Current Art News Archive by Year 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001

2005

01/04/2005

Chicago's Millennium Cultural Gamble
Chicago's new Millennium Park is a hit with critics and the public. "In many minds, the vibrant new downtown park represents a spectacular and vital transformation of a city's core, and a populist tide that, especially given all the rhapsodic national press that has flowed its way, cannot help but raise all local cultural boats. But there's a downside. The construction of Millennium Park ate up a whopping $200 million in local arts philanthropic dollars. And it's seeking still more donated money in 2005 to fully establish its ongoing conservancy. Some are starting to suggest that the local moneybags are in danger of being tapped out."

Chicago Tribune 01/02/2005

01/04/2005

Predicting What Tickets You'll Buy
John Elliot is getting attention for his direct marketing analysis of arts audiences and how likely they are to buy tickets for a given show. He has "detailed computer analysis of consumers' purchasing patterns and statistical models to track down the most likely ticket buyers for cultural district shows. His secret weapon? A database of 425,000 households based on 14 years' worth of ticket sales."

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 12/30/2004

01/04/2005

The Arts Audience: Last-Minute Buyers
The ticket-buying habits of arts groups are changing. "Across the board, concerts in general, everyone is waiting longer to buy tickets than five years ago. It used to be, you had a window that started six weeks out. Now, that's shrunk to three or four weeks, and you see a lot of sales in the week before the concert occurs. The trend creates several problems for performing-arts groups..."

Philadelphia Inquirer 12/30/2004

01/04/2005

SF Film Industry Contracts
San Francisco's film industry is suffering. Cutbacks at postproduction facilities owned by local luminaries Francis Ford Coppola and Saul Zaentz have illuminated the struggles of the Bay Area to reassert itself as a filmmaking hub.

San Francisco Chronicle 01/03/2005

01/04/2005

Reinventing American Radio
American radio has been stagnant for a few years. So how to revive? "The nation's biggest radio companies are responding to a grousing and mercurial audience by cutting the number of commercials per hour, expanding the range of music played on the air and experimenting with new formats."

Washington Post 01/02/2005

01/04/2005

Plan: Create Iowa Public Radio System
A report endorsed by Iowa's three public radio licensees recommends that the state's three major stations combine into a statewide system. "The study found that lack of cooperation and overlapping broadcast areas cause the university stations to lag behind pubradio�s national performance in audience and fundraising. 'Each has probably reached its full potential as a totally independent university station. Public radio in Iowa has not reached its full potential, however'.�

Current 12/13/2004

01/04/2005

What's Wrong With The Way We Teach Music?
"In the music education of our young, listening�truly active processing and internalizing of sound�is not valued. And we are paying the price for this when audiences�and the composers they all too often come to dread�are not able to hear what is before them. In its passive stead, audiences seem more tuned out than in, experiencing a general wash of comfort or discomfort seemingly tied neither to thought nor feeling, process nor program."

NewMusicBox 01/01/2005

01/04/2005

The Music Stops In St. Louis
Management called it a strike; the union called it a lockout. But whatever the terminology, for the moment, the music has stopped. Management's last offer was for around $72,000 this season - less than the $73,900 the players are making now." At a meeting of musicians "there was no pontification (from the floor); people just got up and said, 'I'm really sad, but I can't accept it.' We need to maintain our position of parity (with comparable orchestras), and we can't be bankrupt. We need to be able to afford things we've invested in, like instruments and houses and education and all of that."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch 01/04/2005

01/04/2005

Music In Time And Place
"Today, the environments that music occupies have gotten either very small or very large: the isolation chamber of headphones or the anonymity of the stadium. Live, unamplified music still exists in the cloistered precincts of the concert hall; local bars soldier on and dance clubs still find new ways of embroidering a heavy beat. But for much of the world, music has become either a solitary experience or a form of mass ritual. Yet the history of music is inseparable from the history of places where people gathered."

Newsday 01/02/2005

01/04/2005

Cleveland Institute Gets Into The Radio Game
The Cleveland Institute of Music is launching a new weekly radio show on WCLV. 'Each show will explore the work of an artist or delve into a musical topic in-depth. CIM described the series in a news release as a combination of great music, interesting guests and slightly off-the-wall commentary."

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 12/29/2004

01/04/2005

Up Next: Rockers For Senate File 2347.63!!
Back in the 1960s, you couldn't swing an acoustic guitar without hitting a folk musician singing a protest song about something that was bugging him, usually something pretty specific. These days, overtly political music is rare, and specific issue-oriented songs are usually eschewed in favor of broader-themed anthems trumpeting such controversial concepts as peace and justice and brotherhood and so on. But a new CD released by aging folkies and frustrated teachers is taking direct aim at the Bush Administration's controversial No Child Left Behind Act, with proceeds going to fund an alternative school that has been hurt by the act's reforms.

The Christian Science Monitor 12/28/2004

01/04/2005

A Venue As Big As NYC
"The announcement that former Dublin Fringe director Vallejo Gantner has been named P.S.122's artistic director has quieted fears about the East Village institution's future. But what will Russell�one of the city's most visionary performing arts curators, the man who fostered the careers of John Leguizamo, Eric Bogosian, Spalding Gray, and Danny Hoch�do without a venue to program? Why, program the city, of course..."

Village Voice 01/04/2005

01/04/2005

Theatres Find New Income Source On Ebay
Some theatres are finding they can raise real money auctioning off items on Ebay, where fans are happy to bid on props and costumes that have been used in shows. "From live auctions to black-tie balls, fundraisers are a necessity for most arts organizations. But using the enormously popular eBay electronic marketplace to augment ticket sales and local philanthropy is a new wrinkle. It is a different way to connect with the world of people who support the theater, who write an annual contribution, and to reach a larger audience."

Washington Post 12/28/2004

01/04/2005

Art For Your TV
Flat screen high-definition TVs are becoming popular. But there still isn't a lot of programming to take advantage of the screens. So one company is introducing the GalleryPlayer. "It will allow subscribers to purchase and display high-resolution digital images of "museum-quality" art and photos on their high-definition digital TV displays."

ABCNews.com 01/04/2005

01/04/2005

Central Park "Gates" Begin Installation
Installation of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's "The Gates" in Central Park has begun. "The $20 million project, a quarter-century in the making and financed by the artists, will go on full view on Feb. 12 and remain until Feb. 27. It is expected to attract thousands of art lovers from around the world. The artists are trying to create "a visual golden river appearing and disappearing through the bare branches of the trees, highlighting the shapes of the footpaths," according to a brochure explaining the project. The color was chosen to cast a warm glow over the park at a gray time of year."

The New York Times 01/04/2005

01/04/2005

Art Of The Moment (After The Moment Has Passed)
"Art made from obviously impermanent materials that is being painstakingly preserved; art made to stay shiny and new that is being treasured for its age; art challenging the notion of originality that is being scrutinized for that quality; once-standard, off-the-shelf materials that are now hard to find; collectors who cling to a piece of paper that proves their dated light fixture is worthy of a museum, not a recycling bin; and caretakers of a reputation who make decisions that they readily admit run counter to the artist's original intentions. Such is the strange afterlife of work that produces beauty from the banal, an object lesson in how the legacy of a strong-willed radical can be brought to heel by an even stronger force, the market."

