“The new National World War II Memorial in Washington DC is the latest memorial that critics love to hate. It is built in a monumental style that makes many people uncomfortable in this age of irony and ambiguity. It somehow manages to come off as both self-important and self-conscious. It treads on the hallowed National Mall. And yet, it is neither thoughtless nor bombastic, as some have argued.”
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Artist Pension Fund Forming
A company in New York has started a pension fund for artists. “The fund, called the Artist Pension Trust, is designed to offer some retirement security for a fairly select group of up-and-coming visual artists now in their 20s and 30s. Instead of investing money, artists will contribute their own artwork to a trust. The artwork will be held for a number of years, then sold, with the proceeds going into the trust, from which artists will draw their pensions.”
Creativity And The Working City
“The return of cities can only be explained in the context of the rise of the creative age – a long wave of change affecting every sector of the economy, in which competitiveness and wealth have become increasingly determined by the capacity for innovation and creativity. The contrast with the industrial age could not be sharper…”
Are We Coming Apart?
Samuel Huntington argues that “if peoples and countries with similar cultures (that is, values, traditions, religions) are coming together, then countries made up of different cultures are in danger of coming apart. He argues in ‘Who Are We?’ that multiculturalism, diversity and bilingualism in the United States are strengthening racial, ethnic and other ‘subnational identities’ at the expense of an overarching national identity, while global business ties, global communications and global concerns (about matters like the environment and women’s rights) are increasingly promoting ‘transnational’ identities among American elites. As a result, Mr. Huntington suggests, the United States is not only undergoing a profound identity crisis, but it may eventually find its very existence threatened.”
A New Broadway Tune
The show tunes making the most noise during Broadway awards season are of a different variety than those your mama loved to hum. And these new songs are changing the theatre around them. “The desire for familiarity, for hit songs or pseudo-hit songs, can override narrative coherence without anyone’s caring very much.
Playwright Who Championed Workers’ Rights Planning Non-Union Production
A prominent playwright and director who “developed his theater company as a part of the farmworkers’ labor movement, is planning to open a non-union tour of his signature production in San Jose in August. Luis Valdez says the `tremendous irony’ of staging non-union performances at the Center for Employment Training throws a spotlight on the cultural, financial and political challenges faced by regional arts groups.”
NY Arts Groups Protest City Funding Cuts
New York City arts groups are protesting mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to slash city arts funding. “We are sending a distress signal to the mayor and the City Council that if the budget is adopted at this level, it would become the fourth year in a row that the city’s cultural institutions have been seriously underfunded. Instead of helping the city to rebound, the proposed cuts risk severely imperiling the fiscal health of our city’s most cherished cultural treasures.”
Online Movie Critics In The Fast Lane
A growing number of online movie critics is having more influence on young movie fans than traditional critics. “Simply, broadband is beating out the newstand when it comes to finding a quick recommendation on a new release – especially because some websites post critiques earlier than print reviewers, often sidestepping embargoes set by the studios. But the freedom of the Web to print anything – no formal credentials or editor required – has set off a debate over whether the proliferation of online reviewers has strengthened the overall state of film criticism or weakened it.”
Kessler Departing American Music Center
Richard Kessler is stepping down as director of the American Music Center. “Kessler is widely credited within the industry for refocusing the AMC at a crucial time in its history and securing the financial foundation needed to support the organization’s mission. When he came on board in 1997, the AMC employed only three staff members and was faced with a record deficit. His first budget was approximately $1 million; this grew to almost $5 million in 2002. This year, following six straight years of surplus budgets, the Center has a staff of 14, a $300,000-plus cash reserve, and an endowment of over $3 million.”
How Mass MOCA Changed A Town
Mass MOCA has been open five years. And the contemporary art center far away from the cities has changed its host town. “Once a sleepy, economically depressed mill town, with the state’s highest unemployment rate and lowest downtown occupancy rate, North Adams has changed. According to state government figures, unemployment has declined to less than 6 percent from more than 18 percent in the late 1980’s. A study conducted by the museum shows that the storefront occupancy rate, which was below 30 percent in the mid-1990’s, now stands at 75 percent. In the last five years eight restaurants have opened in North Adams. About 120,000 people a year visit Mass MOCA, the center says.”