Category: issues

Many of Toledo’s arts groups are banding together in an effort to devlop a joint ticketing service which would save them all money on their individual box office costs, and make it easier for patrons to plan their nights out. “The idea was generated at a series of town-hall meetings about the arts in 2002 and 2003. The strategic plan that grew out of those meetings recommended more collaboration and a calendar of events. An on-line calendar – www.toledoarts.org – has been established.”

More than 700 artists have signed a letter of support for Sikh playwright Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, who has gone into hiding after her play was threatened with violent demonstrations. “Actors, writers, directors and others – ranging from Prunella Scales to Tariq Ali, via Terry Jones and the poet laureate, Andrew Motion – have signed the statement, published today in the Guardian.”

UK community and arts leaders are brokering a public summit to talk about free speech issues after a play was shut down in Birmingham. “Two official bodies – the Commission for Racial Equality and Arts Council England, will jointly broker the discussions, which aim to quell future clashes between religious believers and artists. The debate over the drama – which depicts rape and murder in a Sikh temple – has provoked warnings that “mob rule” will intimidate artists into self-censorship, while religious groups have warned that freedom of speech is being abused as a licence for gratuitous offence.”

Cleveland arts groups have experienced a significant downturn in business, selling fewer tickets. “Some blame temporary causes, like the continuing bad economy. Other short-term explanations include lingering worries about terrorism and the war in Iraq, and distraction during and disappointment (in some quarters) with the presidential election. Others suggest paradigm shifts to which the performing arts may be hard-pressed to adapt.”

The Irish Arts Council is getting a 16 percent increase in funding. “Some €61 million in funding has been allocated to the body for 2005. The council said the 16 per cent increase will be passed on directly to artists and arts organisations. The largest increases were for the film and traditional arts sectors, which received increases of 22 per cent and 18 per cent respectively.”

The idea that people will buy all their music, movies and books online is just wrong. Look at how savvy bookstores, record stores and video rental companies are changing the customer experience. “It’s the customer – that would be you – who designs the shopping experience now. The notion that all books and discs will soon be bought online, or that independent stores must be crushed between e-tailers and chains, ignores how inseparable ‘shopping’ is from ‘lifestyle’.”

Why were British artists so upset at the arts funding freeze announced last week? Because for the past few years, for the first time in a long time, arts funding had become significant. “Across the country, thousands of artists and thousands of projects have been properly funded for the first time in living memory. For the first time in our professional lives there has been money for experiment, money for growth, money for creative investment. A revolution occurred in Sheffield, where Michael Grandage turned the new money into world-class theatre. At Tate Modern and the National Theatre, visionary leadership has been rewarded with substantial investment and the results are palpable success. Give the RSC a couple of years and it will join them. There is no doubt that this investment was creating a cultural golden age in Britain.”

Canada’s heritage minister is under attack for announcing $191 million in next year’s arts funding instead of waiting until the government’s general budget is presented to parliament. “The minister said she had to take the step to ensure arts and culture projects wouldn’t be interrupted next year.”

So the UK is holdings its arts budget steady for a couple of years. And the US is increasing its arts spending. Woo hoo US! Except when you see how far behind in spending on the arts the US, the situation is pretty bleak. “Divide by population, and it comes out that, in England, the government spends a little less than $16 for every man, woman and child on the arts. In the United States, per-capita federal spending on the arts works out to a measly 54 cents.”

The Canadian government’s renewal of the arts funding program known as Tomorrow Starts Today, which had cultural organizations across the country breathing a sigh of relief, was far from a foregone conclusion. Arts advocates had spent months lobbying new Heritage Minister Liza Frulla to insure that the program, which was launched in 2001, would not fall victim to the budget knife. Now, with funding secured through mid-2006, Frulla is predicting that she may have more good news for the arts when the new national budget is released early next year.