In Australia, Individual Giving To The Arts Goes Up "A survey of corporate and private philanthropy to Australia's 28 major performing arts companies reveals that in 2008 individual support through bequests, gifts of money and prescribed private funds had increased from 2004 by 119 per cent to $20 million."

The Australian 07/03/09

email this story | Posted 07/03/09@05:18AM

A Bit Of Heresy For The Fourth-Of-July Weekend "[T]he professional fireworks display is an exercise in pomposity, aggression, triumphalism, and hubris. The pyrotechnician - and, more importantly, his patron - intends to ornament the night sky beyond the powers of God himself. … Fireworks are imperialist and, as we used to say in school, hegemonic. That they are popularly believed to be populist entertainment does not say much for the populace."

Slate 07/01/09

email this story | Posted 07/02/09@09:58PM

Does Facebook Activism Translate Into Real-World Action? "[W]hether our virtual virtuousness will result in real-world action is unpredictable, and has as much to do with human nature as it does with amassing enough numbers. This is the problem with activism born of social networking sites. ... Do our Facebook groups -- which are today often treated as the official barometer for a cause's importance; more members must signify more gravitas -- ever translate into significant change?"

Washington Post 07/02/09

email this story | Posted 07/02/09@05:45AM

What Are Critics Really For, Anyway? Anne Midgette: "The role of a critic is to cover a field. This doesn't mean simply pandering to popular taste. It means doing one's best to convey a sense of what is going on in a given discipline by writing about every possible side of it. It means trying to convey a perspective that a reader who doesn't spend every night going to concerts/plays/films may not be able to gather himself; or offering a thoughtful take that might stimulate a reader who does go to everything to see something in a different light."

Washington Post 07/01/09

email this story | Posted 07/01/09@09:41PM

Michael Kaiser: Dangerously Wrong Decisions Imperil Arts "While arts funding only fell 6% last year, many arts organizations are making drastic cuts to their programming. Many have canceled performances, eliminated educational programming, shortened seasons, or closed altogether. Others are 'dumbing down' their product; there is a widespread call to make programming more accessible (read boring). Still more are cutting their marketing dramatically; after all, they argue, who will notice if we spend less on communicating our (reduced) programming?"

Huffington Post 06/29/09

email this story | Posted 07/01/09@06:45AM

Do Critics Matter? Well, Yes And No. "The critics spoke last Friday. 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' is a Hindenberg of a movie. The audience responded: So freakin' what? They forked over $215 million (and counting) to see the widely panned sequel about shape-shifting robots." So Post critics in film, theatre, books, TV and pop music consider the question: Do their judgments matter? (Book critic Ron Charles: "When I want to feel more relevant, I lie and say I'm a haberdasher.")

Washington Post 07/01/09

email this story | Posted 07/01/09@05:35AM

Illinois A.G. Reaches Deal With Ticketmaster Subsidiary "Ticketmaster unit TicketsNow has agreed to curb deceptive tactics and pay $50,000 for consumer-fraud enforcement and education in an agreement with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan after her investigation into the unit's marketing practices. ... As part of the deal with Ms. Madigan's office, TicketsNow will stop operating Web sites that have misleading domain names or other deceptive tactics."

Wall Street Journal 06/30/09

email this story | Posted 07/01/09@05:25AM

KenCen Takes 'Arts In Crisis' On The Road "Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser will meet with arts leaders in all 50 states and Puerto Rico over the next year, he said, beginning with visits to New York, Kalamazoo, Mich., Indianapolis and six other cities in the next two months. Since February, the center's 'Arts in Crisis' initiative [www.artsincrisis.org] has offered emergency planning advice for fundraising, budgeting, marketing or other strategies as box office revenues decline, along with donations and endowment income."

AP 06/30/09

email this story | Posted 06/30/09@09:39PM

$25,000 Local Kresge Grant Makes Its Debut In Detroit "The Troy-based Kresge Foundation today announced $450,000 in grants to 18 local visual artists. The $25,000 no-strings fellowships, which inaugurate one of the country's most lucrative annual awards available to artists, are designed to give winners financial breathing room to allow them to focus on making art." The foundation's president "said that Kresge's grants in 2010 would recognize performing and literary artists."

