Category: issues

“In a new twist to the juggling act at ground zero, the city said yesterday that the Signature Theater Company would not be included in a performing arts center to be designed there by Frank Gehry, leaving the Joyce Theater, which presents dance, as the building’s sole resident. Estimates of the performing arts center’s cost were approaching $700 million, city officials said. Under the new plan, the center and a new Signature Theater are expected to come in at about $350 million combined.”

“Sir John Tusa is to become the chairman of the University of the Arts London when he steps down as managing director of the Barbican Centre in the autumn. The distinguished BBC broadcaster, credited with turning round the fortunes of the centre since 1995, will succeed Will Wyatt as chairman of governors, the university announced today.”

“New research by Gartner, the US technology analyst, suggests the number of new blogs peaked in October and that an estimated 200m have been abandoned and left to rot in cyberspace.”

“The rapid growth in merit scholarships has been controversial: Many institutions (public and private) say that the awards allow them to better shape their classes and to attract talented applicants who might otherwise go elsewhere. Yields — the percentage of accepted applicants who enroll — go up. Critics have said that merit scholarships may help institutions, but don’t truly help students (most recipients of merit scholarships have many options) or broad social needs in higher education (the merit awards divert attention and funds from the needs of low-income students).”

“At Wolf Trap, operas are staged in 18th-century barns and picnickers enjoy summer concerts from a sloping lawn. A national park and performing arts center outside Washington, Wolf Trap will further connect nature and the arts with an environmental initiative that includes using energy- efficient vehicles, planting more trees and attempting to create a paperless office. … Wolf Trap hopes its environmental project becomes a ‘model and resource for arts presenters across the country’….”

“Professional marine treasure hunters working with the British government have reportedly been given the go-ahead to recover gold and silver pieces from what is thought to be the wreck of the HMS Sussex, which took 560 sailors to a watery grave off Gibraltar in 1694.”

“A week ago the Sydney Harbour bridge turned 75 years old, and Sydney threw it a party – as well it might, for the bridge has made the city recognisable all over the world. Spanning the harbour from Dawes Point to Milsons Point, it is a scrumptious thing, a triumph of civil engineering, an entirely functional monument.”

Lawrence Small’s “management of the Smithsonian has been sharply criticized by members of Congress, and his compensation and spending practices have been subjected to scrutiny by the Smithsonian’s inspector general. Last week, two separate committees were appointed to look into management operations at the museum complex, which includes 18 museums and research facilities as well as the National Zoo.”

The new director of the Edinburgh International Festival said the festival could be reduced to a single weekend in years to come without better funding. “Statistics show that only the Olympics attracts as many people to a single event as the Edinburgh festivals. But despite this, financial problems have plagued them for years.”

“Videoconferencing has been around for years in business, medicine and education.” Now more and more arts organizations are using it for long-distance classes.