“Being inventive comes in handy in a bad economy, and creative people are finding solutions to sluggish times. They are taking on every project that comes along. Or they’re becoming more discriminating by honing a specialty niche.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Mpls. Museum Cuts Staff, Programs, Keeps Free Admission
“Faced with a dramatic drop in revenue, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts took steps Wednesday to cut its staff and budget by 6 percent, and reduce exhibitions and programs by as much as 20 percent next year.” Director Kaywin Feldman, who took a 10 percent pay cut, said the museum will not do away with free admission, which she called “a core value.”
War And Peace? Sure, I Read That. Twice!
“George Orwell’s 1984 and Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace are among the books people are most likely to have lied about reading, according to a poll. Two out of three people admitted lying about reading a particular book to impress someone, the survey released to mark World Book Day found.”
With Website Redesign, MoMA Aims To Open Up
“MoMA’s new site, which makes its debut on Friday, is an almost complete reconstruction of how the museum presents itself online” as well as an attempt “to transform how the public interacts with an institution that can sometimes seem forbidding and monolithic.” Among other things, it will “include what its designers call a ‘social bar’ at the bottom, which when clicked will expand to show images and other information that users can ‘collect’ and share.”
Call Me Ishmael — On My iPhone
“When the news hit last night that Amazon was releasing a Kindle for iPhone, I jumped to get it. No matter how much I love books, I’d developed a definite longing for the Kindle. It was partly my fondness for new technologies, partly the (perhaps late) realization that e-readers are likely here to stay….” Carolyn Kellogg tries out the new app.
$3 Million In Gold Bars Not As Easy To Find As You’d Think
“Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills announced today that Saturday’s opening of a new work by Chris Burden, ‘One Ton, One Kilo,’ has been postponed indefinitely while the search continues for 220 pounds — or about $3.3 million worth — of gold bars needed to assemble the piece.”
Sleuth Has Cash For Artists (If She Can Track Them Down)
“The job tracking down abstract expressionists is an unintended consequence of a little-known 1977 [California] law designed to cut artists in on the profits from the resale of their works. … In theory, the law is a boon for artists. In practice, it means [Patty] Milich sometimes must spend months trying to deliver paltry sums to people who have faded into obscurity, moved abroad or simply don’t want to be bothered.”
For Lincoln Bicentennial, Music Of His Time Gets An Airing
“Now that Lincoln’s Birthday is past and the Presidents Day sales are but a frenetic memory, the activities of the Lincoln Bicentennial year continue to gather steam, with music playing a central part. Abraham Lincoln’s 56 years of life coincided not only with the struggle to address the question of slavery, but with a struggle in America’s musical development.”
Group Requests Permit To Protest Israeli Troupe At BAM
“The Brooklyn Academy of Music is bracing for protests of the Batsheva Dance Company, an Israeli troupe, this week. In recent weeks during a North American tour, Batsheva, which was to begin a run of performances on Wednesday night, has been dogged by small demonstrations and calls for a boycott over Israel’s actions in Gaza.”
Revamped, Israel’s Batsheva Harnesses Its Essential Energy
“Since its first tour of the United States in 1970, Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company has won over American crowds and critics alike with its energetic approach to dance. At the time, it was, perhaps, a novelty: an Israeli group performing primarily American repertory with unbridled verve and vigor. But in the past 18 years, the company has become a phenomenon of a different sort.”