Category: issues

Many cities in Michigan have been “building economic development strategies based on the strengths of vibrant cultural activities.” But Detroit has decided to close the Department of Arts, Culture and Tourism in an attempt to reduce the city’s $300-million budget shortfall. “We all understand that Detroit’s policymakers have more demands than they have dollars, but arts and culture pays for itself many times over. And if a stronger economy is the destination we seek, arts and culture in Detroit is one of the best ways to get there.”

Professor Lawrence Lessig says he thinks so: “If you think of the 20th Century as this period of professionalising creativity – you’ve got the film and recording industries which become the professional creators, separating and stifling in many ways the popular culture. I do not think you are going to see the elimination of the professional creators but you are going to see it complemented by a much wider range of amateur culture in the original sense of the word amateur – in that people do it purely for the love of creating.”

“The Rise of the Creative Class gave hope to many in Massachusetts, which boasts the best-educated workforce in the nation and is on its way to becoming one of the most diverse and gay-friendly states in the country. But Florida’s new book, ‘The Flight of the Creative Class’ (HarperBusiness), is more likely to cause night sweats. It tells us that, in part because of new attitudes toward immigration since 9/11, we’re in danger of falling behind not only Austin but also Australia, and raises the possibility that, after a century or two of sending many of its hardest-working natives to Boston, Dublin may finally get its revenge.”

Disneyland turns 50 this year. “From the start, there would be no denying the world’s infatuation with Disneyland, a rite of passage for millions of vacationing families. In the 50 years since Walt Disney leveled Anaheim orange groves, the park has left an oversized imprint on American culture, influencing family entertainment, shopping malls, corporate branding and more. Indeed, no one has masterminded — and capitalized on — fantasy and illusion like the Walt Disney Co., a $30-billion entertainment powerhouse that has transformed theme park rides into top-grossing movies and a hockey flick into a sports franchise.”

Have we become too protective introducing children to difficult art? “I do worry about exposing children to literature, films and theatre before they are ready – and I am particularly jumpy about violent films. But how do you decide when a child is ‘ready’ for a film? It is fascinatingly ambiguous. The extraordinary thing is that works of art – especially books – change according to age. A book read at 18, reread at 48, may seem entirely different. Age is part of what we bring to a work of art.”

Australian artists have hit back at critic Norman Lebrecht’s recent story wondering why so many Australians have gained power running London arts organizations. “It seems just a little bit rich to assume that we are some secret cabal trying to take over the world and run down the quality of British arts.”

“In the straight theatre, the interval norm has long been 15 minutes, giving those quick off the mark just enough time to swallow a warm, over-priced gin and tonic before nipping to the loo. (My own preference is a brisk walk round the block.) Recently, the National Theatre has extended the standard to 20 minutes, and, given the number of slower, older people in today’s audiences, perhaps that is the optimum. However, the more puritanical breeds of theatre director don’t like reality impinging on their creations at all.”

The city of New York’s biggest arts supporter? Gotta be Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “In each of his first two years in office, the gift was $10 million; his largesse for 2004 increased by 50%, to $15 million. This year — with his re-election efforts about to kick into high gear — Bloomberg’s gift, announced July 5, rose to $20 million, meaning that a total of 406 grants will be awarded, a substantial increase from last year’s 302. With his latest gift, Bloomberg has now donated $55 million in four years to the Carnegie Corporation, nearly matching the $70 million he spent on his first mayoral campaign.”

A California legislator recently introduced a bill which would have allowed all the money collected by special license plates touting the state’s rich arts community to go to the arts. But under California law, state environmental agencies get a cut of all vanity plate revenue, and proponents of that system saw the arts plate, which would have been an exception to the rule, as a threat. The bill was killed off last week in committee, leaving California’s state arts board last in the nation in per capita arts spending.

A planned performing arts center for Richmond, Virgina is being criticized after significant changes were made in the project…