Category: issues

Canada has a long history of government support for the arts. But “over the past 20 years, as activity in the arts has grown, federal funding has remained fairly stable. The result has been that the proportion of federal funding in the revenues of Canadian arts organizations has dropped by half.” It’s an uncomfortable situation – can you ever really have too much art, and even if you can, how do you decide who is worthy of support and who isn’t? Governments don’t generally like to be in the business of making value judgments, but without a serious increase in arts funding, many fear that Canada will soon have no other choice.

A 72-year-old Chicago man who designed, planted, and maintained a massive wildflower garden on the city’s North Side, is suing the city for destroying his creation to make way for the increased foot traffic to the new Millenium Park. The lawsuit contends that the wildflowers were not merely a garden, but a work of art, and as such, they should have been protected under the Visual Artists Rights Act, a federal law prohibiting “‘intentional distortion, mutilation, or other modification’ of public artwork without permission of the creator.”

A new lobbying group has been formed to argue for copyright laws that are fairer to consumers. “IPac pledges to support candidates and elected officials who fight for a balance in copyright law: The group will support those who advocate for laws that will pay creators without limiting political expression, innovation or research and education, and back laws that foster new creativity. The group says it believes that intellectual property laws should be clear so technologists can innovate without being sued.”

A controversial parchment map might rewrite the historical record of who “discovered” America. “The map, which is said to date from 1434 and was found in 1957, is believed by some to be evidence that Vikings who departed from Greenland around the year 1000 were the first to discover America.”

A new portrait of philanthropic giving to the arts in Canada points to some big challenges. “Less than 2% of the population make financial donations to the arts sector. The average donor is described as being over 45 (57% of donors), university-educated (38%), and with a household income exceeding $50,000 (71%). Nonetheless, while the value of donations is increasing – 22% from 1997 to 2000 – the number of donors has actually decreased, a worrying trend for the future.”

Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet are on the hook to pay for a shortfall in funding for their new home. The companies agreed two years ago that the city might finance the shortfall with their rent. Now the bill is due, and both the opera and ballet companies say paying would be a big hardship.

Chicago is a city of the arts. But what does the arts community look like? A new survey takes the measure of what the arts in Chicago look like.

Waves of protest have greeted the New York Times’ decision this fall to discontinue the comprehensive Sunday arts event listings that had been featured for decades. The Times’ public editor takes up the case: “Editors reacted to the petition, I soon learned, the way editors almost always react when readers rise against a long-planned, well-intended innovation: a little dumbfounded, a little defensive, a little dismissive…”

The £106 million Wales Millenium Centre in Cardiff may be the most maligned new performing arts center ever to receive public funding, but on its opening weekend, organizers were giddy with excitement, and promised that the center, which has been derisively referred to a “beached whale” and a “sea slug”, will finally fulfill the dream of a uniquely Welsh performance venue.

The blistering audit of New York’s Saratoga Performing Arts Center that was released this week offered stunning revelations of mismanagement and near-criminal conduct by those in charge of the popular summer venue. Still, SPAC cannot be allowed to wither further on the vine, says its hometown newspaper: “The public trust has been understandably shaken. But to turn away from SPAC would be a grave mistake. SPAC is too wonderful a venue and too valuable to the community.”