“The Tribeca Film Festival, founded eight years ago in the wake of the September 2001 terrorist attacks, is again trying to lift the morale of a city in crisis. Organizers, mindful of the U.S. recession, rising New York joblessness and a shorter roster of sponsors, have tried to include more comedies and uplifting stories for the April 22 to May 3 event and maintain free events such as outdoor screenings.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
For Baryshnikov, A New Job Duty: Making The Ask
“Just as he mastered pirouettes years ago as a young dancer, Mikhail Baryshnikov is getting the hang of asking friends and strangers to donate to his nonprofit Manhattan arts center. ‘I was better at raising money for someone else than I was for myself, but I’m getting better’ at buttonholing for the Baryshnikov Arts Center, said the 61-year-old dancer and artistic director….”
Amazon Says Book Delisting Was ‘Cataloging Error’
“In response to nearly two days of angry online commentary, particularly on Twitter, Amazon.com said on Monday that ‘an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error’ had caused thousands of books on its site to lose their sales rankings and become harder to find in searches.” Contradicting the widespread charge that books with gay and lesbian themes had been targeted, “Amazon said 57,310 books in several broad categories had been affected, including books on health and reproductive medicine.”
Library Patronage Swells, And Some Library Patrons Smell
“Public libraries are bustling these days, thanks in part to the swelling ranks of the jobless, but they have always been a haven for people with nowhere else to go. In some towns, that includes a fair number of people with unpleasant hygiene.” One suburban Chicago library “recently added ‘offensive bodily odors’ to its list of prohibitions,” while “other book lenders around the Chicago area have long imposed such bans.”
Peter Zumthor, Meeting Basic Human Needs
“The essence of architecture, Zumthor said over the phone, ‘is to do rooms or spaces for people. If you look at the Earth without architecture, it’s sometimes a little bit unpleasant. So there is this basic human need to do shelter … whether it’s a movie theater or a simple log cabin in the mountains.'”
The (Considerable) Cost Of Producing A Broadway Play
“With musicals, at least the money is visible in all those huge, constantly changing sets, flashy costumes and union musicians, not to mention the battery of stars and hoofers. But how much can it cost to plant a bunch of actors on a stage with one set and, in the latest trend, no intermission?” Answer: Quite a bit — and the price keeps rising.
The Austere Zumthor Was A Safe Choice For Pritzker
“By selecting the reclusive, introverted Swiss architect Peter Zumthor for the Pritzker Prize, the jury left me wishing it had been more adventurous. Zumthor’s uncompromising perfectionism is admirable. … [But] I would have liked instead someone whose work speaks to the extraordinary challenges of our time.”
Citing Finances, National Ballet Of Canada Cancels Tour
“The National Ballet of Canada has cancelled its five-city, 13-performance tour of Western Canada to avoid ‘undue financial risk,’ the company announced Monday afternoon. … For the first time in several years, the National Ballet is faced with running a deficit.”
Preserved In An Archive, Public Art That Might Have Been
“The dreams, visions and occasionally successful pitches” of scores of artists “are in the vast archive of the Public Art Development Trust. From 1983 until funding was lost in 2004 the charity organised art competitions, brokered deals between artists and developers, and commissioned work in an attempt to create more inspiring public art than stone generals and draped bronze maidens.” The public will soon get a look at the archive, which has been acquired by the Henry Moore Foundation.
Juilliard Program For Minority Kids May Survive After All
“Word that the Juilliard School had lost financing for a prized musical training program for black and Latino children has brought forth numerous offers of help, including a major pledge from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation of Los Angeles, school and foundation officials said on Friday.” But that doesn’t mean the program is saved.