Upper East Side Gallery Defaults On Debt, Artworks Seized

“Berry-Hill’s latest troubles come at a time when a number of New York galleries are struggling amid the recession. Nearly two dozen galleries in the city have closed amid the art-market downturn, including blue-chip spaces on the Upper East Side such as Salander O’Reilly Gallery and grittier warehouse spaces like Bellwether in Chelsea and Rivington Arms on the Lower East Side.”

Levine Has No Contract With Boston Symphony Orchestra

“As music director James Levine prepares for back surgery that could keep him from taking the podium at Tanglewood this summer, frustrations are building within the orchestra, and a stunning detail has emerged: Levine has no signed contract with the BSO.” The BSO’s managing director says: “This is not tenable, the uncertainty. We have to protect ourselves.”

LACMA To Step In As Watts Towers Curator, Conservator?

The Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs “has been perpetually short of the cash needed for the Sisyphean task of reattaching bits of ornamentation washed off by the rain and filling internal cracks caused by moisture and heat. Under the plan, LACMA would contribute its expertise and direct the conservation work,” while the city would “pay for manpower and materials.”