The New York Times 01/02/2005

01/04/2005

The Big Business Of Investing In Art
"With its yearly sales now reaching an estimated $10 billion in the United States alone, art has quite literally become big business. While money invested in the stock market's S&P 500 Index -- a conservative bet on Wall Street's top 500 companies -- has earned an annualized 11 percent return over the past decade, that same money sunk into the contemporary art market would have produced a whopping 29 percent return."

Miami New Times 12/30/2004

06/04/2005

LA Man Arrested In Art Scam
An LA man has been arrested for selling fake art attributed to artists such as Mary Cassatt, Marc Chagall and Roy Lichtenstein." A 66-year-old Mission Viejo doctor managed to generate interest among potential buyers in his collection, primarily of modern masters � a collection that turned out to be bogus."

Los Angeles Times 12/29/2004

01/04/2005

Is Progress Killing The Boutique Museum?
Can museums based on one person's vision really survive effectively once that one person is no longer around? The Barnes Museum's pending move is only the latest in a long line of single-collector museums struggles to stay relevant (and solvent), and one could question whether total reinvention is really an effective tool. "Every museum doesn't have to be a major tourist attraction, and people who really want to see the Barnes usually can, with some planning. Some museums -- the Miho outside Kyoto for one -- are valued in part because of the sheer challenge of reaching them, which becomes a sort of pilgrimage."

Boston Globe 12/29/2004

01/04/2005

In Praise Of The Parking Garage
Like all buildings, a parking garage can either bring vitality to a city or suck the energy right out of it. There is, of course, the eyesore garage we all know and despise, the three-dimensional cash station for the garage owner that assaults passersby with crumbling concrete and stark fluorescent lights. Yet there also are parking garages with ground-floor shops that enliven sidewalks, and facades that acknowledge that people look at garages as well as drive into them."

Chicago Tribune 12/28/2004

01/04/2005

Steinbeck's Hometown Shuts Libraries
John Steinbeck's hometown of Salinas, California has decided to close down its libraries. "Earlier this month, council voted to shut down its three libraries by spring 2005, after residents rejected in November a number of tax increases aimed at funding city services."

Associated Press 12/29/2004

01/04/2005

What The Arts Mean To Students
"Students with high levels of arts participation outperform "arts-poor" students in virtually every important measure. We only recently have begun to document the impact of the arts on teaching and learning. But re search has linked arts-based education to the development of basic cognitive skills, skills used to master other subjects such as reading, writing and mathematics."

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 01/02/2005

01/04/2005

Plugged In - How The Internet Has Impacted Artists
How has the internet changed the way artists do their work? "The first large-scale surveys of the internet�s impact on artists and musicians reveal that they are embracing the Web as a tool to improve how they make, market, and sell their creative works. They eagerly welcome new opportunities that are provided by digital technology and the internet."

Pew Internet & American Life Project 12/05/2004

01/04/2005

State Department Funds International Cultural Exchange
The U.S. State Dept has announced a competition for international cultural exchange. The grant supports exchanges between arts organizations in the U.S. and overseas. The competition is expected to award 5-10 grants totaling $1 million. Due to the low number, these grants will be extremely competitive and the deadline for applications is February 15th.

U.S. State Department 01/04/2005

01/10/2005

Between Madness And Art
"I've never believed there is anything more than a coincidental relationship between madness and making art. For every self-mutilating van Gogh, there's a sane, mild-mannered Matisse. Artistic creativity arises from a variety of fluid inner equations; the old image of artists producing masterpieces in some sort of possessed frenzy is far more common in movies than in life. In actuality, making art is a respite from inner demons. Sanity is necessary for the strategy, planning, and trial and error needed to bring a good artistic idea to fruition."

Philadelphia Inquirer 01/09/2005

01/10/2005

Atlanta Arts Exec Salaries Raising Eyebrows
Atlanta's two largest arts organizations, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the High Museum of Art, have been slashing budgets and negotiating wage freezes in recent years, desperately working to balance their books. But the fiscal austerity apparently doesn't extend to the executives in charge of the troubled arts groups: High Museum director Michael Shapiro's salary has jumped $155,000 since 2000, and ASO President Allison Vulgamore's pay has ballooned from $275,000 to $440,000 in the same period.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution 01/09/2005

01/10/2005

Promoting The Arts Takes A Backseat To Controversy
�San Diego's cultural tourism program � an aggressive effort to promote the arts community and its creativity as a tourist destination � isn't quite what it used to be. About a year ago, the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau shut down its cultural tourism office, and its manager, Rick Prickett, moved to Hawaii... A city audit of ConVis' finances took issue with bonuses, car allowances and how ConVis spent money on entertaining clients... Amid the controversy, the bureau's budget was slashed by more than 20 percent and it was stripped of responsibility for marketing the San Diego Convention Center."

San Diego Union Tribune 01/09/2005

01/10/2005

Fort Worth's Bass Hall Turns It Around
Fort Worth's Bass Performance Hall has taken a $750,000 deficit in 2002-2003 and balanced its books for the most recent season...

Fort Worth Business Press 01/07/2005

01/10/2005

How The Rockettes Stole Christmas
This was the first year in Boston for the touring Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and now that the holiday dust has cleared, local arts groups are reporting that everyone's fears about the touring Rockettes were entirely justified. "Business was down at the Boston Pops, Handel and Haydn Society, Revels, and Boston Ballet... The Boston Symphony Orchestra, the corporate entity that oversees the Pops, canceled three Holiday Pops concerts because of slow ticket sales," and the ballet, which was booted from its traditional home to make way for Radio City, reported disappointing ticket sales for its revamped and Nutcracker. Meanwhile, the Rockettes sold 200,000 in less than a month.

Boston Globe 01/06/2005

01/10/2005

Saving An Indie Underdog, With Help From Goliath
"The Boyd Theatre, Philadelphia's last movie palace, is to be saved under a deal that will allow Clear Channel to stage concerts, musicals and Broadway-sized productions there, [the city's mayor] is to announce today... Clear Channel emerged in the fall of 2003 as the angel that would help Goldenberg rescue the once-grand art-deco theater."

Philadelphia Inquirer 01/05/2005

01/10/2005

Rockwell On Dance
Longtime New York Times arts writer John Rockwell is preparing to take on a new position as the Grey Lady's chief dance critic, and he sees much to recommend a corner of the arts world which seems always to be on the edge of fiscal collapse. "Dancers are paid less than other performing artists. Dance companies, even the big ballet troupes, must furiously run in place, like terpsichorean hamsters, just to sustain themselves. But that means dancers do it for love, not fame or fortune, though some are famous, and a very few earn modest fortunes. Dance critics can still cover any and all forms of dance without feeling that they're sullying themselves."

