What The Arts Mean To Students

“Students with high levels of arts participation outperform “arts-poor” students in virtually every important measure. We only recently have begun to document the impact of the arts on teaching and learning. But re search has linked arts-based education to the development of basic cognitive skills, skills used to master other subjects such as reading, writing and mathematics.”

The US – Failing At School

“Nearly six in 10 high school graduates in 2005 will start college in the fall, but half of them — and more than two-thirds of the African American and Latino students who enroll — will fail to earn either an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. So why do U.S. media, policymakers and university administrators continue to worry more about who gets into elite colleges and how much they pay for that privilege? Why don’t they focus on how few students make it through this nation’s higher education system with the tools to help keep the society we all share on track?”

A TV Network For Everyone

“As the parade of special-interest TV networks marches on, the trick for programmers is to be both broad enough and narrow enough to stay afloat. Too general and they lose the benefit of selling a targeted audience to advertisers. Too narrow and there isn’t the interest level to support their product. If you can pinpoint an audience of 10-15 million households who do not have enough programming choices, you can pitch a network for them.”

Chicago’s Millennium Cultural Gamble

Chicago’s new Millennium Park is a hit with critics and the public. “In many minds, the vibrant new downtown park represents a spectacular and vital transformation of a city’s core, and a populist tide that, especially given all the rhapsodic national press that has flowed its way, cannot help but raise all local cultural boats. But there’s a downside. The construction of Millennium Park ate up a whopping $200 million in local arts philanthropic dollars. And it’s seeking still more donated money in 2005 to fully establish its ongoing conservancy. Some are starting to suggest that the local moneybags are in danger of being tapped out.”

Glenn Gould – 50 Years Ago Today

It was 50 years ago today that pianist Glenn Gould made his American debut at the Philips Collection in Washington DC. “With the exception of his celebrated pan of singing first daughter Margaret Truman (which elicited a threatening letter from the White House), this is probably the most famous review Washington Post critic Paul Hume ever wrote. And rightly so, for Gould’s debut stands out as one of the highest peaks in the history of Washington musical life — an unheralded Sunday afternoon concert in a small venue that helped set a magnificent career into play.”

Victoria And Albert Museum Worker Stole Thousands Of Objects

The Victoria and Albert Museum suffered a series of losses to its collection that went unnoticed for decades, say records in the National Archives. “The thief, a man called Nevin, stole 2,544 items from the museum, prompting a security report in 1954. A subsequent stock-take revealed about 5,000 objects were missing, although not all were attributable to Nevin.”