So Seattle’s ACT theatre is on the verge of going out of business. The theatre declared a life-and-death emegergency, then gave itself a little breathing room when board members ponied up some operating money. Roger Downey isn’t impressed. “Why was the theatre’s board so ignorant of the organization’s precarious financial situation? Many Seattle arts groups seem headed down this same path – ACT is just the first. Why do we let it happen? “It’s entirely in keeping with the way arts groups, in Seattle and elsewhere in this country, are governed and financed. The system is rickety even in good times, and bad times expose its shortcomings cruelly.”
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How Should Arts Money Be Split up?
A recent report by the Boston Foundation said that 65 percent of arts donations went to two percent of the area’s cultural organizations – the ones with budgets of more than $20 million. This has led some to call for spreading the wealth among the rest of the arts organizations. But leaders of two of Boston’s largest arts groups say the portion of funding for major groups is right because they serve the widest audiences. “That chart doesn’t show audience served. That’s the number one point.”
Scotland’s National Gallery Makes A Titian Its Own
Scotland’s National Gallery buys itself a Titian for £11 million. The painting has hung on loan to the gallery for 60 years. “It took more than two years to complete the deal, using £7.6m worth of lottery funding and a £2.5m contribution from the Scottish executive. The rest of the money came from the National Art Collections Fund and the National Galleries. To facilitate the sale, £2.4m of the picture’s value was offset against inheritance tax.”
Tracking Down Nazi Art Loot – A Futile Task?
More people are trying to track down art looted by the Nazis during World War II than ever before. And museums and collectors are under greater scrutiny. But “experts have become increasingly pessimistic that much more of it will ever be recovered and restored to its rightful owners. The Germans seized perhaps 600,000 important works from 1933 to 1945. “As many as 100,000 pieces are still estimated to be missing, and some have undoubtedly been destroyed. ‘Obviously, what this is all about is the art world having to pay the price for lack of interest in provenance that they have shown for generations. It’s a good idea to put it on the Internet and make it available, but I don’t think there’s a great deal of follow-up by museums’.”
Met Museum Lands Matisse Trove
The Metroplitan Museum lands a gift of 50 paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints by Matisse, valued at $100 million. “The gift, which comes from a foundation named after Matisse’s youngest son, Pierre, and Pierre’s wife, Maria-Gaetana Matisse, is one of the most important gifts of modern art the Metropolitan has ever received.”
The Great CD Rebate (Hurry – Time Is Running Out
Did you buy a CD between 1995 and 2000? Even one? “As part of a settlement in a huge price-fixing lawsuit, the major labels and a few record retailers are bankrolling a $67.4 million fund, to be split among all the people who bought an album between 1995 and 2000. Exactly how much money will be determined by the number of people who send in applications. So far, 2.8 million claimants across the country have signed up. At that rate, less administrative costs, everyone gets about $16 or $17 apiece.” But time is running out…
Leonardo Interactive
Leonardo da Vinci was one of the great minds in history. The Metropolitan Museum has developed a special interactive feature designed to complement the exhibit: an online tour (really an overview) of the show’s eight galleries. This allows us to follow the stages in the development of Leonardo’s mind through 34 representative drawings. Each of these can be enlarged several times thanks to a zoom feature.
Prokofiev, Conflicted
Prokofiev was unquestionably one of the great composers of the 20th Century. But “there is something profoundly suspect about Western attitudes to this composer. Instead of subjecting him to continuous critical assessment, we repeat favourite works and shun the rest. Prokofiev makes us uneasy in ways that Ravel does not. He reminds us of things we would prefer to forget – first and foremost of our obeisance to Stalin. Yes, ours, not his.”
Libeskind Chosen For WTC
The proposed design by Daniel Libeskind for the World Trade Center site has been chosen. “The new building is planned to be taller than the trade center towers, which briefly stood as the world’s tallest at 1,350 feet. Libeskind’s tower also would surpass Malaysia’s 1,483-foot Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest buildings in the world.”
San Antonio Symphony Too Broke To Pay Musicians
The San Antonio Symphony is out of money and says it won’t be able to pay musicians this week unless it raises $250,000 by Friday. “The 78-member orchestra was told during an emotional 10 a.m. meeting at the Majestic Theater that without private donations, paychecks won’t be issued Friday. The crisis could jeopardize future performances.”