“Constantino Brumidi, the Italian-born fresco artist whose ornate Renaissance- and Pompeian-style murals decorate much of the United States Capitol,” remains a relatively unknown figure in the corridors of Washington power. “Enter [Joseph] Grano, a fast-talking lawyer and civic gadfly whose causes include historic preservation, and who is now dedicated, he said, to making Brumidi “a folk hero for Americans.” As chairman of the Constantino Brumidi Society, a loose-knit group he runs out of his apartment here, Mr. Grano has spent five years poking and prodding Washington’s power elite to honor Brumidi: on coins and stamps, with Congressional resolutions, even the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.”
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Fordham Spire Design Unveiled In Chicago
Plans for Chicago’s latest insanely tall building will be officially introduced this week, and will check in at 115 stories topped by a 542-foot spire which would make the skyscraper the tallest building in the U.S. The tower’s design, by the Spanish-born architect Santiago Calatrava, is winning raves from Chicago pols and business types, but of course, there are the omnipresent security concerns…
So Aside From The Crippling Deformity…
There are no more castrati, of course, and for very good reason. Over a century ago, the world got together and decided that the practice of castrating boys in their early teens so as to preserve their high voices into adulthood was barbaric, regardless of how nice a sound resulted from the assault. “A new exhibition, however, is hoping to overcome the public’s squeamishness on the subject by telling the stories of the band of castrati singers who worked for the composer George Frideric Handel. It will show that for all the pain caused in the 17th and 18th centuries, when up to 4,000 boys a year were castrated in the service of art, the rewards could be immense. They earned fortunes far in excess of what Handel himself earned and more than other singers of the time. They were like the pop stars of today.”
Now Under Construction: The New London
Towering skyscrapers and 80-story skylines have so far largely eluded Europe’s major cities, but that is starting to change, with London the latest metropolis to consider the addition of massive new superstructures. In fact, London currently has 31 major new developments underway, £100 billion worth of construction waiting to happen, and they will likely change the face of one of the world’s most venerated cities.
Two Companies, One Huge Frickin’ Photo Archive (And It’s Free!)
“Two of America’s major photographic houses have launched a joint venture to provide one of the largest freely available archives of pictures on the internet. The collaboration between New York’s International Centre of Photography and George Eastman House is expected to include at least 200,000 images by the time it is fully set up next year. They want to add thousands more to this number when rights agreements have been reached with individual photographers or their estates.”
Basic Fairness Or Restraint Of Trade?
The UK is about to become party to “a new law by which a living artists or their heirs for 70 years after their death will receive a cut of about 3 per cent whenever a piece is sold. Some commentators argue that this gives poor artists a slice of future success. Others believe it threatens to cripple the market. The law is causing conflict throughout Europe, especially in Britain, where the Patent Office is currently deciding how to implement it. The levy, called ‘droit de suite’ or ‘artist’s resale right’, was initiated in 1920s France to help impoverished artists and their heirs. In 2006 it is due to be introduced across the European Union in order to stop vendors from avoiding the levy by moving sales away from France, Germany and four other European countries in which the law now applies.”
Art & Animals In Oz
“Now in its third year, the South Australian Museum’s Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize has become one of the nation’s prestige art competitions. A record 609 entries were received for the 2005 event, with 109 short-listed for the final judging next week.” The competition also has to be one of the world’s most specific art contests, intended to “promote and recognise excellence in art that depicts natural history or wildlife… a noticeable number of artists have also brought topical global issues, such as climate change and sustainability, into their work. However, under the rules of the competition, no man-made elements or settings are allowed to be depicted.”
NY Phil: Violinist Dismissed For Bad Behavior
The New York Philharmonic has responded publicly to a lawsuit brought by a violinist it dismissed at the end of his probationary term with the orchestra, calling his accusations of gender discrimination an “insult all the women members of every section of the New York Philharmonic.” The Philharmonic also says that Anton Polezhayev was dismissed primarily for unspecified “behavioral” problems about which he had been spoken to several times. Polezhayev is seeking reinstatement to the orchestra, as well as back pay.
Court To AMC: That’s No Classic
Back in 2002, the cable network AMC revamped its programming, adding a slew of contemporary movies to its traditional lineup of oldies (the network’d initials stand for American Movie Classics.) In response to what it viewed as an unauthorized deviation from genre, cable company Time Warner sued for the right to break its contract with AMC and drop the channel from its lineup. The court agreed with Time Warner, ruling that such cinematic detritus as Look Who’s Talking, Too simply cannot be considered “classic.” AMC, for its part, accuses Time Warner of wanting to drop the channel solely because its programming is now directly competing with two Time Warner-owned channels, TBS and TNT.
Learning From Others’ Experience
Becoming a successful performer requires a lot more than talent, and unfortunately, they don’t teach you about promotion and marketing in music school. That’s where The Field comes in, an organization dedicated to bringing artists together with the information they need to be a success in an increasingly crowded world of entertainment. The Field’s web site “contains almost 300 interviews with presenters, performers and managers from all 50 states, as well as information about more than 1,000 performance venues and 1,500 other resources, including good coffee houses, schools where artists can teach and housing.”