Category: issues

“Sir Christopher Frayling bows out this week after five years as chairman of Arts Council England – and one thing he certainly won’t miss is the ‘relentless venom’. Speaking before a valedictory lecture tonight, he advised his successor to sort out cultural events that will surround the 2012 Olympic games and called for a deeper debate about the value of the arts, describing the current level of discourse as ‘a bit beer and skittles’.”

“Beauty, it is often said, is in the eye of the beholder, and so might be copyright infringement. Artist Richard Prince never denied that he made use of some photographic images he found in a 2000 book by Patrick Cariou…. The question,” central to Cariou’s lawsuit against Prince, “is whether Mr. Prince’s use of these images was ‘transformative’ — borrowing in the process of creating something entirely new — or just stealing.”

“The House approved $50 million in recovery funds for the National Endowment for the Arts on Wednesday as part of the economic stimulus bill. The legislation, called the American Recovery and Reinvestment bill, was not included in the Senate’s version.”

The South Miami-Dade Cultural Center – which will have a 966-seat theater with orchestra pit, offices and an outdoor plaza, all designed by Arquitectonica – is now $2.3 million over budget and 431 days behind schedule, according to Miami-Dade County’s Inspector General.

“The federal government has heard the arts community’s cries and offered its largest investment in culture, but some sectors will have to make do with the status quo. The Conservatives proclaimed the budget contains $276-million in new funds for arts and culture spread over the coming years. … [T]he scale of this year’s cultural spending far surpasses that in last year’s plan, which made only passing reference to culture.”

The Slate 60, ranking the biggest financial donations of the year, is out for 2008, and the late Leona Helmsley — who, if you recall, hated people, loved dogs — tops the list. “In all, 13 of the 61 contributions appearing on our list (we count ties) are bequests, accounting for $11.64 billion of the $15.78 billion total.” Among the living, Michael Bloomberg is at No. 9, while David Koch is tied with Eli and Edythe Broad at 17.

“Though Philadelphia’s public library services recently landed on the chopping block, the city’s public school students have watched school library services dwindle for years. Today, more than half of the district’s 281 schools have no library staff. In one region, it’s up to 78 percent. … So if some city libraries close, the district is woefully underprepared to pick up the slack for its 167,000 students, library supporters said.”

Demand for tickets to Seattle arts events is good. But organizations’ endowments are down and corporate support has declined.

Much of the clamor arises from anticipation stirred by Mr. Obama’s campaign remarks about the importance of the arts. One of the few candidates with an arts platform, he called for a young “artist corps” to work in low-income schools and neighborhoods; affordable health care and tax benefits for artists; and efforts at cultural diplomacy, like dispatching artist-ambassadors to other countries.

Arts Council England has a new chairman. So what next? Artists make some suggestions…