Category: issues

“Not a word about culture in the Budget speech, but information about the implications on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is dribbling through. And frankly, given the circumstances, it looks like good news. Of the £15bn in savings Darling is announcing over the following three years, a relatively small £168m is to come out of the DCMS budget over that period.”

“Even as arts groups around the country are cutting back because of declining endowments and donations, a new foundation to support the work of American Indian, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native artists is being established with an initial $10 million from the Ford Foundation. Called the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, the organization … says it will be the first permanently endowed national foundation of its kind.”

“It seems foolproof: nonprofits using the power of the Internet to raise money through a clever Facebook application. … But it turns out that approach doesn’t always work. The Facebook application Causes, hugely popular among nonprofit organizations seeking to raise money online, has been largely ineffective in its first two years, trailing direct mail, fundraising events and other more traditional methods of soliciting contributions.”

“The state’s budget crisis had brought construction of the $125-million 1,700-seat [Valley] Performing Arts Center to a temporary halt in December, sparking concerns that completion might be delayed. But in March, workers were back on the job.”

“So far, the library’s collections committee has discussed parting with three items, according to minutes from meetings: a Crehore piano, a series of large-scale Audubon prints, and a collection of Tichnor glass printing plates that were once used to make postcards.”

“L.A. County’s three biggest government-supported cultural institutions figure to reap $60 million in taxpayer funding for the coming 2009-10 fiscal year, their subsidies holding up well despite falling property values and other recession-spurred declines in tax receipts that are draining public coffers. Public libraries and municipal arts agencies didn’t fare as well” in recent proposals, which call for significant cuts.

“The Pulitzer Prizes were announced on Monday. Following are the winners in Letters, Drama and Music.”

“The time has come to bring Australia in line with the civilised parts of the world as far as arts education is concerned. For too long our children have been deprived of serious well-planned arts education. If we don’t do something about this now, we may miss a vital chance and we will be paying the price for years and years to come.”

“The two-year mapping project, carried out by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, involved using global positioning systems and infrared technology. Previous estimates were mainly based on historical records, rather than physically mapping each section. By tracking thoroughly across mountains and through deserts, unknown parts were uncovered.”

“Drawn by available spaces and cheap rents, artists are filling in some of the neighborhoods being emptied by foreclosures. Now, the current housing crisis has created a new class of urban pioneer. Nationwide, home foreclosure proceedings increased 81% in 2008 from the previous year, rising to 2.3 million, according to California-based foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac. Homes in hard-hit cities such as Detroit and Cleveland are selling for as little as $1.”