The New York Times 01/09/2005

01/10/2005

More Pay Cuts Loom in Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre is seeking a pay cut from its pit musicians for the third time in three years, in a desperate effort to balance a budget which has been swimming in red ink in recent years. The situation was exacerbated by disappointing ticket sales for the company's 2004 Nutcracker performances, after which PBT asked the musicians to reopen their contract, which officially expires in summer 2005.

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 01/06/2005

01/10/2005

Deficit Forces Cuts In Salt Lake
Utah-based Ballet West has announced its intention to make big cuts in its performance schedule and company size in order to compensate for three years of red ink. The company "will drop its poorly attended fall repertory program, and begin its 2005-06 season with The Nutcracker next December. Other cuts include a reduction from 40 to 35 dancers, and a trim to artists' contracts from 38 weeks to 35."

Salt Lake Tribune 01/05/2005

01/10/2005

B(allet)=MC Squared
The Rambert Dance Company is producing a new work based on Einstein's theory of relativity. "The work is the inaugural choreographic piece from Rambert artistic director Mark Baldwin and was commissioned by the Institute of Physics. A professor of physics is working with Baldwin to advise on the technical aspects of the work."

BBC 01/04/2005

01/10/2005

New York Offers Tax Breaks To Film Productions
New York's film industry is tired of seeing productions set in New York filmed elsewhere - like Canada. So the Big Apple is copying other cities and offering tax breaks for producers. "The new tax credits for New York state and New York City send a clear message to Hollywood producers that film and television shows about New York should be filmed in New York."

Back Stage 01/06/2005

01/10/2005

America's Newest Orchestra Has A Season
"The Boca Raton Philharmonic Symphonia has announced the schedule for its inaugural 2005-2006 season, and a very impressive one it is. The new chamber orchestra, composed largely of former Florida Philharmonic members, will offer five concerts that serve up a bracing and imaginative mix of the familiar and adventurous."

The Sun-Sentinel (South Florida) 01/09/2005

01/10/2005

Kentucky Opera Ditches Orchestra For Students
Kentucky Opera drops the Louisville Orchestra for performances of its next production in favor of using students from the University of Louisville. Why? The company explains that "scheduling conflicts made it difficult, if not impossible, to use the orchestra for this particular production, which involves parallel student and professional casts. When you are rehearsing two casts you have a lot of orchestral rehearsals, and there were several services where (the Louisville Orchestra) would be unavailable because of contractual restrictions." But an Louisville Orchestra spokesperson expressed surprise at the decision...

Louisville Courier-Journal 01/09/2005

01/10/2005

Pittsburgh Symphony Decides Against European Tour
For the second year in a row, the Pittsburgh Symphony has decided not to tour Europe. "The PSO never signed contracts for the tour -- therefore it didn't officially cancel -- but the tour was listed as being in development for almost a year on the Web site of European concert promoter Hans Ulrich Schmid. It was to include stops in Italy, Slovenia and Austria."

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 01/07/2005

01/10/2005

Anatomy of a Work Stoppage
At the heart of the dispute between the St. Louis Symphony's managers and musicians are the dueling issues of fiscal sanity and competent oversight. The SLSO flirted with bankruptcy in 2000, a financial crisis brought on by years of dipping into its endowment and mismanaging the money on hand. In the years since that low point, the organization has raised $130 million, bolstered its endowment, and paid off a lot of debt. The musicians, who accepted major salary cuts to allow the SLSO to get back on its feet, now believe that they've earned the right to get back some of what they lost. The management insists that it isn't yet financially stable enough to take that step.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch 01/06/2005

01/10/2005

33 Wannabes Left Hanging
The work stoppage at the St. Louis Symphony came at the worst possible time for dozens of hopeful players who had spent the weekend piling into the city for two auditions scheduled to be held this week. The auditions were canceled after the musicians and management could not come to a contract agreement, and the orchestra is reimbursing the auditionees for their travel expenses. The SLSO musicians were willing to allow the auditions to go on as scheduled, but that would have required the audition committee to be paid a small gratuity, which the orchestra's managers refused to allow.

The New York Times 01/05/2005

01/10/2005

Does Anyone in Florida Like Music?
In the wake of the Florida Philharmonic's bankruptcy and the demise of Miami's lone classical radio station, many observers have been wondering aloud whether South Florida really just doesn't have any use for the form. Now, more evidence for the affirmative: the Palm Beach Chamber Music Society is slashing its current season by a third, and may close up shop completely before fall 2005. Poor ticket sales and sluggish donations are cited as the major reasons for the society's problems. A lack of local product may also be a factor - the internationally known Miami String Quartet decamped for Ohio last year, and many local performers have left town with the Philharmonic's shutdown.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel 01/05/2005

01/10/2005

A Music Camp's Controversial Modernizing Plans
Large-scale changes are underway at Interlochen Music School, where faculty dismissals and program changes have riled some fans of the school. The school's board chairman says that the changes are essential because "declining enrollment, fewer applicants, higher cancellations and fewer returning campers were threatening the camp's reputation and even survival. At the same time, the student-staff ratio last summer was two to one. 'That is not a sustainable ratio'."

The New York Times 01/05/2005

01/10/2005

Closing Libraries, Missed Opportunities
So the Salinas (California) public libraries are shutting for lack of money. There's got to be a better way to fund libraries, writes David Kipen. "Of course, the danger isn't that the next young Steinbeck will have to take a bus to borrow some Waugh. The danger, plainly, is that he'll find something better to do. To paraphrase P.T. Barnum, there's a Steinbeck born every minute. The trick of a literate society lies in cultivating him, carefully but generously, so that he actually grows up to be Steinbeck."

San Francisco Chronicle 01/06/2005

01/10/2005

Now Montana: Because, Ya Know, Poets Don't Need To Be Paid...
Montana becomes the latest US state to want to name a poet laureate. "Under the bill, the Montana Arts Council would supply the governor with the names of three qualified Montana poets. The governor would then appoint a poet from the list to hold the honorary post for two years. The poet laureate would receive no compensation but would promote the arts throughout Montana."

Billings Gazette 01/05/2005

01/10/2005

California In Verse (If Anyone Wants The Job)
"California is in the market for a new poet laureate. With an official state dirt, a state fossil and a state tartan, we need a state bard. And as a blue state, it's our obligation to demonstrate that airport bookstore thrillers and bodice-rippers are not the alpha and omega of literature and that just because poetry usually comes in slim volumes with even slimmer royalty checks doesn't mean it don't kick heinie."

Los Angeles Times 01/05/2005

01/10/2005

Broadway Of The Midwest
Five years ago, it seemed that the out-of-town pre-Broadway trial run was dead, the victim of high production costs and increasingly devastating critical reaction. But these days, nearly every big-budget Broadway show is getting a trial run outside the Big Apple, with Chicago having replaced the various Northeastern cities that used to host tryouts. "With a metro area of about 9 million, it has the requisite population base. It has a sophisticated theater audience with a track record of interest in new work. It has an ample supply of technical crew and stagehands who, due to union concessions, come considerably cheaper than their counterparts in New York."

