Category: issues

Tourist attractions targeted at ethnic minorities have become an important factor in the cultural health of many urban centers, especially in those with large immigrant populations. But in San Jose, the center of Silicon Valley, “there is nothing to alert… visitors that they’re in the childhood home of Cesar Chavez, the epicenter of a worldwide protest by black Olympic athletes, or a place with one of the nation’s highest concentrations of Vietnamese-Americans.” Instead, all efforts seem to be focused on drawing attention to the area’s famously tech-heavy economy.

“In John Howard’s Australia, libraries, museums, theatres and orchestras are on the same list as ports and roads and hospitals – traditional institutions, and necessary parts of the civic fabric. To understand what’s happened under Howard to the arts in general and theatre in particular – the odd mix of generosity and meanness, celebration and indifference, abuse and support – it’s best to keep in mind the lessons learnt in the kafuffle over the orchestras: that the bedrock arts policy of the Howard Government is not support for the arts – it’s support for arts institutions. Big, traditional institutions. And in the way we understand these things in Australia – let’s not talk of what’s possible in Europe – the big traditional arts companies are flourishing under John Howard as never before.”

Toronto has gone on a tear of arts building in recent years. “After they have congratulated themselves on the arts building boom, Torontonians should start to wonder about who’s going to pay the price in the years ahead. Most of us would rather forget it, but the truth is that Canadian arts institutions are seriously underfunded and have been for at least 10 or 15 years.”

A survey of business leaders in California’s Silicon Valley reports that they believe their ability to “recruit creative talent is dropping compared with other global centers of technology. They cited the lack of an energetic urban core and insufficient leisure and cultural activities as among key reasons.”

Juilliard president Joseph Polisi is celebrating the school’s 100th anniversary. “With the future of art at stake, Polisi says Juilliard’s mission is no longer just to teach talented young people to sing, act, play instruments or dance. ‘In my view they’re responsible for more than getting the notes right or the words right or the steps right. They have to be missionaries for the arts. I can’t find a significant national politician who really will take a major stand for the arts because there’s not much political capital in it and in fact there may be some downside.”

New York Governor George Pataki’s decision to bar the International Freedom Center’s proposed museum from Ground Zero apparently didn’t sit well with members of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, who yesterday issued an extraordinary rebuke of the governor. “The board cannot do much beyond complain, since the Freedom Center declared itself to be out of business almost immediately after Governor Pataki removed the museum from the cultural building last week. Yet their complaints amounted to remarkable political theater in a process where intramural disagreements are usually kept well hidden. The board members’ willingness to speak openly about their frustration almost certainly reflects a high degree of discouragement and even anger.”

“A majority of regional leaders believe Silicon Valley is losing ground in its ability to attract a creative workforce, in part because of an inadequate cultural environment, according to a new survey. Fifty-eight percent of Silicon Valley leaders who participated in the survey — called the Creative Community Index — said their ability to recruit creative talent is dropping compared with other global centers of technology. They cited the lack of an energetic urban core and insufficient leisure and cultural activities as among key reasons… The perceived lack of cultural opportunities, however, apparently doesn’t mean a lack of interest on the part of the public.”

One hundred Republican members of Congress recommend ending funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and PBS. Says the report: “In 2001, America spent $27 billion on nonprofit arts funding: $11.5 billion from the private sector; $14 billion in earned income (tickets sales, etc.); and $1.3 billion in combined federal, state, and local public support (of which $105 million was from the NEA — 0.39% of total nonprofit arts funding),” the report states. “The funding could easily be funded by private donations. Savings: $1.8 billion over ten years ($678 million over five years).”

US News & World Report is cutting staff, including culture editor Sarah Sklaroff. “The culture department is being eliminated.”

Canada is pushing for a vote at UNESCO on a convention on cultural diversity. “It is intended to allow sovereign countries to protect, promote or subsidize their cultural productions despite rulings by international trade tribunals. The convention, which has been endorsed by 53 of 58 members of the United Nations cultural organization’s executive, has been strongly opposed by the United States. The U.S., which has consistently fought guarantees for films that might put restrictions on Hollywood, as well as subsidies for film production and magazines, has argued that UNESCO does not have the authority to enact the convention, and that it would interfere with the free flow of ideas.”