Category: issues

“When asked ‘Are you aware of Twitter?’ just 26 per cent of more than 824 respondents answered yes during the online survey conducted in March, Ipsos reported Thursday. The latter were asked ‘Do you actually use it?’ Of those, only six per cent — or about 1.45 per cent of respondents — said they did.”

The Erb Foundation is giving $1.6 million to the arts. “Today’s grants cast a wide net through Detroit’s cultural community. Traditional stalwarts the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Henry Ford each received $100,000, while a typically under-the-radar group like PuppetArt theater in Detroit got $10,000. Other grants included $100,000 for the Heidelberg Project and $40,000 for the Detroit International Jazz Festival.”

“The Washington State University Department of Theater and Dance will not survive the budget ax by merging with the University of Idaho program in nearby Moscow. WSU Provost and Executive Vice President Warwick Bayly said Tuesday the department, which has 105 students and was listed for elimination in a preliminary budget last month, will be cut.”

“The House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior has approved a bill that sets the annual budgets for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities at $170 million each for the 2010 fiscal year. The current appropriation for these agencies is $155 million each and President Obama had requested an increase to $161 million.”

“Commissioners approved the $38.8 million project in 2005, projecting an August 2007 opening. The existing construction contract calls for a February 2008 completion. Last month, officials projected a fall 2010 opening for the 966-seat theater and activities center in Cutler Bay. It looks now like re-doing shoddy work, then putting the finishing touches on the buildings, could push opening night to late 2010 or early 2011.”

“Free Night of Theater, the 4-year-old national audience development program administered locally by Theatre Bay Area, succeeds in attracting new audiences and in contributing to their ‘aesthetic growth,’ according to a study released Tuesday. … The key finding, bearing out earlier follow-up surveys in the months after previous Free Nights, is that giving away tickets works not just to attract new theatergoers to a free show, but also to convert a significant number into future paying customers.”

“Charitable giving by Americans fell by 2 percent in 2008 as the recession took root, only the second year-to-year decline in more than a half-century, according to an authoritative annual survey released Wednesday. … Arts/culture/humanities organizations received $12.79 billion, down 6.4 percent.”

“The World Copyright Summit on Tuesday was a unifying effort as the entertainment industry grapples with an uncertain future, but it also highlighted just how polarizing the whole notion of copyright has become in the digital age. A series of panels saw back-and-forth sniping and other disagreement — and, indeed, one expert lamented the very nature of copyright itself.”

“Officials at the National Arts Centre [in Ottawa] said Tuesday they plan to cut up to 40 jobs over the next two years to help prevent the shortfall of several million dollars they expect to have next year.” The positions eliminated add up to about ten percent of the NAC staff.

“Harris Bank said it has signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement that designates Harris as the ‘Official Bank of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts’ in downtown Milwaukee. … Financial details of the sponsorship, which was announced Tuesday, were not disclosed.” The complex houses, among others, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Florentine Opera Company and the Milwaukee Ballet.