Category: issues

The suggestion that “a Renaissance masterpiece be removed from London’s National Gallery and displayed in a cathedral has provoked strong debate over the place of religious art in secular society.”

“Arts and cultural leadership in the Obama White House can take many valuable lessons by following private, local and state initiatives working well here.”

“Illegal downloading of films, TV programmes and music could mean the loss of 30,000 British jobs, according to a powerful alliance of retailers and rights-holders.”

“The media likes to assault readers at this time of year with year-end summaries, predictions and random ‘best-of’ lists and they’re coming hot and heavy this year (there aren’t enough ads to fill the space). The lists are designed to make media gurus seem thoughtful and profound; instead, they often leave readers wondering, ‘Why did I trust that critic all year long?'”

The old seaport had a major success as the European Community’s Capital of Culture for 2008, with the region’s economy getting a benefit of £800 million. The European Commission president called Liverpool’s effort “one of the most successful capital of culture programmes that we have ever had.”

“With newspapers across the country facing serous financial problems, maintaining an individual, local critic’s voice is no longer a priority, even when the arts in question are locally based.” So the Star-Telegram and the Dallas Morning News are collaborating on cultural coverage.

Facing a historic budget crisis, Philadelphia’s new mayor “has proposed closing 11 branch libraries, including four of the original… branch libraries built at the behest of philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in the early 20th century.” Local preservationists are scrambling to get the Carnegie branches designated as historic in an effort to keep them open.

“Princeton University has agreed to pay $90 million to the heirs of a large benefactor, ending a historic six-year battle over donor intent that mesmerized the philanthropic community and influenced the way it does business… Experts in charitable giving yesterday viewed the settlement as a victory for the heirs of the late Charles and Marie Robertson of the A&P supermarket fortune.”

John Zaritsky’s film The Suicide Tourist, retitled Right to Die? for its broadcast this week on British television, “chronicles the stories of two people who visit the Dignitas organization in Zurich, which organizes assisted suicides in Switzerland, where the practice is legal.” The death of one of the subjects is shown on camera.

Mary Ewert, the widow of the man whose assisted suicide was shown in the controversial documentary The Suicide Tourist (or Right to Die?) writes that her husband “wanted to remove a veil so that people could see how comfortably someone could die who – without this option of assisted suicide – maybe would have had a very painful death.”