Category: issues

“Houston is an economic powerhouse in energy, technology, international trade and medical research… But Houston is also an economic powerhouse in the arts. When you compare this to the city of Houston’s $10 million public investment in the arts and the state’s symbolic $3.9 million investment, the citizens of Houston are getting a fifty-four percent rate of return on their tax investment.”

“Theaters, museums and cultural centers across [St. Louis] have cut budgets, jobs and programs in response to the economic downturn. Box office numbers are off only slightly — for now. But ticket sales only cover part of nonprofit groups’ costs… The downturn has had an immediate impact on arts programming, capital improvements and fundraising.”

“For the first time in its 162 years, the Smithsonian Board of Regents is going public… The move is part of an exhaustive revision made by the regents to work for more transparency and open themselves up to a broader accountability.”

“George Carlin’s ‘Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television’ was so far ahead of its time — or maybe just so plain profane — in 1972 that you still can’t utter the Big Seven on prime-time broadcast television… And as it happens, you can’t necessarily hear them at the Kennedy Center, either,” where the routine was mercilessly bleeped during a ceremony honoring the late comic. Some in attendance found it ironic – others were merely annoyed.

Last week state voters passed a measure that will pump millions into the arts. “The amendment could raise about $54 million for arts funding each year, which is 19.75 percent of the $270-odd million expected from the sales tax increase.” So, how to spend it?

“There has been talk of a boycott of the Cinemark movie chain, whose CEO gave money to “Yes on 8.” This could have a major effect on the Sundance Film Festival, which uses the chain’s theaters to show movies.”

“Venture philanthropy” (“non-profit in nature, entrepreneurial in spirit” à la Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) – is it really revolutionary? One veteran argues that most such organizations have always been “extremely results-oriented… and the use of business principles has been in the foundation world for a long time.” Another contends that “some private sector principles… simply do not translate. Long-term ‘social transformation,’ for example, is neither easy to measure nor always cost-effective in profit-maximizing terms.” And what happens as the value of endowments plummets?

“As compensation for executives of large corporations has come under scrutiny nationwide, San Francisco lawmakers are considering a proposal to limit the salaries of executives at nonprofit organizations that receive city funds. The proposal by Supervisor Jake McGoldrick seeks to limit salaries and benefits for executives to six times the total compensation of their lowest-paid full-time employee.”

“I mean, daily newspapers all need to put ‘f***’ in a headline above the fold one day – it’ll solve all their problems. That’s my prescription. And then in one fell swoop they’ll get rid of all those 80-year-old subscribers who won’t let them drop ‘Blondie.’ Catering to the 80-year-olds? Where’s that getting newspapers? Making sure there’s nothing in your paper that’s inappropriate for an eighty-year-old to read?”