Chicago Sun-Times 01/09/2005

01/10/2005

An Unusual Rescue Plan For Tacoma Theatre
Tacoma Actors Guild, which suddenly shut down last month, has bought a little time. A suburban Seattle theatre will take over the theatre's building for the next 2 1/2 years while TAG tries to regroup. Bellevue Civic Theatre, a semiprofessional compared to TAG�s fully professional status, will "hire actors and crew on a show-by-show basis. TAG�s staff might get occasional work, but will not be rehired."

Tacoma News-Tribune 01/05/2005

01/10/2005

The Sad Story Of Tacoma Actors Guild
Last month, after 26 years in business, Tacoma Actors Guild suddenly closed its doors. "By December, TAG had only $30,000 in the bank, enough to cover a single two-week payroll. But when the bank heard about the indefinite closure and layoffs in the newspaper, it froze the $30,000 against the $165,000 note. Staffers refused to work without pay, and the Christmas play ended abruptly, its set left standing onstage."

Tacoma News-Tribune 01/04/2005

01/10/2005

Reconsidering Kahn's Roosevelt
In 1972, Louis Kahn designed a memorial to FDR on New York's Roosevelt Island. It never got built, and now the city is considering another plan for the site. But "devotees of Roosevelt and of Kahn are hoping that it is not too late to reconsider Kahn's 2.8-acre memorial as part of the 14-acre site. With renewed interest in the art of memorial-making (because of plans for ground zero) and in the work of Kahn (because of a film made last year by his son, Nathaniel), the time is finally ripe, they say, to realize Kahn's plan."

New York Times Magazine 01/09/2005

01/10/2005

Grand Opening Set For Baltimore Museum
Baltimore's much anticipated new museum of African American art and culture finally has an official opening date, after months of delays and setbacks. The Reginald F. Lewis Museum will open to the public on June 25 as the second-largest museum of its kind in the U.S.. The state of Maryland will pick up the tab for 75% of all operating costs for the museum's first year of operation.

Baltimore Sun 01/08/2005

01/10/2005

Art Amidst The Ads
Amid the inescapable glut of billboards and oversized wall advertisements in New York City, a giant 1300-square-foot digital video screen is garnering attention. And it isn't selling anything. "Operating on the notion that New York deserves art where it least expects it, SmartSign Media is presenting a month-long exhibition of images from Magnum Photos, the legendary photojournalism collective." The images appear on the giant screen which wraps around Port Authority, the city's main bus terminal.

New York Daily News 01/05/2005

01/10/2005

The New York Times 01/04/2005

01/10/2005

The Growing Budget Gap
Atlanta's arts scene is rapidly losing its middle class. Some organizations seem to be flush with cash, mounting hundred million dollar expansions and bolstering already-sizable endowment funds, while the city's have-nots see their budgets shrink and donations dwindle.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution 01/09/2005

01/10/2005

Is St. Louis A Canary In The Coal Mine?
The work stoppage at the St. Louis Symphony may be indicative of a larger systemic problem that no one in the industry wants to face: orchestras are very, very expensive, and the majority of cities may simply no longer be able to afford them as they now exist. "Intense and often divisive contract negotiations consumed three of the nation's top orchestras last fall: Chicago, Cleveland and Philadelphia... [and] close to 90% of the country's orchestras ran a budget deficit last year."

Los Angeles Times 01/09/2005

01/10/2005

Tough Times For Libraries
The American Library Association gathers for its annual meeting. Libraries are facing a rocky future in the US. "More than $80 million has been cut from public library budgets in the past year alone, which has weakened or closed libraries in more than 40 states. In addition to budgetary issues, about 70 percent of librarians will reach retirement age within the next 20 years. Who will take their place?"

Boston Globe 01/07/2005

01/17/2005

Baltimore's Architectural Future Takes Shape
Like many other American cities, Baltimore is in a building boom, and new office towers and residential complexes are rising at a nearly unprecedented rate. "While there is no shortage of new buildings opening in the Baltimore region this year, many simply reinforce the status quo. For those seeking signs of fresh thinking about architecture," though, there are a number of diamonds in the rough just waiting to be built

Baltimore Sun 01/16/2005

01/17/2005

Chicago, City Of Wacky Bridges
"Offering a major surprise, the City of Chicago on Friday will announce winners in its international design competition for pedestrian bridges along the lakefront, choosing a bold new look for the North Avenue Bridge instead of a plan that would have echoed the gently curving profile of the existing bridge." Among the winners are a boomerang-shaped bridge with solar-powered lighting, two S-shaped specimens, and a curving suspension bridge. Each bridge will cost several million dollars to build, and construction is slated to begin in 2007.

Chicago Tribune 01/14/2005

01/17/2005

Alaskan Museum Counting On "Bilbao Effect"
Fairbanks, Alaska's Museum of the North is expanding, hoping to generate some Bilbao-type publicity in the hopes of becoming a tourist destination. "Other museums that have created what we call signature buildings have experienced the same 'Bilbao effect,' where the building becomes a destination. I said, 'We really need to do this because we need to get tourists here in the summer to help us pay our bills."'

CNN.com 01/13/2005

01/17/2005

Entry-Level Art On The Internet
Selling art online was one promise of the internet. But it's never really caught on. Now an artist in Washington State is offering art to be digitally printed for prices beginning at about $25. It's not schlock but the kind of art you might find in reasonable galleries. Artists receive 75 percent of a sale, with the remaining 25 percent going to maintain and expand the site...

Seattle Post-Intelligencer 01/11/2005

01/17/2005

MoMA's Art For The Hard-of-Seeing
The Museum of Modern Art now offers audio description tours for the visual-impaired. "The regular tour takes about two-and-a-half hours, with 75 stops, and is available in six languages. What's new here is a multiplicity of voices, including some from the past read by actors. Also, instead of hearing from one curator, visitors now hear from many, with additional perspective from conservators and artists, including Chuck Close, Marcel Duchamp and Lorna Simpson."

The New York Times 01/11/2005

01/17/2005

Study: Broadway Audience Is Out-Of-Towners
Confirming many long-held beliefs, a new demographic study shows that 6 in 10 Broadway audience members do come from outside the city and its suburbs, and that the single most important factor in ticket buying is "personal recommendation." The study, conducted by the League of American Theaters and Producers, a trade group, found that during the 2003-4 season only 16.7 percent of the Broadway audience came from inside the New York City limits, with an additional 22.9 percent coming from suburban areas in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York. About half of the 2003-4 crowd came from the rest of the United States, while a little more than 10 percent consisted of international tourists."

The New York Times 01/13/2005

01/17/2005

Is Google's Library Deal Legal?
There's one problem with Google's deal to put online millions of library books. "It is not at all clear that Google and these libraries have the legal right to do what is proposed. For work in the public domain, the right is clear enough. But for work not in the public domain, Google's right to scan � to copy � whole texts to index is uncertain at best, even if it ultimately makes only snippets available. When permission has been given by the copyright holder, again there's no problem. But when permission has not been secured, the law is essentially uncertain. If lawsuits were filed, and if Google and its partner libraries were found to have violated the law, their legal exposure could reach into the billions."

