Category: issues

“In the past, chairing an arts board carried an automatic knighthood. These days, though, a gong is worth less than a party loan and most titles look shabby and sub-prime. If the sole reward for hundreds of hours of budget scrutiny and sulky artistic directors is a Christmas card from Gordon Brown, why bother to apply?”

“Some artists grumble at ‘support the arts for the sake of commerce’ strategy, saying that by trumpeting the economic-engine argument, the arts-for-aesthetics-sake notion gets rudely pushed aside.” But those who make the economic argument are convinced that they’ve hit on the best way to get commerce-obsessed Americans to pay attention.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, passed by the US Congress in the wake of the Enron disaster, was designed to restore public confidence in corporate conduct. But for many non-profit groups, Sarbanes-Oxley has meant rising costs, complicated new rules, and many a bureaucratic headache.

A developer in Annapolis, Maryland has unveiled plans for a $60m performing arts center in the heart of the city. If completed, the project would “host national acts and provide a modern venue the city has sought for more than 30 years.”

The British Department of Culture has been forced to admit a series of claims it made about increases in arts funding were incorrect.

“Perhaps the truth is that artists and what they represent are simply irrelevant to the political discourse these days. The campaign has focused almost entirely on economic management, with a dash of environmental concern thrown in.”

“While 93% of respondents know London is to host the Olympics, only 15% are aware that there is to be an organised cultural offering as part of the games. This is even though there is less than a year to go before the Olympiad begins.”

“People in the arts seem to expect two things from government, money and love, although if forced to choose they would prefer the former. Opera, art galleries and musicals are attracting record audiences. None of this suggests a country that is philistine or unsupportive of the arts.”

“Modernism was propelled by two main impulses: the urge to overturn established hierarchies and break rules and a compulsion to explore the artist’s interior world. These primal drives produced ‘a single aesthetic mind-set,’ a ‘climate of thought, feeling and opinion,’ unifying what might appear to be a scattering of disconnected artistic revolts.”

Voters recently approved new money to renovate Boettcher Hall and a host of other projects. “For fans of the performing arts, the next few years offer tons of possibilities.”