Category: issues

“Once upon a time, checking your watch was the state-of-the-art response to a theatrical moment that bored you. The gesture can even exude a bit of critical panache: A universal pantomime for ‘Get me out of here!,’ it’s a succinct and crisp and relatively unobtrusive expression of personal pique. But now, the Treos and BlackBerrys and the multitasking superphones that do everything except rotate your tires are more than a momentary sideshow for the ticket buyer who might be less than enthralled with the main event.”

A cigarette tax approved last year by Cleveland-area voters to help fund the arts is expected to pull in $17m this year alone, and the money will be divvied up between nearly 70 local arts groups. “Seventy-two institutions submitted applications to a panel of nine arts and culture experts from outside Ohio, which convened this week and commented on the strengths and weaknesses of each application. Institutions qualified for support if they scored 75 or higher out of 100.”

The San Antonio city council is proposing to take about $315,000 from the approximately $5 million it allocates for arts funding and give it to the Museo Alameda to pay for free admissions. The rest of the arts community? Well, they’re not thrilled…

“Multiculturalism, which by its very existence the museum takes for granted, is an alien and incendiary concept here. Unlike much of Europe, France is an immigrant nation, the number of immigrants having risen from one million in 1881 to 2 million by 1962 to 3.7 million by 1982. (It has dropped a bit since then.) It is estimated that 20 percent to 25 percent of the present population has an immigrant background. But being a French citizen means you’re not categorized as African French or Southeast Asian French or West Indian French; you’re just plain French.”

” ‘Islamofascism’ is a noxious and counterproductive term — a bludgeon disguised as an idea. Its use comes at a cost, even beyond the obvious one that goes with making people dumber.”

A new list ranks the “wittiest” Brits of all time. Not a woman to be found in the top ten. So herewith some nominations…

A genetics researcher at the University of Pittsburgh has pleaded guilty for obtaining biological materials for a friend’s art exhibit. Robert Ferrell “was indicted in June 2004, along with Steven A. Kurtz, a former Carnegie Mellon University art professor and founding member of the Critical Art Ensemble, which uses art to examine the impact of science and technology on consumer culture.”

“Amid an uproar over the huge demand for seats to pop idol Hannah Montana’s tour, a U.S. federal judge on Monday barred the use of automated software to make mass ticket purchases from the leading box-office service Ticketmaster.”

‘Mass-circulation newspapers are experiencing hard financial times, prompting many to reduce arts coverage. The result is an unsettling debate about eliminating local movie and television critics, as publishers allocate limited resources elsewhere. And TV critics find themselves evaluating shows most of their readers haven’t seen, thanks to increasingly fragmented viewing.”

Seattle’s mayor proposes a $1 million increase in the city’s arts budget. But the “arts” are broadly defined. “Of the total $4.2 million in the proposed budget, the lion’s share — $3.2 million — will fund parks projects, a few of which would appear to stretch some definitions of “arts and culture.”