Tag: 02.28.05

“Gates” Worth? Depends On What You Want To Measure (And Why)

There’s been a rush to tout economic benefits to New York because of the Christo Central Park Gates. “Such governmental attempts to spin artistic value into financial value are calculated to persuade taxpayers and politicians of ‘the value of the arts to our communities, our states, and our nation’.” But what do these benefits really amount to? And what about the aesthetic value of the work itself?

Is Scotland Just Too Depressing?

Are Scotland (and the Scots) really a country of depressing, depressed people who “celebrate failure”? (ouch) More arguments to that effect this week: “Jenny Brown, a former director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, said: “In an age where readers are looking for feel-good novels, Scotland excels at feel-bad books.”

Musicians Support Overhaul Of Failing Utah Symphony and Opera

Musicians of the combined Utah Symphony and Opera have voted 63-1 to endorse a consultant’s report on how to turn around the financially ailing organization. The report is critical of executive director Anne Ewers, who has overseen the controversial merger of the opera and symhony. “There is no question that we had deficits far larger than I ever would have hoped,” Ewers said. “I take full responsibility for the fact that we struggled to put a staff in place and restructure. There is no question that it took away from the fund-raising effort.”

La Scala’s Winter Of Discontent

La Scala has been wracked with dissent – strikes, resignations, a firing. “Last week staff at La Scala staged strikes and demonstrations in protest over the theatre’s management. A banner suspended from the top of the building read ‘Tradesmen out of the Temple of Opera’ – a protest at the perceived market-driven running of the theatre.”

Springer – Still Coming To Broadway?

Though plans to bring Jerry Springer the Opera to Broadway have been delayed, producers still intend to bring the show. “While the widely covered but small scale religious protests in the UK surrounding Jerry Springer—The Opera have not been helpful in the completion of raising the capital for the Broadway production, they have by no means brought an end to our New York plans. We are looking to complete the finance process over the next six months and are planning a Broadway opening in the first half of 2006.”

Glasgow: Squandering Cultural Capital?

Did Scotland’s politicians waste the momentum and creative good will wrought by the city’s year as the European Capital of Culture? That’s what the country’s creative community believes, says a new study. “Research into the cultural impact of the event in 1990 which brought Luciano Pavarotti to the city and generated up to £14m for the local economy reveals policy-makers being blamed for an exodus of talent and concentrating on quotas rather than quality.”

Of Protests And Pressure Groups

Pressure groups are protesting over the content of TV shows. But should they be allowed to influence what gets shown? “It is now relatively easy for small numbers of protesters to organise what may appear to be mass protests. It is not clear how many emails originated from Britain and how many from America. But more important, we are not running some kind of Pop Idol competition in which the greatest number of votes gets a programme pulled from the schedule.”