The Dia Foundation is closing its much-loved Chelsea warehouse gallery for two years of rennovations. “The converted warehouse at 548 West 22nd Street was one of the first art venues in the Chelsea district when it opened in 1987, and with some 60,000 visitors annually, it needs new passenger and freight elevators, climate control, roof repairs, and more lavatories. Trustees have pledged $10 million towards a $50-million campaign that seeks $30 million for the Chelsea space and $20 million for Dia’s acclaimed new museum in Beacon, New York as well as for other long-term projects, including land art by Michael Heizer and James Turrell.”
Month: December 2003
Detroit – Bigger Than Jazz
Detroit’s troubled Labor Day jazz festival is morphing. “The new festival, which would begin in 2005, will keep jazz at its core but also showcase Detroit’s Motown legacy and the city’s unique contributions to blues, rock, R&B, gospel and techno. The result, according to artistic director Frank Malfitano, will be Detroit’s answer to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and the Montreal Jazz Festival – North America’s biggest and most successful annual music festivals, both of which attract tourists from all over the world.”
Jacksonville Symphony Impasse
The Jacksonville [Florida] Symphony is in a dispute with its musicians. “The symphony says it has a $2.4 million deficit and has proposed shortening the symphony season by two weeks, cutting musicians’ salaries by 10 percent and suspending pension contributions and paid leave. The musicians say they just signed a five-year contract in February and expect the symphony to honor it.”
State Department To WSJ: You Want Access? You Got Access
The US State Department wonders why the reporter from the Wall Street Journal who tried to get access to the Iraq National Symphony during its trip to Washington DC earlier this month, had so much trouble. “We arranged for Mr. Rahim to meet members of the orchestra at a restricted briefing on Monday afternoon. We arranged for his attendance at the open dress rehearsal. We invited him to join the reception for the orchestra held after the concert…”
Wall Street Journal writer Ayad Rahim responds: I had to work through an eventual 31 officials to get anywhere… “I only began to gain ‘access’ – what little there was of it – after my deadline had passed. That happened only because my repeated, fruitless efforts had become known to this paper’s editors and because their frustration had filtered back to the State Department.”
Dean Joins The Big Media Backlash
Presidential contender Howard Dean apparently sees some political hay to be made in the recent backlash against the FCC’s attempt to further deregulate the American media industry. Dean “is making the message of the media reform movement part of his campaign–not just calling for overturning the FCC rules but also calling for breaking up existing media conglomerates.” Whether a president would actually have the ability to implement such a sweeping anti-corporate agenda is an open question, of course, but at the momentm Dean is the only candidate even talking about the issue.
An Ethnic Furor In Oakland
“An exhibit at the Oakland Museum examining how the war transformed California is scheduled to open in August. But instead of putting the finishing touches on the exhibit, the museum is working to repair its relationship with the Vietnamese American community. The damage control comes after the museum’s Oct. 24 dismissal of researcher Mimi Nguyen days after she submitted a memo complaining that the exhibit was not sufficiently inclusive of ethnic minorities.” The controversy has been widely reported in California’s Vietnamese press, and a groundswell of popular support for Nguyen is causing headaches for the museum.
The No-Pee Conspiracy
Movies are getting longer every day, and it seems like every time you set foot in the multiplex, they’ve added another gallon or so to your “cup” of pop. And no, there are still no intermissions at your favorite Hollywood blockbuster. You see where we’re going with this. When, exactly, are America’s movie lovers supposed to take a bathroom break?
Does Canadian Drama Need Protection?
When a Nova Scotia-based TV production company was shut down by its corporate parent last week, it sparked renewed fears that Canadian drama is in severe trouble, and unable to compete with the influx of American programming. Now, a coalition of union activists are calling for new federal regulations designed to protect and encourage Canadian programming.
Someone Get That Critic A Bodyguard
Hey, look! It’s a movie critic who doesn’t like the Lord of the Rings movies! Why, the nerve of that guy! Everyone loves LoTR! Where does he get off? What did he just say? It’s too long?! “Every time you think the final credits are about to roll, another scene lurches in, adding another chance to look at your watch in awe and wonderment at how much sheer footage the film has.” Grrrrrr…
Balanchine, Through The Eyes Of His Dancers
George Balanchine would have been 100 next month, and naturally, dance companies worldwide are planning to mark the occasion. New York City Ballet will be producing more than 50 of Balanchine’s ballets, and the NYCB dancers who knew the choreographer say that while his shadow still looms large over the world of classical dance, it was the little things that made him a true legend. “He put everything back to its real value, the right size, the right time, the music in time and space. He simplified, explaining and showing the logic…. He was frankly an educator, for all of us, for the public, for the critics.”