“The American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), which represents dancers and singers, has accused Washington Ballet of attempting to prevent its dancers from unionizing.”
Blog
You’ve Been Warned: Put Not Your Trust In Fiddles
Two recent violin speculation scandals (Isaac Stern’s estate and the New Jersey Axelrod sale) have Norman Lebrecht wondering if there might be lessons to be learned. Sure. It’s this: “put not your faith in fiddles. Musical instruments are made for playing, not for speculation. They inflict pain, as much as gain. Handle with care.”
Reviving Publishers Weekly
In an attempt to revive itself, Publishers Weekly hired a new top editor. “After decades of enjoying a near monopoly on coverage of the book publishing business, Publishers Weekly in recent years has often lagged in competition with Internet sites, e-mail newsletters and daily newspapers. The consolidation of the publishing business and the demise of many independent booksellers has eaten into the magazine’s pool of potential subscribers. Its paid circulation of 25,000 is down about 3,000 from the peak in recent years. Perhaps worst of all for a publication focused on a single industry, even subscribers are not certain about where the magazine is aiming.”
Iraq’s Heritage Still At Risk
Iraq’s cultural heritage continues to be at risk, though some progress has been made. “The challenges facing archaeological and other historic sites are even more complex, given their remote and dispersed locations. Most of these sites are not safe to visit and have no guardians. Looting, now often carried out by bands of armed professionals, has caused irreparable damage to many archaeological sites and has scattered objects not seen in centuries among smugglers and collectors around the world.”
Pioneer Of Comic Art Dies
Comic artist Will Eisner has died at 87. Eisner revolutionized the world of newspaper comics in the 1940s with his popular serial, The Spirit, and is believed to have published the first full-length graphic novel in 1978.
An Artist & A Fighter
“In addition to having the hand and eye of a gifted artist, Will Eisner… had an amazing insight into the human condition and the heart of a true club boxer. He was tough, game and always moving, packed a powerful punch and never quit… He carried two concealed weapons — a wry, deadpan sense of humor and a lightning wit — both of which held no respect for pomposity or rank.”
Seattle Museum Expands Staff
“Gearing up for an expansion downtown that will more than triple its gallery space by 2007, the Seattle Art Museum has created a new curatorial position and hired a conservator of sculptors, installations and other objects.” The hires are part of a larger strategy to raise SAM’s profile and enourage donations to enrich the museum’s collection.
Art Amidst The Ads
Amid the inescapable glut of billboards and oversized wall advertisements in New York City, a giant 1300-square-foot digital video screen is garnering attention. And it isn’t selling anything. “Operating on the notion that New York deserves art where it least expects it, SmartSign Media is presenting a month-long exhibition of images from Magnum Photos, the legendary photojournalism collective.” The images appear on the giant screen which wraps around Port Authority, the city’s main bus terminal.
Well, All Those Mars Crashes Were Sort Of Artistic
When one thinks of NASA, one probably doesn’t think of art, but performance artist Laurie Anderson would beg to differ. Anderson recently became the agency’s first-ever artist-in-residence after being offered “$20,000, plus unlimited access to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore and more, to create a new work.” The result is “a 90-minute flow of electronic music, personal musings and melodic stories that meander from the nesting habits of gay penguins and her favourite haiku… to the latest advances in robotics and photos from the Hubble Space Telescope.”
No Quick End In Sight To St. Louis Strike
The St. Louis Symphony officially asked its musicians yesterday to return to work under the terms of their old contract while negotiations continue for a new agreement. But due to unusual funding terms of the previous agreement, any “play-and-talk” scenario would have the musicians playing for far less than the weekly pay rate they had been receiving, a plan which the musicians have rejected. Still, the SLSO’s top exec is claiming that the offer of a paid return to work proves that the stoppage is a musician-called strike, not a management-imposed lockout.