Detroit Free Press 06/30/09

email this story | Posted 06/30/09@06:35AM

Among Nonprofits Fearing Future, Arts Orgs Most Worried "Ninety-two percent of the nearly 100 respondents in a survey conducted in May by the Bridgespan Group said they were feeling the effects of the downturn. Eighty percent of charity officials reported that their organizations were experiencing financial stress, in another study conducted in April by the Johns Hopkins University's Listening Post Project. Nearly 40 percent of the 363 respondents described the stress as 'severe.'"

Chronicle of Philanthropy 06/29/09

email this story | Posted 06/30/09@05:40AM

Did Atlanta Symphony Bid Dreams Adieu With Calatrava? "The costs and complexities of big-name architecture have fueled a revulsion against architectural spectacles in today's miserable economy -- including the engineering acrobatics Calatrava is famous for. Spectacle, in great boulevards and grand buildings, is one of the great pleasures of city living. Still ASO's leadership looks wise for recognizing that the times are simply not right for Calatrava's design."

Atlanta Journal-Constitution 06/28/09

email this story | Posted 06/29/09@06:09PM

House Okays NEA, NEH Funding Increase (Next Up: Senate) "The House of Representatives today approved $170-million budgets for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2010: a 9.7% increase for each over their current $155 million. ... The issue now: the Senate Appropriations Committee's budget proposal for the cultural agencies calls for $161.3 million each...."

Los Angeles Times 06/26/09

email this story | Posted 06/29/09@04:23PM

Critical Disruption - It's Time Critics Reconsidered... "The headline on the Guardian column reads, 'Art criticism is not a democracy.' It's an odd thing to write, since art criticism is, in point of fact, every bit a democracy these days, as the 129 comments appended to Jonathan Jones's work attest. And the 'professionals' had better figure out a way to stay on top of the pile before someone comes along and knocks them off for good."

Inside the Classics 06/28/09

email this story | Posted 06/29/09@04:40AM

Napa's Copia Food Museum In Bankruptcy "A judge has ruled that a Napa food and wine museum founded by the late vintner Robert Mondavi can proceed with its plan to get out of bankruptcy, despite objections from some creditors."

San Jose Mercury-News 06/26/09

email this story | Posted 06/28/09@07:35PM

The Wonderful World Of Disney, The Museum In San Francisco: "It will be the world's only museum dedicated to the life of Disney, who besides creating Mickey Mouse and "Bambi," palled around with surrealist master Salvador Dali, designed futuristic theme parks and had a rideable miniature train behind his Los Angeles-area home."

San Francisco Chronicle 06/28/09

email this story | Posted 06/28/09@07:32PM

The Misunderstood Critic "The reason so much average or absolutely awful art gets promoted is that no one seems to understand what criticism is; if nothing is properly criticised, mediocrity triumphs. A critic is basically an arrogant bastard who says "this is good, this is bad" without necessarily being able to explain why. At least, not instantly."

The Guardian (UK) 06/25/09

email this story | Posted 06/28/09@12:53PM

A Little Philosophy With Your Subway Ride? "Drivers on London Underground trains have started reading out quotations from philosophers such as Jean-Paul Sartre in a bid to cheer up passengers. This is just about all we need."

The Telegraph (UK) 06/27/09

email this story | Posted 06/28/09@07:23AM

Germany's Crumbling Universities Thousands of less coddled students recently staged protests across Germany against their conditions. "Back education, not banks", demanded protesters fed up with overcrowded lecture halls, crumbling campuses, tuition fees and a chaotic conversion from the traditional diploma to a European two-tier degree system.

The Economist 06/27/09

email this story | Posted 06/28/09@07:21AM

Non-Profit Arts - Underpaying Is A Problem Do non-profit arts groups "perpetuate the undervaluing of art by expecting to have artists' collaboration without paying them What They Are Worth?"

Technology in the Arts 06/24/09

email this story | Posted 06/26/09@05:00AM

Scotland's Stimulus Package For The Arts "The Scottish government has announced details of a £5 million package of funds aimed at helping the arts and cultural sector through the current economic downturn." The package includes a new £1.5m Digital Media Fund, a "new £1m Odd Fellows scheme … to support collaborations of artists from across different sectors," and support for "entrepreneurs" and "rural innovation."

The Stage (UK) 06/24/09

email this story | Posted 06/25/09@09:36PM

Dubai's 'Cut-And-Paste Urbanism' Christopher Hawthorne: "Like many first-time visitors, I expected to find in Dubai a messy, vital hybrid of architectural and urban strategies, reflecting the city's history as a regional crossroads and trading center. I could hardly have been more wrong. … It is, instead, carved into a series of separate, perfectly ordered miniature cities, each performing a remarkably persuasive imitation of the place that inspired it."