Los Angeles Times 01/12/2005

01/17/2005

Mississippi Libraries Un-Ban Stewart Book
A Mississippi public library board has reversed its decision to ban Jon Stewart's book "America" after waves of protest. "The board voted 5-2 Monday to lift the ban, and the book was returned to circulation in the system's eight libraries Tuesday. "We have come under intense scrutiny by the outside community. We don't decide for the community whether to read this book or not, but whether to make it available."

Associated Press 01/12/2005

01/17/2005

Yes, But What Do You Do?
Tampa has an art czar. Officially, he's the city's Manager of Creative Services, his name is Paul Wilborn, and he makes $90,000 per year, a figure which everyone in the city's moneyed classes seems to know. Wilborn's salary is of interest because many observers have had a very difficult time figuring out exactly what it is that he does for the money. "Here's what he doesn't do: Raise funds. Distribute grants... His days are filled with meetings, which he attends on behalf of the mayor... His job - albeit unofficially - is also hobnobbing."

St. Petersburg Times 01/16/2005

01/17/2005

Turnaround In Minnesota
By the standards of the orchestra industry, Minnesota Orchestra president Tony Woodcock did not have a smooth first few weeks on the job in 2003, as a bitter behind-the-scenes battle over his appointment spilled into the press. But in a little over a year on the job, he has "led a financial turnaround at the venerable institution and now plans to further strengthen it with a $50 million fund-raising campaign." On top of the financial success, Woodcock's employees say that he has begun to heal the deep wounds left by previous managements, and to reassert the orchestra as one of the Twin Cities' most valued cultural mainstays.

Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal 01/14/2005

01/17/2005

Strathmore Nears Completion
The Music Center at Strathmore, in suburban Washington, D.C. is very nearly ready for its close-up, and if successful in its mission, it will change the face of the arts in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. "The state-of-the-art building is unique in the way it embraces art from its tiniest beginnings to its loftiest expressions. Five-year-olds learn how to hold a violin correctly; 3-year-olds can take tap dance with their mothers or fathers. When the concert hall opens next month, cellist Yo-Yo Ma will be center stage; later, Sauvion Glover will bring his thrilling kind of tap to the hall."

Washington Times 01/15/2005

01/17/2005

A Phoenix Rises In Texas
The San Antonio Symphony was supposed to be dead and buried by now, the victim of endless deficits, questionable management, and meager community support. Instead, SAS officials are in a jubilant mood after meeting the requirements of a major challenge grant, and are preparing to launch a major PR initiative designed to increase ticket sales and make the orchestra more attractive to high-rolling donors.

San Antonio Express-News 01/16/2005

01/17/2005

Adding Some Color To Classical Music
Classical music may not be as elitist as some claim, but there's no disputing the obvious fact that it attracts almost none of America's famous racial diversity. In fact, an African-American musician in a symphony orchestra is such an unusual sight as to be jarring, and token attempts to bridge the racial gap have generally been short-lived and unsuccessful. So when an entire ensemble of minority musicians starts to achieve commercial and critical success with a classical product, it's worth taking note, and Imani Winds, which brings together African-American and Latino composers and performers with an interest in serious new music, is establishing itself as a unique voice in the lily-white classical wilderness.

Hartford Courant 01/14/2005

01/17/2005

The New Women Conductors
Three women conductors lead orchestras in New York this weekend. "These artists represent a new wave of female conductors in their late 20's through early 40's. Others are Joana Carneiro, Sara Jobin, Sarah Ioannides, Sarah Hicks, Keri-Lynn Wilson and Anne Manson. They confront significantly less prejudice than did their counterparts who are only a few years older: Gis�le Ben-Dor, Catherine Comet, Rachel Worby, JoAnn Falletta, Marin Alsop and others, performers who have made women a familiar presence on the orchestra podium."

New York Times 01/14/2005

01/17/2005

SF Symphony Gets Major Funding For Multimedia Project
The San Francisco Symphony gets a $10 million grant - the largest in its history for use in 'Keeping Score: MTT on Music,' the orchestra's multimedia effort, started last year, to build new audiences for classical music. The gift will be delivered once the Symphony raises $10 million during the next three years. "Keeping Score" was initiated with a two-part national television show last year, which featured Thomas and orchestra members talking about Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony and then performing the piece."

San Francisco Chronicle 01/12/2005

01/17/2005

PBT On The Brink
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre is on the verge of fiscal collapse, and prospects for the future are so bleak that the company is considering either merging with another area arts group, or even folding altogether. Disappointing holiday sales and slumping subscriber renewals have exacerbated PBT's already precarious situation, and the company has been without a managing director since last May.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 01/16/2005

01/17/2005

Northern Ballet Cancels Season
The Northern Ballet Theatre is one of only two professional arts groups still operating in Nashua, New Hampshire, and this weekend, two will become one, as the ballet announces the cancellation of the remainder of its 2004-05 season. The company will use the next several months to retool and raise money, with the aim of mounting a 2005-06 season.

Nashua Telegraph 01/16/2005

01/17/2005

Penn Ballet's Nutcracker Holds Steady
Though houses at the Academy of Music ran at 70 percent sold, the same as last year, the number of performances was down by three, and Nutcracker income crucial to the company fell by about 4 percent. Last month, the ballet performed its Tchaikovsky-Balanchine classic 25 times, generating revenue of $1,940,000, down from last year's $2,015,070. About 38,000 paying listener-viewers experienced The Nutcracker this season, down from 40,500 last season."

Philadelphia Inquirer 01/11/2005

01/17/2005

Cooperation Ain't The Way
Cleveland arts groups have been ratcheting up efforts to improve the city's cultural scene, but many have discovered that joining forces can be the most effective way to compete in a world with seemingly endless entertainment options. "So why aren't the creators of two significant new Cleveland arts festivals working together?" The Cleveland Play House is planning a theater and arts festival for May 2006, but the creators of a Labor Day arts-and-technology festival will beat them to the punch by nine months. So why not let two become one? Well, for one thing, the Play House's artistic director thinks that Labor Day weekend is "box office poison."

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 01/15/2005

01/17/2005

Studies: Studying Arts Makes Better Students
Schools that go beyond basics and include arts studies produce better students. "A study of 23 arts-integrated schools in Chicago showed test scores rising up to two times faster there than in demographically comparable schools. A study of a Minneapolis program showed that arts integration has substantial effects for all students, but appears to have its greatest impact on disadvantaged learners. Gains go well beyond the basics and test scores. Students become better thinkers, develop higher-order skills, and deepen their inclination to learn. The studies also show that arts integration energizes and challenges teachers."

