Category: issues

There was a time, not too long ago, when any building more than a few decades old was likely to be sneered at as a dinosaur. More than a few architectural gems fell prey to a hasty wrecking ball, and many cities around the world are worse off for the loss of culturally significant buildings which were momentarily considered eyesores. But now, the pendulum may have swung too far the other way in Britain, with the heritage movement becoming so powerful that any criticism of old buildings is considered heresy. Patrick Wright would like to see some sort of balance, some acknowledgement that there are still a few old dinosaurs out there that simply aren’t worth saving.

This week, the National Building Museum in Washington will confer a major award for urban design on… the National Football League. Seriously. A collection of billionaires, who specialize in extorting money from cash-strapped cities which they then use to erect concrete bowls full of seats that no one but the economic elite can afford to rent for a few hours, is receiving an award for responsible and forward-thinking urban planning. And did we mention that many of these stadia are not in urban areas at all, but in suburban sprawlville? And did you see that tacky monstrosity of a kickoff show they mounted on the National Mall a couple of weeks back? Linda Hales did, and she’s not pleased with the NBM’s decision.

Any native Bostonian can tell you that the South End is not exactly the glamorous section of town. But a newly revitalized neighborhood in Southie, long populated by local artists and recently discovered by gallery owners, is proving once again that art can change the image and culture of even the most run-down areas. “The gallery boomlet has occurred despite the sputtering economy of the last two years, thanks to the housing market, which has been white hot in the neighborhood, drawing artists and people who want to put art on their new walls.”

Flaws in Miami’s new $265 million Performing Arts Center, currently under construction, could “compromise its crucial sound quality, delay its opening and drive up its cost by up to $50 million, officials overseeing its construction and management charged Tuesday. These are issues affecting what the building looks like, what it sounds like, what it feels like.”

Canadian symphony orchestras have had a few difficult financial years. But “theatre, music, dance and opera entered the new millennium with a healthy financial surplus, thanks to record revenues of $543.7 million,” according to new government figures.

The General Accounting Office criticizes the Kennedy Center for inadequate management of its construction projects. “The report, which focused on the center’s construction of new parking and exterior areas, said what originally appeared to be a $28 million job wound up costing about $60 million more and created only about half as many new parking spaces as estimated. The GAO said the poor management raised questions about how officials will handle the massive additions planned for the center over the next 10 years.”

Robert Redford gives the annual Nancy Hanks Lecture at the Kennedy Center Tuesday night. Redford “the iconoclast, the Hollywood director who founded the Sundance Institute to raise new generations of filmmakers outside the corrupting influence of the studios and commerce, has the most sweetly arcane ideas about art and artists. He believes, for instance, that art is good for the soul, that it can keep kids off the streets, and that it can correct the ill drift of society. He knows Hollywood puts money before art, but is consoled by the fact that without art they can’t make money. He’s also impatient with efforts to silence artists, with the ridicule heaped upon those who express political views when they should know that such talk is better left to highly paid, professional, partisan political pundits.”

The “storied but troubled” 3,800-seat Chicago Theater has been the scene of many failed attempts to make it profitable. A new deal would transform the theatre into a “center for the performing arts active 200 nights a year.”

The number of artists in Canada has grown 30 percent in the past decade. “The Canada Council’s government funding has increased almost 70 per cent in the past seven years, reversing the effects of several years of deep cuts. More money, more grants; more grants, more art: Art lovers should rejoice at the news, shouldn’t they?”

The culture of the internet has been that most things are free. But the music industry lawsuits suggest those days are coming to an end. “These lawsuits certainly tell consumers that `free’ ultimately has a price. Originally, there was this perception that consumers would not pay for content — entertainment or information — over the Internet. But that perception is changing.”