It was the sweltering summer of 1951 when artist Charles Comfort spent 58 days creating a 20-meter mural on the back wall of a Toronto Dominion Bank branch in Vancouver. The resulting artwork stayed in place for half a century, and became known as one of British Columbia’s most important works of public art. “When the bank branch closed in 2002 and the space was taken over by a pharmacy, the bank was determined to find a way for it to stay in the province. It wasn’t such an easy task. The size of the mural was certainly an issue. And the restoration needed to remove layers of tobacco smoke and grime was extensive. More troubling, however, was the controversial history of Comfort’s murals in Vancouver.”
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Installation Art 101
Eleven Colorado high schools are taking part in “Design and Build 2004,” an annual program sponsored by the Denver-based Museum of Outdoor Arts which is designed to give students a chance to experience firsthand the challenges of designing, building, and installing a major piece of public art. The students create “technical drawings, topographical maps and conceptual statements” of their proposed installations, then consult with the museum on feasibility, cost, and other minutiae. Finally, their fully constructed works are mounted at various high-profile sites throughout the Denver metro, with all the attendant fanfare of a “professional” installation.
Making The Museum Experience Kid-Friendly
For the first time in decades, art museums are making a concerted effort to cater to the needs of children, and the museum field trip may never be the same. “The once-a-year docent-led sprint through the galleries is being replaced by more sophisticated strategies. Children are being invited to write labels, dress up in the period costume of a particular painting, and act as docents themselves.” One Boston museum is even embarking on a year-long study to discover just what children get out of the museum experience, and what information they retain.
Miss Manners Vs. The Conductor’s Temper
In the last year alone, a conductor in Rio de Janeiro has mooned an audience which was booing the opera he was conducting, and another baton-twirler went on a 10-minute tirade against an audience in Florida for some perceived slight or other. The problem of audience behavior and musician backlash is nothing new in the music world, of course, but when conductors begin displaying their posteriors in public, someone needs to step in, and Judith Martin, better known as Miss Manners, figures it might as well be her. In fact, she’s proposing a career exchange with the marauding maestros. “It is true that Miss Manners can’t count terribly well, but she looks fetching in evening clothes and has some experience at terrorizing people into silence with a mere glance. How difficult can the rest of it be?”
Are Great Conductors Avoiding France?
“France’s main symphony orchestras are struggling to recruit conductors, especially on a permanent basis, though the roots of the problem remain unclear… Departing conductors speak of conflicts with management, the difficulties of having to share facilities with other artistic companies, overwork and, more coyly, personal reasons.” Whether the problem is bureaucratic, artistic, or cultural, it is clear that France has a conductor problem to which no one has yet found a solution.
Perhaps A Satire Warning Label Would Help
In an age when a fake news show (Comedy Central’s The Daily Show) serves as a more reliable news delivery vehicle than some real news networks, and when it is increasingly difficult to distinguish opinioniated hype from objective fact in the national media, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the satirical newspaper The Onion has a bit of an ongoing problem with people who take their stories seriously. The paper’s deadpan style may have something to do with it, but another factor is emerging as well: in a society so politically and culturally divided as the US seems to be at the moment, people are ready to believe anything that validates their personal point of view, no matter how absurd it may seem.
Cities Zero In On Arts Budgets
Last year it was state governments that slashed arts funding. This year it’s cities. Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New York… all are looking at cutting cultural funding as hey struggle to balance budgets.
Virtually Yours – Off-B’Way Stage Can Use Virtual Orchestra
The New York musicians union has made an agreement with an Off-Broadway theatre to allow use of a virtual orchestra. “The deal will allow shows at the theater to use the machine, which can closely replicate the sound of musicians, but only with union consent. No other Off Broadway theater currently has such an agreement with the union; Broadway producers are banned from using the machine.”
MTV – The Most Trusted Name In News? (Among Young People?)
Network news is heading for a crisis, with fewer and fewer young people using it as their primary information source. Why rush home for the six o’clock news when there are online papers, blogs, and cable available ’round the clock? A recent Pew Research Center survey revealed that only 23 percent of young people 18-29 get their campaign news from network anchors.” Into this landscape, MTV News is gaining more and more influence.
Broadcasters To Play It Safe Under US Content Crackdown
The US government crackdown on content of TV and radio is having an effect. “Broadcasters may stage a retreat from risky shows over the next few seasons as a regulatory campaign to clean up the airwaves gains momentum from election-year politics, media analysts said on Monday.”