In Wisconsin, civic and arts leaders are holding a Congress at the spectacular new Overture Center in Madison to try to sell legislators and the public on the idea that the arts are a good investment. The main thrust of the argument is that the arts attract tourists, who spend dollars in the state. (Of course, the Overture Center itself was built entirely with private money…)
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The Arts, Now 50% Off
Times are tough in the art world, and attendance has been slow for many organizations. So a group of Philadelphia arts groups have banded together to try out a very old-fashioned method of gaining new business: they’re offering half-price admission to everything from operas to plays to pop concerts to museums. But the discounts are a one-time event, since no arts groups wants to create a ticket base that gets used to not paying full price.
Bringing Hollywood Back To California
Having a governor with serious Hollywood clout is paying big dividends for California’s movie industry. “Capitalizing on his industry insider knowledge, the governor has signed laws to ease red tape in filming, fought Internet video piracy, appointed proven Hollywood veterans to the state film commission, and mandated film industry liaisons in all state agencies and departments.” The effects have been most immediately noticable in the number of films being made in the state which might otherwise have fled to Canada or other lower-cost environs.
It Was A Great Story While It Lasted, Though
New scientific research has concluded that members of the Medici family, which is popularly cited as having funded much of the Italian renaissance, did not kill each other in a bloody slaughter, as had been rumored for centuries. In fact, researchers now say that the allegations that four members of the Medici clan ran each other through with swords and daggers are nothing more than fantasy stories spread by jealous rivals. “Malaria is the most likely cause of death for all four members of the family.”
Training The Next Generation Of Museum Execs
A new graduate program at Russia’s University of St. Petersburg is offering high-level training to students interested in getting into museum administration. The curriculum is an effort to insure that the country’s rich museum legacy doesn’t fall victim to poor management just as museums are being forced to look to private funding sources for the first time.
A Better Use For Botox
“Botox hits the headlines these days chiefly as a sort of fashion accessory – the celebrities’ wrinkle-remover. But in the case of the veteran American pianist Leon Fleisher, its effectiveness in treating muscular contraction has given him back the use of his right hand, out of action for more than three decades… Fleisher has now teamed up with the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation to launch his Freedom to Play campaign, aimed at helping musicians – some 10,000, says Fleisher – who suffer from the complaint, either in the hands or, in the case of wind players, the mouth.”
The Accidental Documentarian
“In 1946 Li Tianbing stole his grandmother’s cow and bought a camera with the proceeds. Some 300,000 photos later, he is being feted as one of his country’s most influential artists… For Li, it is a hobby and a job, rather than art. But his evocative images of a China that was thought to have passed without visual record have upstaged some of the most provocative installations and performances of the country’s growing avant-garde movement.”
It’s Kind Of Like Watching Paint Dry
The world of art restoration is a mysterious one to even the most frequent of museumgoers, but a new program launched by the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts is giving non-experts a glimpse of the processes involved in caring for great and aging artwork. “On two occasions now, the Institute has performed its magic in a public gallery, so that visitors could witness the techniques in progress and in person – and for those who may have been prevented by time or geography from following the exhibit first-hand… the entire process [is archived for public viewing] on the web.”
The Munch Attraction
At some point in the last twenty years, the works of Edvard Munch crossed over from being mere admired art to being symbols of contemporary culture. But what is it about the painter that so engages people, more than 50 years after his death? It may be that Munch’s “landscapes and portraits of inner anguish” touch a nerve with nervous individuals in a world filled with fear and uncertainty.
Axelrod Fighting Extradition
Fugitive philanthropist Herbert Axelrod, accused of tax fraud and under investigation for overcharging the New Jersey Symphony on the 2003 purchase of a collection of valuable instruments, is appealing his extradition from Germany, and will likely not be returned to U.S. custody for weeks or even months. Axelrod had been scheduled to appear in federal court this Friday – that court date has been canceled.