Los Angeles Times 06/21/09

email this story | Posted 06/25/09@09:10PM

Study: Madoff's Foundation Victims Had Too-Small Boards "A majority of more than 100 foundations that lost 30 percent to all of their assets in the Madoff scandal had four or fewer board members, according an analysis by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, a charity watchdog organization. 'There's one startlingly simple conclusion here: To avoid falling prey to the next Bernie Madoff who comes along, foundations would be wise to increase the size and diversity of their boards,' said Aaron Dorfman, executive director."

The New York Times 06/25/09

email this story | Posted 06/25/09@06:39AM

Colleges Cultivate Philanthropy By Creating Courses In It "College students, many of whom spend the little extra cash they have on pizza and laundry, don't fit the typical profile of a wealthy benefactor. But in a growing national movement, students enrolled in newly created philanthropy courses are steering thousands of dollars to local charities. ... The goal, say professors and donors, is to build upon surging interest in social responsibility among college students and make philanthropy part of the mainstream curriculum."

Boston Globe 06/25/09

email this story | Posted 06/25/09@05:25AM

City Of Malibu Ends Up Buying Performing Arts Center The complex, which was up for auction earlier this month after the church that owned it went bankrupt, was purchased by the government of the L.A. County beach town for $15 million. "The center will house the new City Hall, but the city plans to retain its cash-generating performing arts venue and recording studios."

The Malibu Times 06/24/09

email this story | Posted 06/24/09@09:42PM

A Spiritual Jihad, Via Hip-Hop "Real hip-hop heads know that Islam and hip-hop have been longtime friends, feeding off each other's energy. Muslim ideals of self-respect and social change have inspired some of the greatest emcees, and hip-hop is giving voice to the dreams and daily struggles of a generation of Muslims." The new documentary New Muslim Cool looks at the phenomenon through a Puerto Rican-American drug dealer-turned-Muslim family man.

The Root 06/23/09

email this story | Posted 06/24/09@09:31PM

Work Halted On Indy-Area Performing Arts Center "Construction on Carmel's ailing Performing Arts Center will be halted for about three weeks. Workers will begin repairing cracked steel in the building's support columns next week, the city [,which is just north of Indianapolis,] announced in a press release today. … The $118 million project is supposed to be finished next fall."

Indianapolis Star 06/23/09

email this story | Posted 06/23/09@09:46PM

The Central Myth Of Judy-ism "Some fanciful souls are convinced that Judy Garland was responsible for the Stonewall Rebellion. Gay grief, they say, occasioned by saturation coverage of her overflowing two-day Madison Avenue funeral (June 26 and 27, 1969) set the stage for the history-making riot at a Greenwich Village bar that very weekend." Is it true? But then, is it totally untrue?

Obit Magazine 06/22/09

email this story | Posted 06/23/09@09:33PM

40 Years Since We Went To The Moon - An End Rather Than A Beginning "The landing marked the end, not the beginning, of our dreams of space exploration. The prospects of creating permanent lunar bases, sending manned missions to Mars and blasting astronauts round the solar system died the moment Armstrong set foot on the moon. America had got there before the Russians and the nation could now forget the place."

The Observer (UK) 06/21/09

email this story | Posted 06/21/09@06:13PM

A Million Dollars For Individual Artists "The $100,000 no-strings-attached awards are distributed over a period of three to five years and are intended to recognize artists' work over a period of at least 25 years and to encourage them, in the words of Bush Foundation president Peter Hutchinson, to continue "planting the seeds of change and growth, to serving as catalysts in their communities and to preserving and expanding our cultural traditions."

St. Paul Pioneer-Press 06/15/09

email this story | Posted 06/21/09@04:28PM

On Staying Viable And Relevant In The Face Of technology And Recession "When movies came along we still read books and went to live performance and got something out of it we could not get any other way. It's the same today. No matter how prevalent the computer has become, there is something in human beings that seeks out a shared experience, an element of surprise."

The Globe & mail (Canada) 06/20/09

email this story | Posted 06/21/09@10:35AM

Extraordinary Ravinia: Fans Pay For Bad Sound, No View And Big Hassle (And Love It!) Is it worth the headache of cramming into an overstuffed Metra train with well-lubricated Lyle Lovett obsessives?.. And, of course, is it worth the cost? Can I still justify paying $15 to $30 for a ticket to a concert where I can't even see the stage? Not "obstructed view." No view.

