Category: issues

Pennsylvania’s governor Ed Rendell has decided not to ask for cuts in his state’s arts spending. “Why, then, did Rendell stay committed to arts funding as he sought to make up a $2.4 billion shortfall? Arts supporters across Pennsylvania say it’s because he saw how Philadelphia arts initiatives benefited that city when he was mayor. Arts leaders also suggest the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts was spared because whittling its budget would not add much to the cuts Rendell needed to make. Its $14 million budget represents 0.07 percent of Pennsylvania’s general fund.”

Michigan’s governor proposes cutting state arts funding by 50 percent. “The steep cuts, which left $11.8 million for arts grants, are a particularly bitter pill for arts groups because the bleak economy has already forced corporations and foundations to slash their arts giving. In addition, arts institutions have seen investment income from endowments plummet along with the stock market.”

Calgary is a beautiful city, but these days, it is hardly thought of as an artistic and cultural beacon. In the last year, the city’s orchestra nearly folded, and the city council nearly refused to assist in its rescue. But a new proposal would see the Cowboy City adopt an official ‘arts policy’ which would commit Calgary to supporting, i real and substantive ways, its own cultural future. “If council approves the recommendation, it will develop a new civic arts policy by April 2004 that will include setting aside a portion of city infrastructure spending specifically for the arts.”

It is “one of the truisms of London cultural life: standing ovations are rarely seen in the theatres, opera houses or concert halls. Across the Atlantic, however, leaping to your feet is almost the norm. Could it be that national character informs the way that we applaud? Or does our reception of a performance have a direct bearing on our attitude to culture?”

Melbourne’s arts institutions are suffering from underfunding they say. “Critics of the Government have questioned its commitment to the arts, saying there is no obvious cultural policy and that it is operating in a policy vacuum.”

So you have that arts degree and feel you’re not earning what you should? Turns out the statistics are against you. Researchers have concluded that university graduates with arts degrees – including history, English and sociology – “should expect to make between 2% and 10% less than those who quit education at 18.”

In New Jersey, where Governor James McGreevey proposes to eliminate state arts funding, arts groups are trying to assess the impact of the cuts. What it would mean for mid-size arts groups: “reduced programming, possible layoffs, downgraded ambition, increased frustration. And the ripples could go beyond state grants. Private foundations and other arts supporters could pull back as they evaluate the financial stability of the arts organizations they have supported in the past.”

How did New Jersey (whose governor is proposing to cut state arts funding completely) distribute a $3 million supplemental fund for the arts this year? The state’s Secretary of State – with “bare-bones application forms and no written evaluation process” – unilaterally decided how it would be spent. Regena Thomas “conceded the applications were not measured against one another or ranked in any formal way. Rather, the winners – 33 out of 195 applicants – were chosen based on input from legislators and her own personal interests. All but $217,000 of the $3 million announced in January went to organizations located in Democratic districts.” A month after the grants were awarded, Governor McGreevey “called for the elimination of all cultural funding and the dismantling of the agencies that distribute that money.”

Bay Area arts groups are scaling back and cutting budgets and programs as they struggle to balance their budgets. “Call it the year of ‘rightsizing’ for arts groups, as many realize funding won’t rebound any time soon and they must scale back operating expenses in order to survive. “We’re pulling in tight. It’s as dark a chapter in the contemporary arts as I’ve lived in.”

Has “digital rights management” which allows copyright holders to control access to their work, gone too far, choking off innovation? And is public access to the airwaves something that should be open or should the broadcast band be tightly owned and managed? Two conferences in California last week chewed over increasingly complicated issues of control of ideas and innovation.