An unprecedented bistate tax proposal is headed to the voters of Kansas City and its surrounding suburbs. The initiative, which calls for a quarter-cent sales tax to be collected for 15 years in order to support arts and sports projects in the area, is complex because of the geographical location of the city. Kansas City proper actually stretches across the Missouri-Kansas state line (technically divided into two separate cities,) and the metro area stretches far and wide in both states. The ballot measure was approved after months of haggling over how the money from the tax would be divided – more than 50% of the funds will go to small community groups.
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Healing Wounds In The Auditorium
Following an 8-year legal battle over ownership rights, Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre is being folded into the operations of Roosevelt University, and the theater’s new director “plans to more closely align the historic downtown venue with the educational institution that fought long and hard for the right to govern the Auditorium as it saw fit.” Brent Batterson, a 45-year-old set designer turned arts administrator, has been brought on largely because he has no history with the Auditorium, and therefore no axes to grind in the various wounds that developed over the course of the court fight.
CT Philanthropist Dies, With Arts To Benefit
A seed heiress living in Connecticut has died, leaving $16 million to various arts groups in the state. Louise Wheelock Willson was a passionate promoter of the arts, donating money to various groups and handing out stacks of tickets to friends and acquaintances in an effort to promote the groups she supported. The Hartford Symphony, Connecticut Opera, and New Britain Museum of American Art are among the list of beneficiaries in her will, and the big winner is the Nutmeg Ballet in Torrington, which will receive $5 million, the biggest gift in the company’s history.
What’s Happening To The WTC Cultural Facilities?
Some New York arts leaders are wondering if the planning for the World Trade Center site has lost its focus and whether plans for arts facilities will be realized. “Lost in the debate over whether an opera house can fill its off-season or whether a dance and theater space could together attract sufficient funds, some arts leaders and planning experts say, is the more fundamental question of whether either of these options lives up to the grand plans for Lower Manhattan’s hallowed ground.”
Pixar – Playing The Field?
Pixar has earned more than $2.6 billion at the box office for its five animated movies. Now its partnership with Disney is about to expire and the hottest movie company is being courted by the biggest players in Hollywood…
Scottish Ballet – Promoting Personalities
Scottish Ballet has decided that the key to getting bigger audiences is to promote the personalities of its dancers. “The company is looking at sponsorship, fashion shoots, websites and media interviews as just some of the ways to boost the dancers’ profiles and build up a fan base around individuals.”
Dance Theatre Of Harlem In Danger Of Folding
“Dance Theater of Harlem, the groundbreaking black ballet company founded 35 years ago, may disband its 44-member troupe if it fails to come up with $2.5 million to stanch its losses by the end June, Arthur Mitchell, the group’s founder, said yesterday. The company intends to continue its school, which serves 800 to 1,000 students, Mr. Mitchell said.”
Columbia Tuition Scaring Prospects Away
Tuition for Columbia’s arts degree programs has risen so high, the school is losing prospects to other universities. “Last month, several hundred graduate students in the school’s visual arts, acting, writing and filmmaking programs marched across campus, protesting a decision to raise tuition to $33,052, from $31,240, in the fall. The school plans to continue increasing tuition 5.8 percent annually.”
Music As Predicted By Math
“The power of music to convey a certain emotion can now be predicted by a mathematical model, an Australian psychologist has found.”
Wynn On An Art Buying Binge
Vegas casino owner and collector Steve Wynn has regained his appetite for high-end art. “Last week in New York Mr Wynn bought John Singer Sargent’s 1885 portrait Robert Louis Stevenson and his Wife. for $8.8m (£4.8m). He plans to hang it in his new casino, Wynn Las Vegas, due to open next year. With a Cézanne and a Renoir, purchased last year for $40.9m and also destined for Las Vegas, it looks like Mr Wynn has recovered his appetite for blue-chip art, and that the market is recovering after disappointing sales in recent years.”