Washington Post 01/08/2005

01/17/2005

Health Care Cut Off For St. Louis Musicians
The work stoppage at the St. Louis Symphony has been remarkably civil thus far, but tempers are beginning to flare over the issue of health insurance, which was cut off to the musicians when they rejected management's final contract offer. The SLSO had prepaid the musicians' premium, and received a rebate from the cancellation. Meanwhile, the 2-year-old son of an orchestra cellist had a seizure last week, and his mother found herself stuck with a major hospital bill when her insurance was found to have been terminated. The musicians claim that their health insurance was never affected during previous work stoppages.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch 01/15/2005

01/17/2005

California Arts Council Gets New Director
The California Arts Council has a new director. Muriel Johnson, is a recently retired chairwoman of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, where she helped direct a budget of about $1.5 billion. She takes over an agency whose budget was slashed last year from $18 million to aboput $1 million.

Sacramento Bee 01/11/2005

01/17/2005

Will Utah Kill Salt Lake's Arts Tax?
The state of Utah is considering leveling its sales tax across the state. That concerns arts supporters in Salt Lake City, because a major source of revenue for the arts comes from a special sales tax levy...

Deseret News (Utah) 01/10/2005

01/17/2005

Proposed California Arts Budget Lowest Per-Capita In US
The California Arts Council has a new director - Muriel Johnson, a veteran Republican politician and arts advocate from Sacramento. But she won't have much to work with. The $3.2-million arts budget governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed Monday means that California again will likely rank last in the nation in per-capita state spending on the arts.

Los Angeles Times 01/12/2005

01/17/2005

TicketMaster Starts Arts Division
American ticketing behemoth TickeMaster has established a new division for the arts. "Ticketmaster sold 100 million tickets valued at $4.9 billion in 2003. It serves more than 8,000 clients worldwide."

Los Angeles Business 01/11/2005

01/17/2002

Study on pay: Working in arts is labor of love
"The new study finds that only 10 percent of Illinois arts leaders receive any employer contribution whatsoever to their retirement savings. Other fringe benefits are in similarly short supply. And a striking 50 percent of Illinois arts groups make no contributions to the costs of their employees' health care. The study finds arts managers to be mature, highly educated and highly skilled. Nonetheless, it finds, their tenures tend to be shorter than in other non-profits, and their paychecks relatively small. Although higher than the national average, the average salary in Illinois for a non-profit arts leader is $49,911. Workers at major cultural institutions, of course, earn significantly more. Still, the most frequent salary amounts were $35,000 and $25,000."

Chicago Tribune 01/13/2005

02/01/2005

Aiming For A More Transparent SPAC
As a new management team begins to rebuild the mess left behind by the previous administration at upstate New York's Saratoga Performing Arts Center, details are emerging that paint a bleak picture of SPAC's previous management practices. Still, the center's new treasurer is already hard at work sketching a new path for SPAC's fundraising apparatus and fiscal management, and like the rest of the new leadership team, he talks a great deal about bringing a new "transparency" to the organization.

The Saratogian 01/29/2005

02/01/2005

Seattle's 911 Hits The Skids
Another Seattle arts group is facing a crisis. 911 Media Center has laid off three of its five staff, and is cutting back after a costly move and a downturn in fundrasing. "The immediate problem is money, but the real problem is a crisis the organization survived two years ago, when a four-person board out of touch with the membership fired a popular and effective director and triggered a membership revolt."

Seattle Post-Intelligencer 01/27/2005

02/01/2005

Boston Ballet Cuts Salaries
"After a disappointing holiday Nutcracker run, Boston Ballet has cut the salaries of virtually all its employees, with some workers taking short, unpaid leaves. The move is part of an expense-cutting plan meant to keep Boston Ballet on track for a balanced annual budget." The company's holiday struggles were due in large part to increased competition from the big-budget Radio City Christmas Spectacular, which forced Boston Ballet to move its Nutcracker to a much smaller theater. The company is assuring its employees that no one will be laid off.

Boston Globe 01/29/2005

02/01/2005

Colorado Ballet Fights To A Draw With Holiday Rockettes
Colorado Ballet, like dance companies in several cities around America, fretted before Christmas when the Rockettes Christmas show came to town. The company, like many, depends on annual Nutcracker revenues to survive. So how'd the Rockette showdown go? "Not surprisingly, the Rockettes drew huge numbers: 155,063 paid attendance for 64 performances. That translates to an impressive 88 percent capacity. More remarkable are the final numbers from Nutcracker. December's Paramount engagement held its own, compared with the previous, Rockettes-less run. Some 33,600 attended 31 shows (30,100 paid). That total matches numbers from 2003 - 33,400 (29,250 paid)."

Rocky Mountain News 01/24/2005

02/01/2005

Foreign Video Sales are Hollywood's New Cash Cow
"By most estimates and anecdotal evidence, revenues from international home video sales are the fastest-growing part of Hollywood's business. The most reliable estimate comes from Screen Digest, a British data company, which calculated that the home video divisions of the United States studios garnered $11.4 billion in wholesale revenues from the $24.6 billion that overseas consumers spent buying and renting home video products in 2004. What is more certain is that the windfall from overseas home video sales is affecting how the movie business is run. It is inflating budgets for films with big international potential."

The New York Times 01/31/2005

02/01/2005

Culture Wars Pull Buster Into the Fray
Even though PBS president Pat Mitchell viewed the episode of Postcards From Buster and called it appropriate, the network pulled it from the schedule after education secretary Margaret Spellings criticized it for portraying lesbian characters.

New York Times 01/27/2005

02/01/2005

FCC Crackdown Confuses Broadcasters
American broadcasters are complaining that the FCC's crackdown on content has left them unclear about what will be deemed acceptable and what will not. But the pressure group Parents Television Council is unsympathetic: "They're lucky they got away with as much as they did. It reminds me of a person who has been speeding as much as they wanted and now they're getting tickets."

Chicago Tribune 01/25/2005

02/01/2005

Report: Kimmel Center Needs Acoustic Overhaul
Philadelphia's Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts has been open for less than four years, but an internal report by the acoustic engineer of Verizon Hall, the center's main stage and the home of the Philadelphia Orchestra, suggests that a major interior renovation will likely be necessary to fix what are described as "serious acoustical problems." The hall has received mixed reviews from critics since its opening, but the concept of a major renovation is likely to face opposition, and debate has not even begun about who would pay for such a project.

Philadelphia Inquirer 01/30/2005

02/01/2005

The Management Carousel Spins In St. Louis
"The St. Louis Symphony has named Jeremy Geffen, artistic administrator of the New York Philharmonic since 2000, as its own vice president for artistic administration... Geffen replaces Kathleen van Bergen, who succeeded Simon Woods in a similar position at the Philadelphia Orchestra last fall, after Woods was named president of the New Jersey Symphony."

PlaybillArts 01/27/2005

02/01/2005

Florida Orchestra Signs Contract With Musicians
After about 10 months of on-again, off-again negotiations, musicians of the Florida Orchestra ratified a labor contract Friday. Terms of their three-year agreement with the board of trustees include a base salary that rises from $25,120 in the current season to $30,090 in the 2006-07 season.

St. Petersburg Times 01/22/2005

02/01/2005

The Integrated Orchestra
"Black and Latino musicians account for about 3 percent of the musicians in American orchestras nationwide but about 30 percent of the Chicago Sinfonietta. Most orchestras have practically all-white boards of directors and audiences, but about a third of the Sinfonietta's board is non-white and about 40 percent of its audience is minority. Most orchestras rarely play music by minority composers, but the Sinfonietta integrates these works throughout its entire season."

