Category: issues

Should the arts’ current “fragmented representation throughout the U.S. government” be centralized under a secretary of the arts? Artists such as Quincy Jones, who argues that the arts are “just as important as military defense,” are all in favor. Others see the need for someone who’s versed in issues like cultural diplomacy and has the president’s ear. But there’s plenty of opposition.

The Southern California arts center has let go an unspecified number of its approximately 100 employees – the first layoffs in the center’s 20-year history.

It’s now two decades since the Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa calling for the death of author Salman Rushdie. “[R]ight from the start, The Satanic Verses affair was less a theological dispute than an opportunity to exert political leverage. The background to the controversy was the struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran to be the standard bearer of global Islam.”

Even as architect Moshe Safdie’s performing arts center – the future home of the Kansas City Symphony, Ballet and Lyric Opera – rises atop a hill near downtown, ” the $405 million project is [only] 85 percent funded. Most the money that’s yet to be pledged is needed to build a $40 million endowment.”

“Mayor Buddy Dyer said today that city will look at both revamping the financing plan and scope of the performing-arts center and the Florida Citrus Bowl… The biggest challenge will be finding a new financing plan that doesn’t rely so heavily on the tourist tax, which is now in free fall.”

“Earlier this week, a mistaken activation of the sprinkler system in Munich’s historic Cuvilliés Theater dumped an estimated 2100 gallons of water into the backstage area.” The 1753 jewel box is used by the Bavarian State Theater and Bavarian State Opera.

The board of the Fort Lauderdale performing arts center has named general manager Kelly Shanley as president and CEO. “The Coral Springs resident, 42, will oversee five venues that jointly present more than 650 performances – from pop to theater to opera – seen by more than 700,000 people annually.”

“[Y]ou can tell things have reached a pretty sticky stage when no fewer than 440 artists band together to protest about what’s going on – or rather, what isn’t – at the Scottish Arts Council (SAC) and Scottish Screen, as they endure an amalgamation process designed to produce a new body called Creative Scotland. The artists’ beef is with the uncertainty, delay and cost of the transition – and with being kept in the dark about it.”

“Two weeks before a hotly anticipated federal budget, Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore is preaching sustained cultural funding, saying the CBC’s budget is safe and the Conservatives intend to deliver on their election promises despite the financial downturn.”

“[G]rass-roots music events, spawning grounds for the next generation of musical talent, have come up against the demands of US copyright law, as enforced by a handful of companies who act as collection agents for songwriters and composers. The law states that no performer in a public venue can present someone else’s copyrighted music without their permission and, usually, without compensating them.”