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Thursday, December 9




Ideas

Hit 'Em Square In Their iPods From RSS feeds to podcasting, portable content on demand seems to be the newest wave of the information revolution, and AJ Blogger Andrew Taylor sees serious potential for arts organizations willing to step up to the technological plate. "Imagine a community-wide Podcasting site, where arts organizations could post audio interviews and discussions relating to their coming performances. Imagine a whole new branch of public-broadcasting-like content, that doesn't rely on the narrow and jam-packed broadcast frequencies." The Artful Manager (AJ Blogs) 12/08/04
Posted: 12/09/2004 6:21 am

Brain To Computer: Go Left Scientists have found that it is possible to control a computer by thinking. "Brain activity produces electrical signals that can be read by electrodes. Complex algorithms then translate those signals into instructions to direct the computer. Such brain activity does not require the use of any nerves or muscles, so people with stroke or spinal cord injuries could use the cap effectively." BBC 12/08/04
Posted: 12/08/2004 4:59 pm

What Does It Take To Be Creative? "Almost all of the research in this field shows that anyone with normal intelligence is capable of doing some degree of creative work. Creativity depends on a number of things: experience, including knowledge and technical skills; talent; an ability to think in new ways; and the capacity to push through uncreative dry spells. Intrinsic motivation -- people who are turned on by their work often work creatively -- is especially critical." Fast Company 12/04
Posted: 12/08/2004 4:56 pm

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Visual Arts

Bringing Twin Artworks Together Again "A pair of rare multimillion-dollar paintings by the Russian-born artist Wassily Kandinsky were reunited Wednesday at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts after being separated in a crude artistic surgery more than 70 years ago in Munich, Germany. The Minneapolis museum has owned one of the colorful abstractions since 1967, but the other, which was originally painted on the back of the Minneapolis image, fell through the cracks of Europe's war-torn history and was all but forgotten for nearly a century. Preserved by the family of a Kandinsky friend, the second painting recently resurfaced in Munich and is now on loan to the Minneapolis museum." Minneapolis Star Tribune 12/09/04
Posted: 12/09/2004 6:39 am

The Art Of War War has inspired countless powerful works of art over the centuries, but most of it has been created by outside observers rather than by those who actually experience the horror of battle and the triumph of victory. In recent years, however, more and more veterans have been creating artworks to express their lingering feelings about the conflicts in which they were involved, and the results, as shown at a Chicago museum devoted to vet art, are deeply personal and overtly engaging. Chicago Tribune 12/09/04
Posted: 12/09/2004 6:25 am

Up In The Sky! It's A Billboard! It's A Beer Ad! No! It's Art! When Minneapolis's Walker Art Center closed for a full year in order to renovate and expand, it launched "Walker Without Walls", a series of events and installations intended to keep the museum's name on everyone's lips. The most constantly visible example of the museum's efforts has been a large billboard on one of the city's main downtown streets, which has featured a new specially created artwork by a different artist each month. But what is the public actually getting out of the billboard, which offers no explanation of what it is or why it's there? One passer-by mistook the latest billboard for a beer ad - "Red Stripe, I think. Definitely not Budweiser" - and another thinks she sees "dried-up death on one side." City Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul) 12/08/04
Posted: 12/09/2004 5:33 am

Brueghel Masterpiece Nets £3.7 Mil An action-filled painting representing the pinnacle of 17th-century Flemish artist Pieter Brueghel's career sold at auction in the UK this week for £3.7 million. The Kermesse of St George depicts the drunken revelry of a village feast day, and has been out of the public eye since 1930, when it was bought by a Belgian family. The new buyer has not been revealed. BBC 12/09/04
Posted: 12/09/2004 5:24 am

FBI Recovers Stolen Art In St. Louis About $2 million worth of art was found. "The art, which had been reported stolen on Oct. 13, included works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Willem De Kooning, Mark Rothko and others. It belonged to an out-of-state family that had stored the items in the St. Louis area, authorities said." St. Louis Post-Dispatch 12/08/04
Posted: 12/08/2004 4:25 pm

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Music

St. Louis Symphony Managers Seeking Musician Pay Cuts There's still one U.S. orchestra without a new musicians' contract, and talks seem to have bogged down at the St. Louis Symphony, where the current agreement runs out on January 2. "Management has made one financial proposal to the union. That suffered an 'overwhelming rejection' at a union meeting on Nov. 8. Management, according to the memo, has refused to make a counterproposal to the union's last offer... Management sources, speaking anonymously, have said that given the Symphony's commitment to a balanced budget, it cannot commit to higher salaries without a larger income. Management's current proposal would reduce musician salaries, reportedly to $61,000 a year." St. Louis Post-Dispatch 12/08/04
Posted: 12/09/2004 5:59 am

