“If the Mall in Washington, D.C., is the ‘nation’s lawn,’ then the institutions that line it must be the national lawn ornaments. … Two weeks ago, the Smithsonian announced an architect to design the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, the latest addition to this display. Is it a nymph, a gnome, or another flamingo?”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Richard Koshalek’s Vision For The Hirshhorn Museum
“‘Never once — never once — have I decided on an exhibition because the attendance was going to be phenomenal,'” says Koshalek, the new director of the Smithsonian’s modern and contemporary art museum. “‘Never once. Never.’ If anything, given the current economic climate and the cost of major shows, he imagines a series of smaller projects that might re-create a few of modernism’s landmark exhibitions, which were often much more modest than today’s extravaganzas.”
D.C.-Area Nonprofits Abandon United Way For Competitor
“Twenty-one area nonprofit groups have suspended their memberships in the United Way and joined a fledgling competitor, citing years of frustration with a steady decline in workplace giving in the Washington region and lingering distrust of the local United Way since it was nearly destroyed by scandal earlier this decade.”
Clear Channel Slashes 590 Jobs, Some On-Air
“Clear Channel Communications Inc. cut 590 jobs in its radio division and suspended its 401(k) employee-matching program as part of a restructuring. Including today’s reduction, the largest U.S. radio broadcaster has cut its workforce by 12 percent this year…. The latest round will take place in engineering, information technology, and programming.”
Network TV An Irrelevant Battleground For Indecency Fight
“In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court half-heartedly prolonged the futile game of ‘whack-a-mole’ that the federal government continues to play in policing indecency…. Yet with six justices separately weighing in with opinions and the media landscape evolving, it’s hard to escape a sense that this whole debate — especially as it pertains to regulating a lonely island of broadcasters within a media free-fire zone — is operating on borrowed time.”
Supreme Court: ‘Fleeting Expletives’ Fair Game For FCC
“The Supreme Court said yesterday that the Federal Communications Commission may penalize even the occasional use of certain expletives on the airwaves but left for another day the question of whether such a policy is constitutional. The court’s narrow ruling said the FCC — prompted by Cher’s use of the F-word during a 2002 live broadcast and similar remarks … — was justified in changing its policy in 2004 to fine broadcasters up to $325,000 every time certain words are allowed on the air.”
Judge Rules Collector Has No Standing To Sue MOCA
“A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has tossed out one of Clint Arthur’s two class action lawsuits alleging that L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art and Louis Vuitton North America violated the Fine Prints Act, a California law that requires dealers in limited-edition art reproductions to certify their authenticity and provide information about how rare they are and how they were created.” The rejected suit stemmed from Arthur’s purchase of a trio of Takashi Murakami prints.
LA Philharmonic’s Principal Trombonist Dies Unexpectedly
“Steven Witser, principal trombonist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, died of an apparent heart attack Monday night in Pasadena, the orchestra announced. He was 48. ‘The shock of Steve’s sudden and unexpected death has robbed us of one of our most beloved and respected musicians,’ Deborah Borda, president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, said in a statement.”
NY College Bans, Unbans Hughes Play; Shocking To Nuns?
“When it comes to manufacturing utterly ridiculous problems out of thin air, you’d have to travel miles to top the earnest folly that academics can get up to. Take, for instance, the adult supervision at the College of Staten Island, where a mildly ribald farce entitled ‘The Well of Horniness,'” by Holly Hughes, “will be staged this week by a talented senior named Robert Mahoney.”
Cirque Du Soleil To Reside In NYC, But Not In Own Home
“Not content with performing in 271 cities in 32 countries and attracting 11 million customers last year, Cirque du Soleil, the Montreal-based circus empire, will establish a permanent presence in New York City next year. … But dashed for now are the company’s plans to build a New York City space that would give it a permanent home in Manhattan.”