Category: issues

“Single-ticket sales are growing for 37 percent of the surveyed organizations, and 75 percent reported stable or increased individual giving. But nearly half (49 percent) of those surveyed reported reduced government support, and more than a third said they had seen a decline in corporate support. Foundation support declined at 30 percent of the organizations and increased at 19 percent.”

Duh. Of course. But as pop culture alters reality and our sense of authenticity, it’s worth trying to understand how…

“Mr. Landesman is not exactly the Washington type; he is a fast-moving, risk-taking entrepreneur who is colorful (his passions include horse racing, gambling, baseball and alligator cowboy boots) and blunt. Now Mr. Broadway is busy transforming himself into Mr. Bureaucracy. It has been, he confesses, a bit of a challenge.”

“The proportion of faculty who are appointed each year to tenure-line positions is declining at an alarming rate.” Three out of four new hires in the 1990s were appointed to nontenurable jobs. It is reasonable to infer from this that the number of non-tenure-track jobs, which accounted for 58 percent of faculty positions in 1993, will continue to rise.”

“After examining statistics from 27 nations, a group of researchers found the presence of book-lined shelves in the home – and the intellectual environment those volumes reflect – gives children an enormous advantage in school.”

Natalie Pompilio: “I’d been to jazz funerals before. As a reporter working in the city, I’d written about them. As a lover of city culture, I’d attended a few on my own time. … But never before had I been to a jazz funeral for someone I mourned. Until now.”

“Under the proposed budget, arts grants would be cut by 50 percent, leaving around $490,000. … More than 580,000 people – including 7,195 public school students – attended activities funded by this year’s arts grant budget of $974,647. The money provided for more than 19,000 events.”

Last year, AGO “paid about $665,000 to CEO Matthew Teitelbaum as a bonus for the completion of [its $300 million Transformation AGO] project, and another $250,000 to six other members of its senior management team.” Concurrently, other major Toronto arts projects appear to have gone ahead with no similar deals.

“Baltimore’s west side would become the city’s third arts and entertainment district under a proposal endorsed by Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake for making the area more of a cultural hub.”

“This is not the solution. Why? Baltimore already has two arts districts – Highlandtown/Patterson Park and Station North. It doesn’t need a third. … [What’s more,] Highlandtown/Patterson Park hasn’t seen a sliver of the artistic explosion and revitalization that was supposed to happen.”