“The speed with which Frieze has become an essential date in the international arts calendar is testament to the buzz which surrounds British art. It was launched only three years ago, but the number of galleries represented has risen from 150 last year to 160, due to the increased quality of the 400 applications. Frieze is determinedly international, but this year there are 35 British galleries represented – second only to the Americans, who have 38.”
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A First Look At 9/11 Museum Plans
“The plans, presented in public workshops over the past month, offer the first glimpse of an institution that is likely to become one of the country’s most visited museums. The ideas are also likely to prompt sensitive questions of how to tell the story of Sept. 11.”
Chicago Symphony: Going It Slow
The Chicago Symphony has a $12.5 million accumulated deficit. “In the administrative offices of Symphony Center these days, the pressure to find a new music director to replace Daniel Barenboim, who leaves in June after 15 years, is certainly being felt. So is the need to erase the CSO’s string of annual deficits and to keep the orchestra moving forward artistically as well as financially. But with so much at stake, CSO Association President Deborah R. Card and Board Chairman William H. Strong are charting a course that values slow and steady over fast and furious.”
Seattle Opera Holds A Garage Sale
“The Opera parted with two tons of garments, from ankle armor to silk skirts to black-painted cowboy hats. It took several months to price all the items; some went for as little as $1, while others went for as much as $200. The goal was to raise enough money to buy a new dye vat for the costume shop. Staff members said the private sale for subscribers and donors on Friday had already raised about $10,000, enough money to replace the vat.”
National Arts Month – Are You Celebrating Yet?
Here it is the last week of October, and this is the first we here at ArtsJournal have heard of the thing. “Apparently the celebration has been held every year since 1993. Organizers believed a monthlong national celebration would give fellow Americans the opportunity to explore new facets of the arts and humanities in their lives. Presumably they had thoroughly explored the old ones. More than likely, though, they saw the arts as decorative adjuncts to life. Interesting — informative, even — but not essential.”
Quills – Not Enough Glitz, And Yet…
The Quill Awards were created to add some glitz to literary awards. “In its first year, the Quills didn’t come close to the Oscars in the glamour department. There were no A-list celebrities in attendance; viewers will have to settle for actors like Cattrall and Matthew Modine, who both have their own books to promote. But supporters believe that the ceremony made some progress in jazzing up publishing’s staid reputation. But it remains to be seen whether viewers will tune in — and, more broadly, what kind of influence the Quills will have on sales and the image of the book publishing industry.”
Master Of The Ballet
“A ballet master is the face of how the information gets transferred or initially introduced. It is the person who instills the confidence in dancers to go that extra mile. They’re at the front line of any artistic direction. In other words, the ballet masters are as responsible for the beauty onstage as the dancers themselves.”
New York City’s Arts Mayor
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is not a connoisseur of the arts. But his administration has been the most supportive administration of the arts in a very long time. “Under Mr. Bloomberg, public art has flourished in every corner of the city – from ‘Element E,’ a Roy Lichtenstein sculpture in the center of the former Tweed Courthouse, to a classic limestone statue in the Bronx, to ‘The Gates,’ set up by Christo and Jeanne-Claude last winter in Central Park, a project for which he personally lobbied for almost a decade. The city’s art commission, once knee-capped by the Giuliani administration as an elitist irritant, has been empowered at the highest level, with a voice in every significant public-works project in the city.”
Shirley Horn, 71
The jazz singer, who “died Thursday night at 71 after a long illness, could swing a tune with the best of them, and often surprised fans when she did, but that approach simply didn’t fit her temperament. Instead, Horn did ballads and cool, understated ruminations better than anyone except her first champion, mentor and lifelong friend, trumpeter Miles Davis.”
The Slowest Singer In Jazz
Shirley Horn was “a unique singer, with one of the slowest deliveries in jazz and a very unusual way of phrasing, putting stress on certain words and letting others slip away. She cherished her repertory, making audiences feel that she was cutting through to the stark truths of songs like ‘Here’s to Life’ and ‘You Won’t Forget Me.’ She wanted things just so.”