The New Orleans Museum of Art has survived the hurricane. “But when Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives arrived in the area Wednesday, NOMA employees holed up inside the museum were left in a quandary: FEMA wanted those evacuees to move to a safer location, but there was no way to secure the artwork inside. Six security and maintenance employees remained on duty during the hurricane and were joined by 30 evacuees, including the families of some employees.”
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Labor Charges Against Washington Ballet
A few months ago, Nikkia Parish was a valued member of the prestigious Washington Ballet, and had managed to land a few featured roles in the company’s productions. These days, she is a bartender, having been dismissed for what the company says are “artistic reasons” after the spring season. Parish has a different view: she says she was fired for her union activism, and the National Labor Relations Board is looking into the charge. “Parish’s story is not only about labor issues. It’s about what a ballet company can demand of its dancers in the name of art. It’s also about ballet culture, where typically the artistic director takes the role of the feared father figure and the dancers are the cowed children, afraid to speak up, used to the futility of protesting the myriad personal slights levied at them under the guise of artistic prerogative.”
Cleveland Museum Set to Receive $90 Million in Bonding
The Cleveland Museum of Art’s massive $258 million expansion project could be financed in part by bonds issued by the city’s Committee for Regional Economic Advancement, under a plan recommended by that body this week. The CREA, which also helped finance construction of the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Browns’ football stadium, would float $90 million in bonds through the Cleveland port authority, and the museum would be responsible for repaying the loan as it receives money pledged by private donors for the expansion. The museum is stressing that it would not use its collection as collateral for the bonds.
Broadway As A Transitional Tool
Everyone knows why Broadway producers covet the addition of Hollywood stars to their shows: fame = box office. But why are so many stars equally keen to abandon their pampered L.A. lifestyles and outrageous film salaries for the cutthroat and (comparatively) low-paying world of Broadway? The answer usually lies in the murky world of PR: put simply, an actor needing an image overhaul can do a lot worse than establishing himself in what continues to be known as the “legitimate theatre.”
Art-House Chain Goes Commercial
Even as irritating and invasive pre-film ads become the norm in multiplexes across the country, art-house cinemas have mostly resisted the tug of money available from ad sales. But now, one of America’s largest art-house chains, Landmark Theatres, has struck a deal with Ford Motor Company to “sponsor” a series of featurettes scheduled to run before certain films. “Starting in October, the theaters will present preshow “making of” featurettes, and interviews with directors, and the carmaker might even arrange to admit patrons for free.” Ford is hoping the targeted approach will help it relaunch its Mercury line, and Landmark is hoping to avoid the acrimony garnered by more mainstream chains after the addition of ads to the theatregoing experience.
CBC Lockout Throwing Fall Schedule Into Question
The three-week-old labor dispute at the CBC has thrown Canada’s television production industry into a state of uncertainty, as everyone waits and wonders whether programs slated for the fall schedule will be allowed to air. “Some in the industry describe a great deal of confusion, with contradictory signals coming from CBC management itself, as it tries to continue with its fall programming as best as it can. It’s a far cry from the usual publicity cycle. The buildup for new shows, fall specials and miniseries normally lasts six to eight weeks, as promos are created and aired, press interviews are arranged and print adds are plastered on billboards.”
The Guggenheim Gets A Restoration
“The Guggenheim has embarked on $27 million worth of complex work in the hope that it will emerge refreshed in 2007, just two years before it turns 50. All the work is to be done without closing down the museum. ‘It’s almost an art restoration. We tend to regard the Frank Lloyd Wright building as one of the greatest objects in the collection’.”
Attention-Getter
A new exhibit at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts has ostensibly been put together to show off the impressive collections of William I. Koch. But as it turns out, the collector himself is the real star of the show, his outsized personality dominating the art he has amassed over a lifetime of collecting. “Over the years, Koch has skippered an America’s Cup winner, built a billion-dollar energy company, sued his family members, engaged in a high-profile court battle with his onetime mistress, and been arrested for allegedly beating his then-wife. (The charges were later dropped.) He’s also built an art collection that has attracted the attention of countless museums.”
China’s Shining Star of the Avant-Garde
Zhang Xiaogang is China’s hottest painter, and as the country continues to walk the fine line between totalitarian regime and capitalist republic, his life has become increasingly complicated – and busy. “For years, his works – like those of other avant-garde artists of his generation – could not be exhibited in China, often because they were deemed too modern or politically questionable. But now his paintings are not only collected by wealthy Westerners and leading foreign museums, but they are also increasingly fashionable among well-to-do Chinese… few artists are as celebrated as Mr. Zhang, whose paintings can now fetch as much as $200,000 each.” In fact, Zhang has been having trouble keeping up with the demand for his work.
The Getty’s Barry Munitz On Why He Travels First Class:
“You have to understand life in L.A. People find it embarrassing to travel commercial class.”