Category: issues

They may have given it up for pennies an acre back in 1803, but the French have always maintained a certain affection for Louisiana. “That attachment paid off for Louisiana, in money and relief supplies, after Hurricane Katrina, and on Friday it took a more symbolic turn in the form of a quick but apparently heartfelt visit to this stricken city by the French minister of culture, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres. The minister came to announce a series of cultural initiatives: a planned exhibition here with the help of the Louvre and other French museums, and benefit concerts across France. But since he was the highest-ranking foreigner to come to this city since the storm… his visit was just as much the reaffirmation of a link that has never quite disappeared.

Richmond (VA Mayor Douglas Wilder is considering buying the closed downtown Carpenter Center and reopen it as is as a home for city arts groups. “The concept, which involves an eminent-domain-style takeover of the 2,000-seat complex, immediately drew cautious responses from leaders of the Virginia Performing Arts Foundation, another arts organization and City Council.” The move is the latest in a complicated road to building a new performing arts center.

“At the moment, it seems to be the art world’s medium of choice. Admired for its purity and subversive spirit, it is ubiquitous in gallery and museum exhibitions, whether on its own or as an active ingredient in video, installation art, sound art and photography. And performance art – also known as performance – is often the ghost in the machine in even the most static of objects; there is hardly a work of art with a scratchable surface that can’t be assigned so-called performative aspects. The biennial has emerged – without corporate sponsorship or even a sponsoring institution – seemingly out of thin air, hard work and fortuitous timing.”

A San Antonio city councilman wants to rethink all the city’s grants to the arts. “I think there’s a lot of other things that the city ought to be concentrating on first, before we start looking at the arts.” Councilman Kevin Wolff said “the process for awarding arts grants is ‘flawed’ and ‘too politicized’.”

“Benefit concerts to help jazz musicians in New Orleans hit by Hurricane Katrina are to take place in France. Local musicians will also be sponsored to play club dates in Paris. An exhibition of loaned French works at the New Orleans Museum of Art is among the other cultural initiatives being lined up by officials to help the city.”

The two candidates in Detroit’s mayoral race freely admit that they don’t know a thing about the city’s arts scene, and both are hesitant to commit to any arts funding in the future. The sitting mayor killed off the Department of Culture, Arts, and Tourism last year as part of a plan to battle a massive budget deficit, and Detroit has plenty of civic problems that take priority over the arts. “Those in the arts and cultural communities, who are facing funding woes such as a $1.5-million cut to the Detroit Historical Museums and a $5-million cut to the Detroit Zoo, appreciated the candidates’ attention but remain skeptical.”

The stadium will be constructed on classical Greco-Roman lines and due to open in 2009. The Colosseum will rise to 148 feet (45 metres), with a dome measuring 394 feet (120 metres) across. It will be clad in translucent material that allows it to glow in the dark. The arena, by the Clyde in Glasgow, will seat 12,500, the same as London’s Wembley Arena. But unlike Wembley and other large arenas in the UK, the Colosseum will not be built around a sporting ‘key’. The design is solely dedicated to huge entertainment events such as concerts and theatrical performances.”

France is offering a cultural helping hand to New Orleans in trying to rebuild the city. “Among the projects expected to be announced is an exhibition of some 50 works of art lent by the Louvre to the New Orleans Museum of Art for an exhibition tentatively scheduled for late 2006 or early 2007.”

By most accounts St. Paul’s Randy Kelly has been a terrific mayor for the arts. “But artists, who generally lean to the left of center politically, are weighing that steadfast support against what many consider to be an unpardonable sin: The Democratic mayor endorsed Republican George W. Bush in the last presidential election. ‘I know he’s well-intentioned and a good guy, but that kind of collapse shows the lack of vision and strength that we need.”

“Do you understand a piece of music better if you know its secrets, or does illumination destroy mystery just as explaining a joke defuses its humor? Might audiences at classical music concerts be more receptive, not less, if they didn’t read program notes? Is there a reason why so many people who profess to believe in the Bible haven’t actually read it?”