Detroit Free Press 01/23/2005

02/01/2005

American, Cuban Musical Ties Broken
The Bush administration has severed the fertile connection between Cuban and American musicians�and audiences�by reversing American policy. The security crunch following 9/11 has given immigration authorities the excuse they've long sought to exclude many foreign musicians from the United States. But against Cubans, the resistance runs far deeper. This is a Cuban music crisis�a development that has more to do with the Cold War than the War on Terror."

Village Voice 01/25/2005

02/01/2005

How Snow Changes An Orchestra Audience's Demographics
What happens to an audience when snow shuts down a major American city? Well, in Philadelphia, "the orchestra put $10 snow tickets on sale starting Friday, and so at least an audience of about 750 showed up. Not surprisingly, they seemed to come mostly from Center City, and perhaps through weather-induced natural selection, they were overwhelmingly younger. On this single night, the median age of the orchestra audience shed at least 35 years."

Philadelphia Inquirer 01/24/2005

02/01/2005

The People's Choice Awards Of Books?
A new philanthropy called the Quills Literacy Foundation has announced the formation of the Quill Awards, a slate of 19 annual book awards, most of which will be voted on by the general public.

The New York Times 01/27/2005

02/01/2005

Weak Dollar Sending Art Back Across The Atlantic
The American dollar's slide against other currencies has apparently sparked a push by European art institutions to reacquire some of the countless works which had been bought up by American collectors over the decades. "The weak dollar offers European buyers some remarkable bargains. At Sotheby's Old Masters sale in New York, a Botticelli sold for the equivalent of £246,000. Sources said Italians were particularly active buyers. Italy having produced so much good art, there are plenty of works for Italians to repatriate."

The Guardian (UK) 01/29/2005

02/01/2005

Long On Art, Short On Space
Harvard University's art collection is the envy of museums worldwide, comprising more than 250,000 pieces. But having that much art is one thing: finding the space to display, or even to store it all is another matter entirely. For the recently arrived chief of the university's museum system, keeping the collection intact and secure is becoming a major challenge, especially with much of the available gallery space in desperate need of new climate-control technology and other upgrades.

Boston Globe 01/30/2005

02/01/2005

A Connecticut Renaissance
Greenwich, Connecticut "is the last place... that you would expect to find a major Vermeer on loan from Europe, or several roomfuls of works by Rubens - or, for that matter, hard-core Manhattanites on an art pilgrimage." But in the last four years, Greenwich's Bruce Museum of Art & Science has transformed itself into a major player in the East Coast art scene, under the stewardship of director Peter Sutton, who has mounted high-profile exhibits previously though to be beyond the Bruce's reach. "At the same time, playing on Greenwich's reputation for private wealth, he has provocatively embraced the art market, organizing exhibitions showcasing high-end private art collections - and even artworks currently for sale."

The New York Times 01/30/2005

02/01/2005

Living Here In Allentown, Tearing All The Sculptures Down
"More than 23 years ago, an artist with a growing international reputation for public art made a brief stop in Allentown, [Pennsylvania] to grace the west wall of a popular downtown gathering place with a light sculpture. With much fanfare he strung together 35 galvanized steel bars, etched to catch the rays of the sun and reflect them in an ever-changing prism. Over time, the downtown struggled and the restaurant closed [and] officials made plans to tear down the former Good Spirit eatery and replace it with shiny new offices." Dale Eldred's sculpture very nearly went down with the building, but now, thanks to the tireless efforts of a city official, the work has been preserved, and will be moved to a prominent position on Allentown's new Arts Walk.

Allentown Morning Call 01/29/2005

02/01/2005

Termite-Infested Eyesore... Or ART?
What was the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission thinking back in 1978 when it recognized a "22-foot stack of Schlitz beer pallets" as a historic monument? Now the tower is a crumbling, termite-infested hazard, and the artist's heirs want to tear it down and sell the property. But there's that problematic cultural designation...

Los Angeles Times 01/25/2005

02/01/2005

Poland Pressures Cleveland Museum To Return Nazi-Looted Drawings
"Poland is putting new pressure on the Cleveland Museum of Art and other major museums to return a widely dispersed collection of Albrecht Durer drawings looted by the Nazis during World War II. The 27 drawings, three of which are owned by the Cleveland museum, were removed by Nazi officers in 1941 from the Ossolinski Institute in the city of Lviv, which was then in Poland."

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 01/26/2005

02/01/2005

In Virginia: Squabbling Over An Arts Funding Plan
There's a proposal in Virginia for the state to borrow $86 million for arts and cultural projects. But officials in Hampton Roads and the mayors of Norfolk and Virginia Beach said their cities are being shortchanged since 35 percent of the funds go to Richmond. Then there is the state legislator who attacks the funding plan as "vulgar."

Virginia Pilot 01/28/2005

02/01/2005

Philly Mayor Proposes Big Cut In Museum Funding
Philadelphia Mayor John Street proposes big reductions in the city's support of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Street's austerity budget proposes to cut city support for the Philadelphia Museum of Art by $250,000 to $1.75 million. City funding for the art museum provides for security and maintenance. By 2010, under the mayor's proposed five-year financial plan, city support would be scaled back to $500,000. Art museum officials called the proposed cuts a "major setback" and noted that there already had been a 7 percent reduction in staff and elimination of Wednesday-evening programs due to city funding cuts last year."

Philadelphia Daily News 01/28/2005

02/01/2005

Strathmore - Suburban Culture, Urban Ambition
The new Strathmore Music Center in a Maryland suburb of Washington DC is an ambitious undertaking for a suburb. Benjamin Forgey writes that "the $100 million center is a traditional urban institution in a fast-changing suburban setting. It'll contribute most significantly to the cultural life of its home county, of course, but, with the Baltimore Symphony treating it as a 'second home,' it'll add choices for many music lovers in the metropolitan area. The architecture itself will be an attraction, eventually. In an age of prominent, in-your-face, innovative civic architecture, the center is a deceptive exception."

Washington Post 01/30/2005

02/15/2005

The 2005 Challenge: Raising Money
Fundraisers expect 2005 will be a difficult year in which to raise money. "With fund raising growing more competitive, charities of all kinds are lavishing attention on individuals who have the potential to make significant gifts -- especially after such efforts paid off handsomely last year."

Chronicle of Philanthropy 02/07/2005

02/15/2005

Where's The Dance Audience?
How do you build a new audience for dance? "Creating an environment where experimentation can flourish requires rethinking dance appreciation from the bottom up. It requires expanded school field trips and in-class curriculum where dance is seen as an integral part of world history, public television broadcasts and dance in other free media, lecture-demonstrations, explanatory pre-concert talks, sophisticated program notes and a return to serious, in-depth arts criticism that recognizes that the arts deliver the news the culture tells about itself -- whether that work is presented for one ephemeral night or enjoys a lucrative, year-long run."