Fiscal Turnaround In Detroit The Detroit Symphony has rebounded from three straight years of deficits and posted a small surplus for the 2003-04 season. "Some factors leading to the positive financial news are unique and unlikely to be repeated. The October 2003 opening of the orchestra's new home, the Max M. Fisher Music Center, was a once-in-a-lifetime event; the gala that marked the opening netted $1 million." The persistent deficits led the DSO to replace its executive director last winter, and the orchestra's musicians agreed to reopen their contract early and make significant concessions to stem the tide of red ink. Detroit Free Press 12/09/04
Posted: 12/09/2004 5:46 am

New La Scala In The Spotlight La Scala's reopening gets high marks from opening night attendees. "The uncontested stars of the evening were La Scala's fully restored, resplendent auditorium and its brand-new, technologically advanced stage. Uncontested inside the theater, at any rate. Outside, amid the thousands of bystanders, there were vociferous protests against the expenditure of public funds on a cultural operation at a time of high unemployment and government cutbacks." The New York Times 12/10/04
Posted: 12/08/2004 10:58 pm

Crossover - But To What? Crossover classical dominates best-seller classical charts these days. But is it good for classical music? Or is it greasing the skids of decline? "Crossover is an imprecise term, covering classical pieces performed in a pop way, pop songs performed in a classical way, orchestral film soundtracks such as Howard Shore's scores for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and easy-on-the-ear compilations with names like Classical Chillout Gold. Every one of the 20 biggest classical sellers of 2003 was crossover to some extent." The Guardian (UK) 12/10/04
Posted: 12/08/2004 7:32 pm

Climbing On The BandWagon Band music isn't anything a lot of serious classical composers have spent much time thinking about. And yet, a new generation of composers is finding opportunity in the world of bands. "Many music professionals believe that bands and wind ensembles offer composers distinct advantages over orchestras, like vast amounts of rehearsal time, the potential for multiple performances (thanks to a well-connected network of university band directors), opportunities to reach new audiences, and sometimes significant financial incentives." NewMusicBox 12/04
Posted: 12/08/2004 5:14 pm

Berlin Symphony To Go Private Berlin's cultural groups are struggling to stay alive. Now, "following the Berlin Senate's decision this past summer to cut subsidies, the Berliner Symphoniker, the smallest of the city's eight official orchestras, is looking to start anew -- as Germany's first private orchestra. In doing so, the director is hoping to return to solvency and set an example for Germany's other struggling cultural institutions." Deutsche Welle 12/08/04
Posted: 12/08/2004 4:27 pm

Rachmaninoff Manuscript Sale Halted The sale of an important Rachmaninoff manuscript was halted this week. "The annotated manuscript of his famous Second Symphony was due to be sold at Sotheby's in London, with an estimated price of £300,000-£500,000. But it was withdrawn just before the sale after Rachmaninov's estate claimed to be the true owners. It was found in a cellar in Switzerland after being lost for almost a century." BBC 12/08/04
Posted: 12/08/2004 9:46 am

UK's Isle Of Operatic Woe "One cannot ignore the woes of three national companies, or their common origin. Devolution, the 1997 mantra of victorious New Labour, has reverted large parts of the island to a dreary provincialism where parish pump functionaries lord it over public entertainments. Anti-elitism, the lip service that Labour rulers pay to their grass roots, has fostered a class war against high culture. And the disavowing of responsibility that is the hallmark of this governmenthas allowed successive culture secretaries and arts council chairmen to escape Scot-free – in the Caledonian sense – for demolishing two generations' worth of artistic growth in the very regions where it was most needed." La Scena Musicale 12/08/04
Posted: 12/08/2004 9:39 am

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Arts Issues

Your First Hit's Free; Then You Pay A discount ticket program aimed at college students has been quite successful at drawing young adults to arts events in Pittsburgh, but some in the city's arts community have begun to question whether the cheap (and sometimes free) tickets will ever actually translate into a new generation of paid subscribers. Still, the program represents an important revenue source for performing arts groups in a time of fiscal uncertainty. And the program's coordinator claims that more and more students lured in by an initial freebie are taking advantage of discount ticket offers. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 12/09/04
Posted: 12/09/2004 6:43 am

