Category: issues

With other UK cities planning big new summer festivals, the 11 Edinburgh festivals have formed a new association to better represent themselves. “The new Association of Edinburgh’s Festivals will act as a unified voice and lobbying group at a time when Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle are preparing for major arts events of their own.”

The Irish Arts Council has warned that it needs more money this year to fund its obligations, and if it doesn’t get it “arts centres around the country may be forced to close and theatres could go “dark” if the Government does not provide €68m to fund the arts sector next year.

Traditionally, the state of Illinois has distributed some of its income from Off Track Betting operations to cultural institutions. But in closing a state budget deficit, the money was taken off the table. “The lack of OTB grants this year will mean a combined $1.1 million loss for Chicago attractions that include the Art Institute of Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History, Museum of Science and Industry, Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium, attractions that officials say pump an estimated $500 million into the economy every year.”

Which of the UK’s National Lottery projects has made the biggest impact on the public? “In a rare examination of public views on how lottery money should be spent, the £43.5m national cycle network – said to have saved 38m car journeys – was picked as the project which had made the biggest overall impact on UK life during the first decade of lottery funding. It beat Tate Modern and the Eden Project, the Cornish greenhouse complex, for its section of the national lottery day’s “helping hand” awards.”

The city of Manchester is launching a new summer festival to rival the Edinburgh Festival. “The new endeavour will take over the city for three weeks of July every other year, starting in 2007. The festival will have a budget of £5m – compared with Edinburgh’s £7.2m – and its artistic director is to be Alex Poots, currently head of contemporary arts at English National Opera.”

A Georgia school board is being sued by a group of parents who believe stickers afixed to textbooks by the school district “push the teaching of creationism and discriminate against non-Christians and followers of a number of other religions.The stickers read: ‘This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered’.”

Just what so arts institutions spend their money on? You might think it was musicians’ or actors’ salaries. But most of the costs of running the modern arts enterprise are behind-the-scenes costs. Take Detroit arts groups, for example…

How are artists feeling about last week’s re-election of George Bush? The San Francisco Chronicle asked several…

“In 1915, Cleveland’s city fathers had the foresight to recognize that if Cleveland was to become a major business center, its citizens would require a first-rate cultural environment. In that year, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Play House were established. At this critical juncture in Cleveland’s history, we desperately need arts, corporate and civic leaders to come forward and demonstrate the same understanding. The arts are one of Cleveland’s great success stories. But even a newcomer such as myself knows it is one of America’s best-kept secrets.”

The UK has banned two reggae artists from perfoming and is investigating the lyrics of 8 others for their homophobic lyrics. “Reported homophobic assaults have risen 10 per cent in the past year and racially motivated attack and abuse, up elevenfold, reflect a wider picture.” But will banning singers really make gays safer? Hmnnn…