The state of California recently called up some major changes to a public art project at the state capitol to make it accessible to those with disabilities. “The cosmic recall, scoffed by some and applauded by others, reflects a growing awareness of disability rights among art and design communities.”
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How To Rebuild Iraq’s Arts?
“How do we take what exists in Iraq, how we fortify those institutions, how do we fortify the schools that teach music and art, how do we fortify regional arts organisations and what holes are left? Under Saddam, sculptors got a monthly stipend. They’re not high up on the priority list of people in Iraq, but somebody has to attend to this.”
Santa Cruz: How To Dismantle An Arts Community
Support for the arts in Santa Cruz, California has been evaporating. And the city’s artists are leaving. “In the last couple of weeks, not a day has gone by when I haven’t heard of an artist moving away. The Diaspora of young artists here is evaporating because it’s too expensive to live here and because there’s a serious lack of venues in this town.”
Is Big Read “Anti-Literary?”
The BBC’s Big Read aims to have the public vote on their 100 favorite books of all time. But some criticize the exerciseas being “anti-literary.” “Somebody said that The Big Read was not just un-literary but anti-literary and I think that’s right. It is based on the assumption that the opinion of the public is always beyond reproach.”
Where Have All The Music Stores Gone?
The number of sheet music stores still alive is tiny compared with 30 years ago. “Nowadays, although recent polls show that 25 percent of adults say they play musical instruments, there are so few specialist stores that sell print music, and they don’t really make a great outreach to people except for the ones who physically darken their doorsteps.”
Let’s Blame The Recording Companies
“Why is the classical music tradition in difficulty, asks Charles Rosen? “At the time that listening to records was beginning to overtake going to concerts as the chief way of staying in contact with the classical tradition, the record companies consistently refused to make records freely or cheaply available to schools. Educating a future public would have meant planning in longer terms than the habits of thought of the modern business world are comfortable with. Nevertheless, this makes a coherent view of our cultural heritage in literature and music an awkward undertaking. Some educators have abandoned the idea as hopeless and even (sour grapes!) as unnecessary. Even the idea of a canon of great works of the past can inspire resentment today.”
Disney Passes Expectations In The Fast Lane
LA’s new Disney Hall got through its opening weekend of three concerts in great style, writes Joshua Kosman. “Taken in tandem with Thursday’s opener, the evenings added up to a beguiling snapshot of musical life in the Southland – venturesome, swaggering and ready to embrace whatever cultural developments may be passing through. In addition to its own extravagant charms, at once noble and puppyish, Disney Hall reveals anew the strength and resilience that this orchestra has attained under Salonen’s leadership.”
In Praise Of Libraries
For all their excellence, libraries are low in glamor. “What can a library do to compete with such events as the International Festival of Authors at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre, the announcement of nominees for the Giller Prize and the Governor-General’s Award, or the celebrity-cookbook author Indigo is bringing to a suburb near you? It’s possible, however, that society’s collective inability to appreciate the public library as a vital institution is the library’s fault.”
Art: Not Fade Away (And Yet…)
Much contemporary art is made of materials that are deteriorating. “The technical term is inherent vice, insurance jargon meaning the certainty of future decay because of the materials used. Inherent vice is the timebomb ticking away inside private and museum collections of contemporary art all over the world. The first conference held to consider the problem is bringing together conservators, collectors, lawyers and, above all, art insurance experts, in London.”
Nude In Grand Central Station
Spencer Tunnick’s latest project brought 450 women to pose nude in New York’s Grand Central Station Sunday morning. “For his latest, he said, he first sought permission to use the New York Public Library and the Museum of Natural History but was rebuffed by both. He’s also been arrested several times in New York for previous projects.”