Category: issues

A new exhibition at the Smithsonian in Washington DC shows how artists through the past 224 years depicted presidents of the United States. – New Jersey Online (AP) 12/26/00

Our cultural institutions have been pushed to attract ever greater audiences to justify their success. “It’s a difficult moment because, on some level, not-for-profits are being asked to be very entrepreneurial. At the same time, there’s a growing awareness that if this is pushed too far, then the issue of cultural and artistic integrity can be compromised.” – Los Angeles Times 12/24/00

“A global treaty to protect actors’ rights is on hold because of a disagreement over movie royalties.” – CBC 12/22/00

Manhattan’s landmark Rockefeller Center is being sold for $1.85 billion private investors. “For the first time since the family built the center 70 years ago, in the midst of the Depression, the Rockefellers will have no involvement with the 10 landmarked office buildings, Radio City Music Hall or the Rainbow Room.” – New York Times 12/22/00

For the first time, Norwegians now spend more of their incomes on culture than on food and alcohol-free drinks. In 1999 the average Norwegian family used 12.3 per cent of the family budget on culture and leisure activities. Norwegians still use the largest part of their budget on housing (culture is third). – Norway Post 12/21/00

When you’re a critic everyone loves to criticize you. One critic looks over the criticism that came his way this year. “The eminent critic and playwright Robert Brustein took me to task for reporting that his fashionably coiffed crony David Mamet was in a ‘slump’ because he had written an awful novel that couldn’t find a US publisher. (Good thing I didn’t know about the ‘poetry’ and the vanity CD.)” – Boston Globe 12/21/00

The Miami-Dade County Commission has approved a $255 million contract to build a performing arts center first proposed 21 years ago. The center is scheduled to open in 2004 and will be home to five resident companies – the Concert Association of Florida, the New World Symphony, the Florida Grand Opera, the Miami City Ballet and the Florida Philharmonic. – Miami Herald 12/20/00

Cultural observers are wondering how the arts will fare in a Dubya administration.  Yesterday at the National Press Club in Washington, Bill Ivey, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, unveiled a working paper for a “Cultural Bill of Rights”, a moral manifesto intended “to deepen our national conversation about the value of art and cultural heritage to our democracy.” – Washington Post 12/19/2000

• NEA Chairman Bill Ivey outlined a “cultural bill of rights” in a speech Monday and said Americans have reason to believe the Bush administration will be supportive of the arts. “He cited increased spending on the arts under the Bush’s governorship in Texas as a cause for optimism [and] noted the increase in the NEA budget to $105 million for this year, the first since 1992, came as a result of a bipartisan effort in Congress.” – New Jersey Online (AP) 12/18/00

As the intrigue of Berlin’s cultural life winds on, several prominent artists who have approached to work in the city have declined. Why? “Berliners should be asking themselves what is wrong with their city.” – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 12/18/00