station WGBH has eliminated a monthly program focusing on the arts, citing a lack of funds to continue producing the show. "Arts Close Up was a revamped version of Greater Boston Arts, which had garnered a slew of awards, including 29 New England Emmys, since it began in 1995." WGBH is PBS's leading station in the production of programs for national distribution. Boston Globe 09/09/04
Posted: 09/09/2004 6:09 am
Mel's Passion Trumps Jackson's Rings DVD and VHS sales of Mel Gibson's ultraviolent religious paean, The Passion of the Christ, have gone through the roof, breaking the all-time record for U.S. sales of a live-action movie, which had been held by Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Astonishingly, the DVD version of Passion contains none of the "extras" that filmbuyers usually crave. A massive e-mail and print marketing campaign appears to have helped sales: "More than six million Christian homes received e-mails about the DVD release of the controversial religious epic, and churches were also offered deals on bulk orders of the film." BBC 09/09/04
Posted: 09/09/2004 5:22 am
