Yes, National Public Radio just got a gift of $200 million. But “the truth is that the Kroc gift will have no effect on the financial needs or the fundraising efforts of NPR’s 750 member stations. Instead of receiving financial support from NPR, these stations have to pay for NPR programming.” And the gift might even have a negative impact as donors assume public radio is now awash in cash.
Blog
American Indian Museum To Open
The National Museum of the American Indian will open on the National Mall in Washington DC in nine months. The Smithsonian’s newest outpost will have “an unmatched collection of artifacts and displays designed to set the record straight on the history and contributions of native peoples. That will culminate a 20-year push to establish a museum on the Mall that would enshrine 10,000 years of Native American life and culture as a central chapter of history.”
Fringe Books For Edinburgh
A writers’ group in Edinburgh has announced plans for a fringe festival for books next summer. “They would aim to piggy-back on the growing success of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, with its 550 authors and £7 tickets. They would offer slots to writers or poets, published or unpublished, and keep ticket prices low or non-existent.”
Tax Breaks For UK Art Donors?
Britain’s museums are struggling financially since they dropped admission charges last year. So ho can the government help? One idea is to “introduce tax breaks for individuals and companies who donate to national and regional museums, which could cost the Treasury £30m a year in lost tax revenue.”
The Meaning Of Cage
As a major festival of the music of John Cage begins, musical luminaries talk about Cage’s influence on music. “I do believe the future, let’s say 25 to 50 years from now, will place Cage as the most important composer of the 20th century. This is not sticking my neck out.”
Death Of The CD Single?
Experts predict that within three years CD singles will no longer be made. “With broadband becoming far more common, it is easier to simply download a track than go out and buy it, the industry argues.”
Is Picasso The World’s Most Expensive Painting?
“Pablo Picasso’s Boy with a Pipe, painted in 1905 when he was 24, could become the world’s most expensive painting at an auction at Sotherby’s in New York. The painting is estimated to sell for $70m (£38m) at the auction in May, but could easily outstrip Van Gogh’s portrait of Dr Gachet, which had a before-commission price tag of $75m in 1990.”
Revised WTC Memorial Unveiled
A revised design for the World Trade Center Memorial is unveiled. “They have proposed an underground space called the Memorial Center, perhaps two acres or more in extent, according to those who have seen the design. It is there that the twisted, resilient, evocative vestiges of the attack, fire trucks, steel columns, maybe even Fritz Koenig’s sculpture `Sphere for Plaza Fountain’ can finally return.”
A Poetically Difficult Year
It’s been a rocky year for Poetry magazine after the magazine learned it was bequeathed $100 million. “Poetry’s first order of business was to form a foundation to satisfy IRS regulations. But later developments seemed not just to suggest growing pains but to hint at the old adage that money ruins everything. Joseph Parisi, who had edited Poetry for 20 years, was named executive director of publications and programs of the new Poetry Foundation in May 2003, but by summer’s end, he had resigned. Then the foundation filed a lawsuit against a bank in Indiana for mismanagement of two of its trusts…”
Trading Salary For Stability In Detroit
For the third time in the last 15 years, the musicians and staff of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra have agreed to temporary furloughs and pay cuts in an effort to help the organization stabilize a precarious financial situation. The deal is somewhat complex, as negotiations to redo the musicians’ contract were focused on enabling the DSO to save money in the short term without sacrificing its position as one of the top American orchestras in the long term. Over the next two seasons, the musicians will accept several weeks of furlough and allow four open positions in the orchestra to go unfilled, but will be guaranteed a return to a competitive pay scale in the 2005-06 season.