Category: issues

A Colorado teacher is on the verge of being fired because she showed her class of elementary schoolchildren a few minutes of the opera, Faust. “Some parents said their children were traumatized by the appearance of a leering devil in the video as well as such objectionable elements as a man appearing to be killed by a sword in silhouette and an allusion to suicide.” The teacher has been on paid leave since late January, and says she intends to sue the school district if she is dismissed.

A new report from a San Francisco arts task force is suggesting that the city completely rethink the way it funds culture within its borders, and find ways of linking the arts to everyday life through neighborhood connections. “There’s also a clear undercurrent in the report: The city’s most vibrant, community-based arts organizations don’t get their fair share of the money, which goes to big, flashy operations like the symphony and opera. The entire plan has the feeling of a manifesto for more democratic oversight of arts money and more grassroots participation in the funding process. That, of course, flies in the face not only of city policy but also of arts-funding policy in general.”

Salt Lake City is at a crossroads as it prepares to make a decision on whether the city should fund a new downtown cultural district, which would involve building two new theatres in the hope of drawing more people (and their money) into the urban core. A consultant’s report confirmed what some supporters of the plan believe, that a cultural district could generate between $12 and $22 million annually in ticket sales alone. However, the same report states flatly that far from being a money-maker, the district would be unlikely ever to turn a profit, and would probably require constant subsidy to stay afloat.

The Scottish government has rejected calls for it to do more to fund the Edinburgh International Festival, despite strong support for the idea from the government’s own Cultural Commission. Supporters of greater government funding point out that the festival is perennially underfunded (it’s had to be bailed out by the Edinburgh Council at the last moment several times,) but because the event is stationary in Edinburgh, the government doesn’t consider it a national company, and won’t get involved.

“Already under investigation for questionable executive spending, the J. Paul Getty Trust recently purchased a $3.5-million official residence for its new museum director’s use only to find that the house was contaminated with mold and uninhabitable… The Getty then made an offer on a $5.5-million house near Santa Monica. Spokesman Ron Hartwig said the trust pulled out of the deal Tuesday after inspectors found structural problems with the roof. Meanwhile, the Getty is paying $15,000 a month to rent [the director] a Holmby Hills home with five bathrooms and a swimming pool on a two-acre lot.” The

“The answer to Australia’s cultural crisis under Howard, according to the artists and their academic handbags, is more money. Our money, of course, in the form of taxpayer-funded subsidies to the arts. But those calling for more money had better be careful what they wish for. By all means let’s start a debate on this issue, but that means, as a starting point, following where the money has gone over the past few years. And it’s not a pretty picture…”

Last month then-Getty president Barry Munitz rewarded his assistant with a huge severance award. “Munitz promised Jill Murphy severance worth twice her annual salary at a time when he was under investigation by both the state attorney general and the Getty board, and despite a clear warning from the board that he should seek prior approval for any controversial moves, several trustees said. By acting ‘unilaterally’ to benefit a staff member who had come to symbolize his divisive administration, Munitz turned trustee sentiment against him as they were weighing his future at the Getty.”

Okay, maybe not quite. But a new study says the desolate arctic island has more artists per capita than anywhere else in Canada. “Using data from the 2001 census, Hill Strategies Research Inc. discovered that of a total working population of 485 individuals in Cape Dorset, 110, or 22.7 per cent, were working as artists. That’s almost 30 times the national average of 0.8 per cent and more than double the country’s second-most-artistic municipality, British Columbia’s Squamish-Lillooet, between Vancouver and Whistler.”

“Six months after it closed on the point of collapse, reconstruction work has begun on the Bolshoi Theatre. Moscow’s famous opera and ballet venue is undergoing a $500m (£290m) makeover, due to be completed by spring 2008.”

“More than 10 years after PAC leaders acknowledged the crucial need for nearby parking garages, the center — which will hold 4,820 people if sold out — will open this fall with such facilities three to five years away. Maybe more. And instead of profiting from parking fees — the Los Angeles Music Center takes in $2.5 million a year from its garages — the Miami PAC could have to pay millions to upgrade the surface lots for temporary parking.”