Category: issues

“Public flagship universities do a generally poor job of enrolling and educating underrepresented minority students and those from low-income families, and actually regressed rather than made progress on those fronts from 1995 to 2004, the Education Trust argues in a report released Monday.”

The state of arts institutions in Australia is generally good. But “there are still a number of prominent arts boards plagued by management weaknesses, staff discontent and external criticism, particularly from funding bodies such as federal and state governments. Ultimately, those boards must take responsibility and yet some continue to whitewash or ignore scrutiny.”

Arts measures did well in the recent American elections. “Ten arts-related ballot measures that went before voters in Northern California, Louisiana, Ohio, Oregon, Texas and Utah were passed – some overwhelmingly. There were no other such ballot propositions elsewhere.”

“Investors and developers, even those who were historically not sellers, have taken advantage of the market to sell their assets rather than refinance or allow cash flow to accumulate. Nonprofits have followed suit, many feeling that the value of some longstanding locations are replaceable by other locations combined with consolidation of services and residences is a positive arbitrage that results in a stronger balance sheet.”

A new study reports that funding for the arts in Los Angeles has stayed flat in recent years, even though arts activity has grown by 20 percent. “The levels of funding from some public and private sources for 2004 were close to or even below 1998 levels, when the nonprofit arts sector was significantly smaller, according to the groups.”

“In two different parts of town last night, two very different voices in the debate over museums and antiquities made their arguments heard. Uptown at the Metropolitan Museum, the Met’s director, Philippe de Montebello, delivered to a rapt audience an impassioned defense of museums continuing to collect antiquities –– while, downtown, Peter Watson, the author of ‘The Medici Conspiracy: The Illicit Journey of Looted Antiquities — From Italy’s Tomb Raiders to the World’s Greatest Museums,’ spoke to a group at the Chelsea Art Museum about the responsibility of museums not to contribute to the illegal trade in antiquities.”

For-profit companies have long known the power of the investor to infuse them with cash just when they need it most. But non-profits are saddled with a fundraising model that requires them to beg for money while promising no fiscal return. Why does it have to be this way? Why not create a fluctuating market for non-profits, just as publicly traded companies have now?

Will last week’s election results make life easier for cultural groups and other non-profit corporations? “Many eyes will be on the Senate Finance Committee, where Max Baucus (D-Mont.) is to succeed Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) as chairman. Indignant over financial scandals at some non-profits, Grassley had made reform of tax-exempt groups a cause. But Baucus doesn’t seem to share that same ardor.”

The YouTube phenomenon may be old news in some circles, but for fans of low-tech forms like classical music, opera, and dance, the video site is still being discovered as a valuable resource. “Thanks to its ease of operation, YouTube allows pretty much anyone with a mild curiosity about opera or musical theater to expand his frame of reference without spending a dime, thanks to the compulsive generosity of members with a desire to exhibit their curatorial prowess.”

“Generation X has come to mean more than just a specific group of post-boomers, more even than a marketing demographic—people who will go see Last Days one evening and drop $5 on a pumpkin-spice latte the next morning. It has also come to serve as a marketing model, in this post–Reality Bites world, for how all young Americans should live out their 20’s. Now we are all Generation X.”