Category: issues

London’s Barbican Center has had its best year at the box office in a decade. “‘Turnover for 2005 was up 10.25% on the previous year, with box office takings nearly hitting £11 million by the end of December. The centre also enjoyed its most successful Christmas period since 1995.”

Why aren’t Canadian politicians talking about culture in the current federal election? “Compared to other countries, Canada has failed miserably at supporting its artists. “England’s national arts council funds in the amount of $24.36 per capita. Ireland is at $17.91 and Norway is at $10.97. Currently, the Canada Council receives $4.73 per Canadian.”

The UK’s Heritage Lottery Fund, the cash spigot that has financed many cultural projects, is going to see a big drop in its funding ability. The HLF “will award £330 million in the current financial year, but this will fall to £200 million in 2008, down nearly 40%. There are three reasons for the anticipated drop”, including funding for Olympics projects and an accounting change.

Welsh arts minister Alun Pugh defends his decision to take the country’s six major cultural organisations under government control and not to reappoint Arts Council Wales’ chairman. “The reality is I want to see public money invested in the arts reaching all communities. There is a need to reform for the future in order to ensure that we continue as a nation to develop excellent arts, with access for all.”

New plans for a major overhaul of Scottish arts support is expected to be announced this week. “The minister is expected to announce her intention to impose a statutory duty on local authorities to provide arts and culture. This would take the form of a “cultural right” for every individual in the country to have arts provided in their area. It is not clear how this would work but it does raise the interesting possibility of a council being taken to court by an individual who felt the local authority was not providing enough culture. One way in which the scheme could work practically would be with the use of “culture vouchers” for schoolchildren.”

“Among those making the 2006 list are the first building that will rise at the site of the former World Trade Center complex, a musical stage version of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and a skywalk that will allow tourists to walk out over the Grand Canyon.

A New Orleans commission says that rebuilding the city ought to start with rebuilding its culture. “After the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina in late August, “no one doubts that the first order of business for New Orleans is to rebuild the levees and address the enormous need for shelter,” the report says. “But it is New Orleans culture, our musical, visual, culinary, architectural, literary and graphic arts, that has always drawn people to visit, to live in, and to invest in our city. And it is our culture that will bring back the city that we love.”

“Government funding for the arts in Scotland will be increased, it will be announced this week, although the figure looks set to fall significantly short of the extra £100m recommended by the Cultural Commission… Although negotiations are continuing this weekend, it now seems certain that the Scottish Arts Council will be stripped of responsibility for the national companies – Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, the National Theatre of Scotland, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Royal Scottish National Orchestra – and merged with Scottish Screen… In future, the five national companies will be funded directly from the Scottish Executive, although sources say they will be protected from any direct influence from civil servants.”

Not so very long ago, Miami was a cultural wasteland, a city of beach bums and water skiiers with little to no artistic presence. Today, Miami and its sprawling South Florida surroundings are fast becoming one of America’s most intriguing arts centers. Why the change? One organization that had a lot to do with it is the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this month.

Two struggling Pittsburgh film organizations are merging operations in order to streamline operations and retire debt. “In August 2004, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts had a debt of more than $1 million, and the center’s board closed the facility and laid off 13 staff members. A month later, Pittsburgh Filmmakers agreed to lend its executive director, Charlie Humphrey, to the center, and he has divided his time between the organizations since then… The two organizations will merge their budgets as of July 1, with a combined preliminary budget of $3.4 million.”