Dismay Agenda - Homophobe Invited By Bush To White House The Alabama state legislator who has introduced a bill to ban books that "promote homosexuality" has been invited by George Bush to the White House. "Traditional family values are under attack. They've been under attack "for the last 40 years". The enemy, this time, is not al-Qaida. The axis of evil is "Hollywood, the music industry". We have an obligation to "save society from moral destruction". We have to prevent liberal libarians and trendy teachers from "re-engineering society's fabric in the minds of our children". We have to "protect Alabamians". The Guardian (UK) 12/10/04
Posted: 12/08/2004 7:36 pm

Australia Council Strategy - Fewer Projects, More Money "The idea is to spend more on fewer projects but ones that the council hopes will excite Australian audiences. A $9 million fund will be set up to drive strategic initiatives, which could include more international touring, support for indigenous art and education projects. Heads of art-form boards will be given greater power and will be encouraged to apply to the fund with important projects." The Australian 12/09/04
Posted: 12/08/2004 4:45 pm

  • Critics Blast Australia Council Overhaul As part of the Australian government's restructuring of the Australia Council, the Community Cultural Development Board and New Media Arts Board are to be abolished. Critics were quick to pounce: "It's a fairly appalling decision made by people who clearly have very little comprehension of what contemporary arts is all about. They have shown a complete disregard for any idea of progress." Sydney Morning Herald 12/09/04
    Posted: 12/08/2004 4:40 pm

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People

Arts Prize Gets A New Chief The Cleveland Arts Prize, which recognizes local artists who have attained national attention for their work, has named Terri Pontremoli as its new executive director. Pontremoli had previously managed a jazz festival in the city, and had raised $6 million for local jazz groups. The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 12/09/04
Posted: 12/09/2004 6:49 am

Michael Kaiser - Mr. Fix-It During the last 20 years Mr. Kaiser has made a minor art form of turning around troubled ballet and opera companies, including American Ballet Theater, the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation and the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden in London. His latest accomplishment - resurrecting Dance Theatre of Harlem. "Within five or six weeks, Mr. Kaiser helped the company retire its debts, find a new executive director, expand its board and begin facing the future. 'I needed to show troubled organizations around the country that you can fix your problems. I take very little credit for the actual implementation. They've done it'." The New York Times 12/09/04
Posted: 12/08/2004 11:05 pm

Axelrod Pleads Guilty In Tax Case Herbert Axelrod, the New Jersey businessman famous for selling a collection of rare violins to the New Jersey Symphony, "pleaded guilty to a federal tax fraud count yesterday in a deal that spares the elderly millionaire from the threat of prosecution on a panoply of other dubious acts... The count, aiding and abetting the filing of a false tax return, carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison, but prosecutors have agreed to seek a term of 12 to 18 months." Newark Star-Ledger 12/09/04
Posted: 12/08/2004 4:33 pm

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Theatre

Bombay Dreams To Close The musical Bombay Dreams is closing on Broadway eight months after opening. "The musical opened to negative reviews in April and has been playing at half-full capacity in the Broadway Theatre." BBC 12/08/04
Posted: 12/08/2004 5:04 pm

Stratford Fest Loses Audiences Ontario's Stratford Festival managed to balance its books for the year. "But attendance continues to fall, dropping nearly 40,000 compared with the previous season — to 568,715 from 608,080. Average paid attendance at the Festival's four theatres was 68 per cent of capacity." Toronto Star 12/08/04
Posted: 12/08/2004 9:31 am

Plan For New Plays In Denver The Denver Center Theatre Company's new director Kent Thompson has a plan to position the company as a champion of new plays. "One of my first priorities will be a major expansion of the new-play program here. With the help of the board and the community, I know we will find a way to support some of the great new voices of the American theater." Denver Post 12/08/04
Posted: 12/08/2004 9:01 am

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Media

Making The World Safe For Prudes And 4-Year-Olds Throughout the recent melee over the FCC "decency" crackdown, those in authority have insisted that they are only acting in accordance with the wishes of the public. So who's behind the mysterious groundswell of anger directed at those awful people who put nipple slips and nasty words on our televisions and radios? Meet the Parents Television Council... Washington Post 12/09/04
Posted: 12/09/2004 6:53 am

File-Sharing Lawsuits Beget Movie-Sharing Lawsuits "A film industry group has sued a high-end consumer electronics company, claiming its home theater jukebox system makes illegal copies of movie DVDs... It's the latest move in the ongoing, larger war the movie industry has waged in trying to prevent what it considers unauthorized usage of its content." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (AP) 12/09/04
Posted: 12/09/2004 6:47 am

Plum Position - Making It In The Movie Biz Three not-yet-30-something women are making a name for themselves in the movie production business. "In the year since they formed their company, the women have already had remarkable success in a world where their age, sex and relative inexperience might be a handicap." The New York Times 12/09/04
Posted: 12/08/2004 11:01 pm


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