Category: issues

New York City is moving to competitive funding for the arts. Arts groups will now have to compete against one another for money. “Rationalizing the system is something we’ve been looking to do for a long time. It was time to move to a different basis of funding that allows us to reward excellence and give all organizations access according to reasonable principles.”

“Applause can be an award or a motivational force, serve as recognition or inspiration. But trying to find out where it originated is like trying to find who told the first joke or sang the first song…”

The Utah Legislature is considering a plan which would redirect revenues collected from the state’s restaurant tax away from the dedicated cultural support for which the tax was originally intended. “Presently, legislators are discussing the possible use of these funds for transportation. [But] the fact is that the original need for and purpose of the restaurant tax have not changed.”

“Missouri arts advocates let out a collective sign of relief last week when Gov. Matt Blunt included money for the arts in his annual budget recommendation… Arts advocates had been concerned that the governor might not recommend any money for the arts because of anger over a lawsuit filed by the Kansas City Symphony against the state.”

Louisville’s Fund for the Arts, which supports nearly all the major arts organizations in the city, is hoping that its annual fund drive will set a record, topping the $8 million mark. More than a hope, actually, the goal is a virtual necessity for a cultural scene starved for cash. “As long as you are in a cycle of crisis, you can’t spend a lot of time doing your business better, and you certainly aren’t spending a lot of time making your art better.”

“Symphonies, museums and theaters throughout Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky will need more than $950 million in capital and endowment funds during the next two decades, according to a new report commissioned by arts supporters. The report… contends that arts and cultural groups don’t have the resources here that groups in competitor cities such as Minneapolis, St. Louis or Denver boast, either from taxpayers or private donors.”

Australia’s arts community has high hope’s for the country’s new arts minister. “The community’s perception of the arts is something he also believes needs to be addressed. The question, he says, ‘is what art can do, both for a domestic and international audience in its various ways to celebrate the joys and complexity of life’.”

“The median income of arts workers in Ontario is $10,000 a year… Several other provinces spend more on protecting and encouraging artists than does the self-appointed centre of the Canadian cultural universe, Ontario.” A new report by the Ministry of Culture “recommends 27 radical reforms, from unemployment benefits to parental leave.”

As part of the process of shaping her days-old presidential campaign, Senator Hillary Clinton has staked out a surprisingly detailed position advocating a return to personal privacy in the digital age. “But some observers are doubtful of Clinton’s ability — whether as senator, or commander-in-chief — to garner widespread support for what would amount to a complete reversal of a decade of privacy-hostile laws and policies spewing from Washington.”

Louisville’s downtown is getting major new art spaces as part of a $465 million development. “The art space will have five galleries, including two for the University of Louisville, one of which will be for its glass-arts program. The art space will offer a panoramic view of the towers, the plaza, the Ohio River and the rest of downtown.”