Category: issues

“A muse is anything but a paid model. The muse in her purest aspect is the feminine part of the male artist, with which he must have intercourse if he is to bring into being a new work. She is the anima to his animus, the yin to his yang, except that, in a reversal of gender roles, she penetrates or inspires him and he gestates and brings forth, from the womb of the mind. Painters don’t claim muses until painting begins to take itself as seriously as poetry.”

The city of Columbus may be losing its professional orchestra, but city leaders are hoping to reinvigorate the arts scene as a whole with the creation of “a 21-member panel that will examine city policies and seek long-term funding solutions for local arts groups that often find themselves on shaky ground.”

As American troops invaded Iraq in 2003, one of the places they chose to erect a military base was within the ancient city of Babylon, and archaeologists say that significant damage has been done to the 5,000-year-old ruins in the five years since. “Leading archaeologists… have launched efforts to protect the site from further damage and resume archaeological research.”

“More than 300 American Indian languages flourished in North America at the time of Columbus, each carrying a unique way of understanding the world. And despite an often-brutal campaign to stamp them out, more than half of those languages have survived, though the pool of speakers has dwindled. Can they be saved?

“The population of 4.5 million has an arts budget of about $50 million, of which the government provides some $30 million. The rest comes from sponsorship, ticket sales and other revenue streams. Having built the infrastructure – the Esplanade, the recent renovation of old Parliament House into the Arts House performing and exhibition venue, a massive new wing to the Singapore Museum which opened in 2006 – the Government through its National Arts Council is now creating programs and events that will encourage more Singaporeans to take part in the arts.”

Nonprofit organizations in Minneapolis/St. Paul are hearing a gloomy forecast about what they can expect from donors over the next few years. “As it stands now, the next legislative session will start with something like a $2 billion biennial budget hole,” and private donors have their own fiscal squeezes to deal with.

“In a potentially devastating blow to Durham’s arts community, temporary City Manager Patrick Baker has proposed eliminating more than $118,000 in arts and culture funding. The proposal… would have the city scrap all support for the African American Dance Ensemble and the Walltown Children’s Theatre, and [reduce overall] funding for nonprofits arts groups by 28 percent.”

“As scores of beneficiaries wait indefinitely for their grants from [South Africa’s cultural funding board] and increasing numbers of people institute legal proceedings against it, the board’s chief executive Vevek Ram is being hauled before the [a national arbitration board] by his own staff.”

“Gunmen threaten to kill their relatives, roadside bombs make journeys to school hazardous and religious hardliners persecute them – but the children of Iraq’s Music and Ballet School have an antidote to war: music… The emergence of a new breed of militants, who target people practising arts they consider “un-Islamic”, has led several worried parents to take their children out of the school.”

The research found that Theatre Tickets Direct, for example, imposed hefty fees on bookings for West End musical Buddy, with audiences paying £142.64 instead of the face value of £110.