Category: issues

“Although that kind of big-bucks salary may come as a surprise to many donors who expect that a large chunk of the money they are giving goes toward programs and services, higher salaries in the not-for-profit world are becoming less the exception and more the rule.”

“This summer, the United States Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, once again made its presence felt on the cultural scene by sponsoring a photo exhibition, an experimental jazz performance, a classical music concert and a visit from the Whiffenpoofs, Yale University’s a cappella singers. Americans have been teaching hip-hop in Indonesia, Malaysia and Jordan. Chinese and American filmmakers are getting together to talk shop. Videography is coming to Belarus. And all of it is thanks to Uncle Sam.”

In Alberta, “Tory leadership candidate Jim Dinning says he’ll double provincial arts funding and bolster Alberta’s film industry with an infusion of cash if he becomes the new premier.”

San Antonio is devoting more money to the arts than at any time in recent years, but “the people in charge of the money are complaining about a confusing process that might not be fair to everyone… Board members questioned the fairness of a scoring method that was supposed to weigh the merits of each group. They also asked whether it was appropriate to give large grants to organizations that hadn’t received funding in the past, while at the same time less money was being given to groups with proven track records.”

So American higher education needs reform? “What have we learned from our experience in K-12 education reform that would help us in evaluating the Spellings Commission report? That history warns against putting too much emphasis on the economic context of higher education. It also shows that quick, ‘top-down’ fixes for reforming education at any level are unlikely to work.”

“The mass exit from Arts Council England seems almost indecently hasty. Gone, in one lemming leap, are the heads of theatre, dance, literature and visual arts – four of the five art forms funded by the council – along with executive director Kim Evans, development director Pauline Tambling and the officials in charge of touring, combined arts and public affairs.”

“A New York jury convicted a Texas college professor on Tuesday of criminal possession of items that were owned by the late classical pianist Glenn Gould and were stolen from Canada’s national library… Jurors, some of whom said the verdict was a compromise after 12 hours of deliberations over two days, acquitted Ms. Moore of stealing the items from the Canadian Library and Archives in Ottawa, as prosecutors said she had.”

Arts and culture generated $1.4 billion for the Denver metro area in 2005, according to a new study. That’s the largest economic impact ever measured for the region. The study also says that 14.1 million people in the area attended some sort of cultural event (not bad for a metro of fewer than 2.5 million residents.)

Jonathan Mills has inherited a £1m debt with the Edinburgh Festival, of which he’s just taken charge. “It is a huge debt on one level. But is there not going to be an Edinburgh festival because of this debt? No. I am not foolhardy or reckless, but if I was serious about being the festival director, then the debt didn’t arise as an issue. The government has on occasion shut down hospitals and schools. But not festivals.”

The Museum of Modern Art “raised $239.2 million in its 2005 fiscal year ended June 30, a 106.5 percent increase over the previous year, according to a Chronicle of Philanthropy survey of the top 400 recipients of donations scheduled to be published today on its Web site. That year, the museum received its largest gift ever, $100 million in cash, from philanthropist David Rockefeller. The Metropolitan Opera Association led performing-arts centers with $93.4 million, followed by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts at $51.1 million.”