“Amid news that the Museum of Contemporary Art is facing a financial disaster — and unconfirmed reports that MOCA trustees are pursuing a merger with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art — leaders of other Southern California cultural institutions have reacted with dismay. … Although rumors of MOCA’s woes have traveled through art circles for weeks, the drastic measures under consideration came as a shock to many arts leaders.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
A Rock Annex In NYC, 400-Plus Miles From The Original
“[H]undreds of artifacts [are] being prepared for the opening on Tuesday of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC, a $9 million branch of the Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. The Annex, in a 25,000-square-foot basement space at 76 Mercer Street in SoHo — upstairs, facing Broadway, is an Old Navy store — was created as a smaller, quicker offshoot of the headquarters.”
Jerusalem’s Tolerance Museum Sparks, Um, Intolerance
“On a former parking lot in downtown Jerusalem some two dozen workers are now clearing the grounds for a planned museum/educational center designed by [Frank] Gehry and dedicated to the theme of tolerance.” But “the project is already inflaming some of the very passions it is dedicated to quelling, spurring protests from Islamic groups and the condemnation of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.”
Manchester Gets £1.7M In Settlement Over Failed Sculpture
“Mancunians nicknamed it Kerplunk after the well-known 1970s children’s game — an apt description for a £1.42 million sculpture of giant spikes that began to fall off soon after it was completed. Now, the creator of B of the Bang has agreed with subcontractors to pay £1.7 million in damages to Manchester City Council over the failure of what was supposed to be one of the country’s most exciting pieces of public art.”
S.F. Opera Director Addresses Financial Future
“General Director David Gockley acknowledged the obvious truth in a brief address to the audience before Sunday’s opening performance of ‘La Bohème’: The financial picture at the San Francisco Opera isn’t pretty. … There had been a small drop in ticket sales, he said, but the more pressing problem was the decline in the value of the company’s endowment and fears about possible future shortfalls in contributions.”
Rahm And Billy Are Making Ballet Cool For Boys
“With the flurry of attention for the ballet history of congressman Rahm Emanuel (President-elect Obama’s pick for White House chief of staff), it’s suddenly become a lot cooler to be a guy who knows his way around toeshoes, turnouts and tights.” But it’s not just because of Emanuel. “‘Billy Elliot the Musical,’ which opened this week to enthusiastic reviews, has thrust boys and ballet into the bright Broadway spotlight.”
In Milwaukee, The Giving Climate Is Chilly
Following Milwaukee Shakespeare’s swift and unexpected closure last month, area nonprofits are understandably watchful. “There is one firm lesson, several people knowledgeable about the giving scene said: Organizations should do all they can to broaden the base of their support so they’re not as vulnerable to the distresses of one or a handful of donors. A second one that applies across the board: Now is a time to be wary.”
Miriam Toews Wins Canada’s $25K Writers’ Trust Prize
“Miriam Toews’ The Flying Troutmans, touted early on as a possible candidate for several major Canadian book prizes, ended up earning a single nomination. But the popular Winnipeg author’s bestselling novel made good on that one nod, claiming the $25,000 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize in Toronto yesterday.”
Smithsonian Regents Meet The Public
“At its first-ever public meeting, the regents of the Smithsonian Institution sat around a red-covered table and announced they wanted ‘a lively dialogue.’ The audience did not hold back. The first volley from the public, gathered in an auditorium at the National Museum of Natural History, was essentially this: Why didn’t all of you resign, since you are the people who picked the last secretary?”
Covering Classics Is Safe, But It Doesn’t Help Young Writers
If established singers “don’t have to pay attention to new songwriters, what happens to the great American songbook? Even modern pop songs need interpretation. … Performed at a different tempo, transposed to another key, given a new arrangement or sung by a gifted singer, a song takes on a new life.” But older singers looking for cover songs tend to look to classics, not new work.