Category: issues

Conductor/pianist Daniel Barenboim is well-known for his sometimes controversial efforts to bring Israelis and Arabs together under the banner of art. In the wake of the ongoing violence in Northern Israel and Southern Lebanon, Barenboim’s “Peace Orchestra” is experiencing the same tensions and anger that are exploding across the region. But according to those in the ensemble, whatever tensions exist can always be channeled into the performance, and some observers even say that the orchestra sounds better than it ever has as a result of the emotionally charged backdrop of current events.

This summer, Toronto hosted the 16th International AIDS Conference, and the city’s artists took the issue to heart. “Artists have every reason to want to respond to AIDS since the arts community has proven to be more likely than most to lose members due to the consequences of the disease,” and AIDS-related art is now on view throughout Canada’s largest city.

Madison, Wisconsin’s acclaimed new Overture Center for the Performing Arts has announced the roster of finalists for the job of executive director. The finalists include the center’s acting director, an operations manager with the Chicago Symphony, and an arts center manager from Ohio. The center’s previous director was forced to retire last year following allegations of sexual harassment.

“Is it OK to walk out of a show? Finally I did it: at an interval, mind – not while stuff was actually happening on stage. I felt very, very bad. Very bad indeed. I think it’s incredibly bad form not to stay the course. But, I admit, I also felt lightheaded, joyful, and ready to reclaim the evening that had been in such serious danger of being becoming incredibly depressing.”

“Among teens ages 12 to 17 who were polled, 69% said they believed it was legal to copy a CD from a friend who purchased the original. By comparison, only 21% said it was legal to copy a CD if a friend got the music free. Similarly, 58% thought it was legal to copy a friend’s purchased DVD or videotape, but only 19% thought copying was legal if the movie wasn’t purchased. Those figures are a big problem for the Recording Industry Assn. of America and the Motion Picture Assn. of America, both of which have spent millions of dollars to deter copying of any kind. The music industry now considers “schoolyard” piracy — copies of physical discs given to friends and classmates — a greater threat than illegal peer-to-peer downloading, according to the RIAA.”

The US Congress has been increasingly funding research projects in colleges through earmarks – special funding inserted by legislators. But some scientistsare “concerned that, in a time of flat funding for research, earmarks drain the pool even more, forcing institutions to spend big in order to gain big. Earmarking can “set up these incentives in which universities feel they have to lobby for earmarks to get a shot at having research funds.”

Having grown accustomed to the county government providing their performance and rehearsal spaces, some arts groups in Arlington County, Virginia, are suddenly seeing the downside of a successful public program: uncertainty about where they’ll be in the near future. “Under the umbrella of its Arts Incubator, the county is working with 55 arts groups and nine arts spaces (compared with 10 groups in 1990). As the program has grown, so has competition for new locations. Theater groups are feeling the squeeze because the county can’t accommodate them all. And the real estate boom has sent rents for other spaces out of reach for many who might rent commercial venues.”

“Ever since a botched attempt to develop a comprehensive plan for New Orleans fell apart last winter, city and state officials have been straining to avoid the sticky racial and social questions that are central to any effort to rebuild and recover after Hurricane Katrina. Their solution, hammered out in July, was to turn the planning process over to a local charity, the Greater New Orleans Foundation.”

Getty Trust chairman John Biggs is leaving after scandals involving the leadership of the institution. “A Times review of internal Getty records, along with interviews with current and former trustees and staff, shows that at crucial junctures, Biggs contributed to the controversies the board is now taking credit for fixing.”

“In what amounts to a cultural building boom, more than 60 arts institutions spread across the five boroughs — from smaller community organizations like MoCada to citadels of culture like the Morgan Library — are all undergoing or have recently completed architectural renovations or new construction. Fifty-two of the projects, representing an aggregate cost of $2.8 billion.” But can the city sustain all this expansion?