Chicago Tribune 06/21/09

email this story | Posted 06/21/09@10:08AM

Staff Of Austral;ia Arts Council Walk Off Job In Protest Last year the Sydney-based Australia Council cut its staff by 20 per cent, from 150 to 122, to meet the Rudd government's 2 per cent efficiency dividend. "The feedback we've had from staff is that since the cuts they've been working unsustainable hours and on weekends."

The Australian 06/18/09

email this story | Posted 06/19/09@07:32AM

Philadelphia Passes Bill To Transform Waterfront Development "City Council yesterday approved two measures that could boldly affect the way the city looks, by establishing a vision for waterfront development and protecting historic buildings' interiors."

Philadelphia Inquirer 06/19/09

email this story | Posted 06/19/09@07:06AM

You Think The Objectification Of Women In American Media Is Bad? It's Got Nothing On Italy "On television, the Italian penchant for adorning soundstages with skimpily clad, surgically enhanced showgirls has radically metastasized, spilling over from game shows to all forms of entertainment, including the nightly news. But feminist grumblings only exploded into public debate in recent weeks after reports emerged that [media magnate and Italian president Silvio] Berlusconi … was grooming a stable of TV starlets for the political arena."

International Herald Tribune/New York Times 06/18/09

email this story | Posted 06/18/09@09:49PM

Does Art Truly Represent The Culture That Creates It? The recent 10-day Muslim Voices festival in New York aimed to expand understanding of Muslim culture. "Yet nothing in the festival could ultimately fulfill the organizers' agenda, because they presented as examples of Muslim-culture artforms that mostly Western or Westernized Muslims consume. How many Americans will believe -- and why should they? -- that any of this reveals the prevailing culture of the vast majority of today's practicing Muslims?"

Wall Street Journal 06/17/09

email this story | Posted 06/18/09@05:59AM

Atlanta's Woodruff Arts Center Approves New 25-Year Master Plan "The master plan calls for the Memorial Arts Building, which opened in 1968, to be dismantled or have its space reconfigured or renovated, and be replaced by four free-standing, but connected, buildings surrounding an expansive pedestrian plaza that would extend to the Peachtree sidewalk. Those structures are the new Atlanta Symphony Orchestra concert hall, the Alliance [Theatre] expansion, the Alliance auditorium and the current Symphony Hall, to be renovated and used for arts and education functions or rental."

Atlanta Journal-Constitution 06/17/09

email this story | Posted 06/17/09@09:35PM

Women, Especially Over 40, Scarce In Theatre, Film And TV "Female actors, especially those over 40, are still under-represented on TV, film and in theatre and when they do get a break it is often in a stereotypical role, a conference on the subject heard today. Hundreds of women, from actors to directors to writers, gathered at the National Theatre to hear depressing statistics reeled off: 17% of playwrights are women; 38% of stage roles are for women; 35% of TV roles are for women; of the top 250 films last year only 9% were directed by women."

The Guardian (UK) 06/16/09

email this story | Posted 06/17/09@07:47AM

How Do Tories Value The Arts? What's Their Arts Policy? Tory MP Ed Vaizey, the shadow arts minister, seems to be on a charm offensive, which he explains this way: "One of the goals I have set ­myself is, if the Tories win on a Thursday, there will be far fewer people in the arts world waking up in a cold sweat on a Friday." Whether they'd be right to be fearful is another question, which could only be answered by the party's actions.

The Guardian (UK) 06/17/09

email this story | Posted 06/17/09@06:19AM

Riots And Firearms: The Mayhem Caused By Bruno In making his latest documentary-by-ambush, Sacha Baron Cohen - in character as a flamboyantly queeny fashion designer - was threatened with guns "when Bruno danced around [a Deep South] campsite naked … In one scene Bruno sparks a riot at a cage fighting contest when the competitors start kissing. In another scene Bruno appears on an American chat show, telling the studio audience that he adopted his baby in Africa by swapping him for an iPod."

The Telegraph (UK) 06/12/09

email this story | Posted 06/16/09@09:18PM

Gay Activists (Some Of Them) Are Unhappy With The Whole Bruno Joke "Ultimately the tension surrounding Brüno boils down to the worry that certain viewers won't understand that the joke is on them and will leave the multiplex with their homophobia validated. 'Some people in our community may like this movie, but many are not going to be O.K. with it', said … [an official with] the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation."

New York Times 06/14/09

email this story | Posted 06/16/09@09:17PM