Category: issues

What we need? A terrorism alert system for the arts, write Dominic Papatola. It could be administered by the NEA, he imagines: “At a press conference Friday in Washington, Gioia unveiled a Moron Alert System, under which all concerts, plays and recitals would be color-coded to identify what the chairman referred to as ‘heightened and specific’ threats to the integrity of a given performance.”

In Toronto, like in many cities, artists communicate with other artists in their own fields, but seldom interact with artists in other artforms. A couple of Toronto art entrepreneurs have begun a program to mix things up. “But it’s almost anti-art world, anti-industry. I don’t like to use the term, because it sounds negative, but we look outside of what’s already established and allow other people access that they would otherwise not have, due to a lack of connections. A lot of these artists would have no idea where to start, getting themselves out there, promoting themselves. And that’s where we come in.”

Seattle contemporary performance presenter On the Boards signs up audience members to blog reviews of its performances. Powered by ArtsJournal, the blogs stimulate interaction with OtB’s audience. Sure there have been negative reviews mixed in with the good, but OtB figured that “we want to offer a place for our audience to exchange ideas, and that’s what it’s turning out to be.”

Broadway’s Bombay Dreams is only the latest piece of Indian culture to hit New York. “Jazz musicians have been absorbing ideas and collaborating with Indian musicians at least since the 1960’s. Hip-hop has latched on to Indian rhythms. In New York’s clubs, the sounds of Bollywood and other South Asian fusions have been drawing crowds for years: some to dance, some to listen, some to mingle and network.”

“The Federal Election Commission is examining whether to classify 501(c)(3) organizations, a category covering arts groups, as “political committees.” “Calling nonprofits ‘political committees’ would require them “to register and report on activities that are currently legal but require no registration or reporting.”

Americans for the Arts is suing the bank that managed the $100 million bequest from Ruth Lilly. “The lawsuit alleges that the bank, rather than selling the stock after the creation of the trusts in January 2002, held on to it during a time when the share price declined from $75 to $47. The result, he said, lowered the overall value of the gift by some $25 million.”

Why is the Austraian government of Victoria spending most of its money on culture on building buildings? “Each year, arts and cultural buildings and the bureaucracy required to manage them, suck more and more out of the arts budget. This is not to say that we should tear down these buildings, but there must be more provision in the budget for artists to make the work that complements them; some balance between the desire for infrastructure and a genuine attempt to support the industry for which these buildings are created.”

Culture has become an issue in the Canadian federal election. The parties have staked out their positions. “In this election, culture is about owning our own airwaves, being able to tell our own stories and the ability of performers to make a living in our country. These are the issues we put to the five major political parties.”

Ever since the Freedom Center was announced as one of the cultural tenants of Ground Zero, observers have been asking exactly what the center is. So far, we’ve been told mainly what it isn’t: “It will not be a palace of pro-American propaganda… or a place for sentimentally commemorating victims of the Sept. 11 terrorists.” But the center’s organizing principal – “looking at different parts of the world transitioning from tyranny to freedom” – sounds an awful lot like American flag-waving, and the center’s developer is a longtime friend of President Bush.

Unhappy Miami-Dade County officials are grilling project managers for the county’s new performing arts center, currently under construction and $67 million over budget and 20 months behind schedule. “It’s a money pit. The report says total costs still aren’t capped. I guarantee they’re going to be back for more money. It’s a 900-pound gorilla, and we’ve got to rein it in.”