Category: issues

An ambitious arts and culture program for Vancouver’s 2010 Olympic Games that was supposed to begin this year has been put on ice until 2008.

A new report says that big established Los Angeles non-profit arts organizations are wildly favored over smaller non-profits. The report notes “a disconnect between the local nonprofit arts community and the for-profit entertainment industry,” and one unidentified arts executive quoted in the study describes L.A.’s signature industry as “a local economic machine that takes ideas from the arts community but doesn’t give back.”

“Given the overall success of the arts in Britain, given the quality of exhibitions and live arts programming, given the way that new capital projects have led to artistic innovation; given the fact that past funding increases went directly into the arts themselves and not into the (miserable) salaries of those who run the arts (NHS administrators, please note!); given such a record, why are we so tortured with self doubt, so crippled with apology and self-abasement?”

“Almost every one of the hotly opposed proposals from Welsh culture minister Alun Pugh to demolish much of the traditional arm’s-length principle over control and funding of the arts have been rejected by the review committee he was forced to set up.”

“An Islamic civil rights group wants a columnist removed from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council for criticizing Rep.-elect Keith Ellison’s decision to use the Koran during the Minnesota Democrat’s ceremonial swearing-in next month. The Council on American-Islamic Relations said yesterday that comments by Dennis Prager, a columnist and conservative talk radio host, displayed an intolerance toward Islam that makes him inappropriate to serve on the council, which oversees the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.”

More applause for the appointment of James N. Wood to lead the Getty Trust. “Despite fulsome Getty rhetoric about art collecting, scholarship, conservation and public service both here and abroad — indeed, despite demonstrable successes in all those areas — the tacit focus of a hugely rich art institution entrusted to corporate leadership could be characterized in three disappointing words: Protect the money. With the unprecedented appointment of a distinguished art professional, four challenging words describe the charge: Spend the money well. The appointment represents nothing less than a sea change for the Getty.”

Naming James N. Wood, who led the Art Institute of Chicago, as president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust may be just the thing to repair the damage caused by his predecessor, Barry Munitz. “By selecting Wood, the trustees have shown that they listen to critics. Wood’s appointment is for just five years, but that could be ample time for the Getty to put the scandals behind it and start living up to its potential.”

“Wood, educated at Williams College in Massachusetts, began his career with a series of academic and museum positions, including a post at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He took over as director of the St. Louis Art Museum in 1975, then moved on to serve as president and director of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1980 to 2003.”

James Wood has been named as new president and CEO of the Getty Trust. Wood formerly ran the Chicago Art Institute. “One of the very appealing things about the Getty to me is that its collecting opportunities are really quite open. We were not left with an iron-clad restriction, so the opportunity is there to make the most of changing times — both in terms of the legality of acquisitions and in the cost and the importance of different cultures for both Los Angeles and the nation.”

Cell phones ringing at performances has long been an irritation. Now there’s another cellphone distraction. “I’m amazed at how people will pay for the ostensible purpose of sharing in a musical experience and eagerly toss that experience aside in favor of text messaging, e-mailing or Web browsing.”