WBUR (Boston) 02/09/2005

02/15/2005

SLSO Strike Mediation Delayed
Musicians and managers have finally agreed to mediation in the St. Louis Symphony strike, but bizarrely, the first session isn't scheduled until the middle of next week. Meanwhile "more of the orchestra's younger musicians than usual have been auditioning for other ensembles around the country. Though the SLSO is generally considered to be among the top 10 orchestras in the United States, St. Louis ranks 19th in base pay for its musicians." In other words, time is of the essence in this dispute, and the lack of urgency on both sides is beginning to grate.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch 02/10/2005

02/15/2005

Cleveland Orchestra Headed To Miami
Since the demise of the Florida Philharmonic two years ago, observers have been wondering just exactly who the under-construction Greater Miami Performing Arts Center is being built for. Now, an answer has emerged, courtesy of the chairman who presided over the Phil's disbanding: the center will open in 2007 with a 3-week residency by the Cleveland Orchestra. It's good news for South Florida music lovers, of course, but some former Philharmonic musicians are furious, suggesting that chairman Daniel Lewis, who has given $12 million to the Clevelanders over the years, allowed the Phil to die knowing that he could bring in a visiting orchestra more cheaply.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel 02/10/2005

02/15/2005

A Design For Atlanta's New Concert Hall
A design for Atlanta's new concert hall, designed by Santiago Calatrava, has been unveiled. "The building, roughly as tall as 13 stories, features a ribbed-glass roof surrounded by a metal collar. A smaller version, which houses a recital hall and learning center, nestles on the south side. Each is adorned with a free-standing, ridged steel arch that is 186 feet (about 18 stories) at its highest point. The Spanish architect calls it the feather."

Atlanta Journal-Constitution 02/08/2005

02/15/2005

Wright Starts Poetry Press
Charlie Wright is chairman of timber and development company R.D. Merrill is known in art circles for restoring solvency to the New York-based Dia Foundation. Now he's turning to another big interest - poetry - and starting a new publishing house. "We'll be focused on mid-career American poets. There will be some exposure to emerging poets, also reprints and translations - sort of a mixed bag."

Seattle Post-Intelligencer 02/08/2005

02/15/2005

How A South Dakota Library Stuck Up For Imprisoned Cuban Librarians
In March 2003, Castro's State Security police arrested independent librarians who provided access to books excluded from Cuba's censored library system. "These 'subversive' independent public librarians were sent to Castro's foul prisons, along with the other dissenters. During the raids on these independent libraries, the offending books were confiscated, and many of them burned." A tiny library in South Dakota "adopted" a Cuban library, sending books and drawing attention to the plight of the librarians...

Village Voice 02/08/2005

02/15/2005

Vegas Gets The Theatre Bug (And Builds Big)
Fantastic new-generation theatres in Las Vegas eclipse anything Broadway can produce. "Freed of the constraints of space that are a struggle in jam-packed Manhattan, and armed with shocking amounts of money from wealthy casino conglomerates, show producers can dream far bigger and bolder than in New York. The theater at a Vegas resort is a piece of a much larger business model in which the patrons are also diners, shoppers, hotel guests, and casino players, making it worthwhile for Caesars Palace to plunge $95 million into a showroom for pop star C�line Dion, even though the hotel shares the ticket revenue with Dion and her production company."

Christian Science Monitor 02/11/2005

02/15/2005

Broadway Courts Kids
Broadway producers worried about developing a next generation of theatre fans are concentrating on more programs for kids. "Family fare has taken off on Broadway (think "The Lion King," "Beauty and the Beast"), and a survey from the League of American Theaters and Producers shows that the number of kids filling seats is up slightly. In the 2003-2004 season, the league reports that nearly 1.3 million kids under 18 attended shows, the second highest turnout in more than 20 years (the highest was in 2000-01 season)."

Christian Science Monitor 02/11/2005

02/15/2005

Lincoln On Historical Steroids
It's three months before the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum is supposed to open in Springfield, Illinois. "Museum officials say they're blending scholarship and showmanship on a scale never attempted before, without undermining the accuracy of the history they present. If they succeed, they contend, museums all over the world will imitate them. If they fail, they know -- because it's started to happen already -- they'll be savaged for Disneyfying the past."

Washington Post 02/15/2005

02/15/2005

Is Tampa Museum Up To A New Building?
The Tampa Museum wants to build a signature $54 million building downtown to house its collections. But is the museum director described as "nice" up to the job of getting it done?

St. Petersburg Times 02/14/2005

03/15/2005

Business: Cheering For Christo
New York businesses are cheering Christo and Jeanne Claude's The Gates. "City officials said they expected tens of thousands of people to show up for the exhibition, which is to be up for only 16 days, and whose $20 million cost is being borne exclusively by the artists. By the time the 7,500 gates are taken down in two weeks, the city expects to generate $80 million in business, with $2.5 million in city taxes alone, according to the city's Economic Development Corporation."

The New York Times 02/14/2005

02/15/2005

Factory Artists (21st Century Model)
"Cities like New Haven are installing artists in factories and other workplaces to see how technology, be it vintage or cutting-edge, can inform art in the 21st century. Under the auspices of Artspace, a local arts organization, 10 artists were selected last year to be in residence at Connecticut businesses."

The New York Times 02/09/2005

02/15/2005

South Florida's New Music Glut
Since the collapse of the Florida Philharmonic, an interesting thing has happened in South Florida: a proliferation of small music groups. New ensembles are forming everywhere. "But with the upturn comes irony: There's now a player shortage. It's common for a musician to perform in several groups, creating a scheduling headache for the organizations. Conductors complain that they aren't sure who'll be playing, say, second violin from concert to concert."

Palm Beach Post 02/13/2005

02/15/2005

Is Philly Ready For A Permanent Arts Fund?
While some American cities have created dedicated arts funds to insure a steady flow of capital to cash-starved cultural groups, Philadelphia's arts scene has remained largely pay-as-you-go. Now, the mayor is making it clear that he supports the idea of a $50-$100 million fund dedicated to the arts, and the business and political communities may be ready to back the plan.

Philadelphia Inquirer 02/13/2005

03/14/2005

Baltimore Bid To Help Schools With Giant Crabs
Baltimore city officials have a plan to raise money for schools. Art. Giant fibreglass crabs. "The goal is to put 200 of the sculptures around town -- and to raise $1 million from businesses, foundations and individuals for a city-sponsored campaign to make physical improvements in school facilities, including money raised from an auction of the sculptures after they have been on display through the spring and summer."

Baltimore Sun 03/08/2005

03/14/2005

Piecing Together A City's Art Index
Members of a San Francisco synagogue has discovered a "treasure trove" of 19th-century art hidden in plain sight on its walls and ceiling. The discovery that two prominent local artists working in concert were responsible for the temple's beautiful, Renaissance-inspired interior has touched off a renewed round of interest in San Francisco's often cloudy art history. "The 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed public records and personal papers, erasing much of the city's artistic history from current memory."

San Francisco Chronicle 03/12/2005

03/14/2005

Chic


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