“Democrat Obama has spoken about the importance of the arts often on the campaign trail, and his official party platform includes a two-page arts policy statement that calls for increased government funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. Republican McCain has been practically mum on the issue, although two weeks ago his campaign released a four-sentence statement that calls for funding for arts education to be left to local entities, where ‘local priorities allow.'”
Category: issues
China Needs a Good PR Team (or Ten)
James Fallows: “How can official China possibly do such a clumsy and self-defeating job of presenting itself to the world? China, like any big, complex country, is a mixture of goods and bads. But I have rarely seen a governing and ‘communications’ structure as consistent in hiding the good sides and highlighting the bad. […] [sometimes] it was as if the government had hired The Onion as its image consultant.”
Colleagues Demand Release Of Jordanian Poet
“Writers in Jordan are calling for the immediate release of a poet charged with insulting Islam in love poetry. Islam Samhan’s recent collection, Grace Like A Shadow, includes phrases from the Koran, viewed as sacrosanct by Muslims as the literal word of God… Writers and artists have sent a petition to the government calling the arrest a “retreat in the freedom of expression.”
Hanging On Despite Economic Turmoil
“Calgary’s major arts groups have managed to duck the recent economic heavy weather battering the Canadian economy — so far… Much of their strategy is geared towards luring a younger audience through discounted tickets, special student matinees and an increased reliance on viral marketing on the Internet, where younger eyeballs tend to gather in the largest numbers.”
Miami’s Carnival Arsht Center Gets It Together
“After a budget-busting inaugural year marked by financial crises, empty seats and community outrage, the publicly owned Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts has closed out a second year that stands in stark contrast to the first. The budget is balanced, attendance has nearly doubled and elected officials no longer dress down leaders of the center in public meetings.”
Pondering An Artists’ Parliament
“[I]s it time artists got together and elected their own parliament? That’s the issue under public debate at the Young Vic theatre tomorrow night.”
Entertainment Industry Retrenches For Credit Crunch
“No one, it seems, will remain immune from the widening meltdown, which has already triggered a dramatic drop in consumer spending. Showbiz sectors that have prided themselves on being recession resistant in the past look more vulnerable now. This is largely due to the economic underpinnings of the congloms that control the industry.”
Maybe College Isn’t For Everyone
Today, amazingly, a majority of the students whom colleges admit are grossly underprepared. Only 23 percent of the 1.3 million high-school graduates of 2007 who took the ACT examination were ready for college-level work in the core subjects of English, math, reading, and science.
Of Art and Presidential Politics
Americans for the Arts, a lobbying group, has released its assessment of where the two presidential candidates stand on arts issues. Barack Obama “is lauded (along with the Democratic Party platform), for being a consistent arts backer.” John McCain, while not seen as specifically hostile to the arts, is dinged for not taking positions at all on many arts-related issues.
Finding The Silver Lining
Canadian arts advocates have been vocal in their dismay at Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s open disdain of public arts funding, but one columnist points out that, even with the Conservatives winning a new, stronger government in last week’s elections, “arts funding somehow became a key discussion point during the election process… [That’s] amazing. Magical, even.”