States across the country are slashing their arts budgets to the bone in order to patch holes in their overall revenue streams. In Massachusetts, cuts to the arts are nothing new, but a recent survey suggests that the residents of the Bay State do not view these cuts as a positive development. 94% of those surveyed “consider the arts to be as important a part of basic education as math and English, and that 92 percent favor state funding for arts programs in public schools. Eighty-seven percent said that nonprofit cultural organizations were important to the quality of life in their communities, and 84 percent said they favored state funding to support public programs of cultural organizations.”
Tag: 04.10.03
Art Is For The Elite? Don’t Tell The Brits
A new survey of workers in the UK pokes a few holes in the notion that the arts are of interest only to wealthy elites, or beyond the monetary and cultural reach of your average blue-collar guy. Among the survey’s findings: “Workers would rather have ticket concessions for art events than gym membership; nearly nine out of ten workers enjoy arts events in their free time; and just under half of those surveyed had visited the theatre in the last year (43%), while over a third of workers had been to a museum (37%), art gallery (34%) or concert (33%).”
Far East Film Fest, Hold the Far Easterners
As previously threatened, Italian government officials in the small northeastern town of Udine have told organizers of the Far East Film Festival that they must withdraw their invitations to all guests from the Far East, due to concerns about the SARS outbreak. “Although there are no travel restrictions on people from the Far East, the World Health Organisation has warned about large gatherings of people from Eastern Asian areas.”
Battle For The Soul Of American Science
Traditional science is under attack in the US. “A new climate has emerged under the Bush administration: one driven partly by close relationships with big business, but just as much by a fiercely moral approach to the business of science.” Instead of attacking theories like evolution in favor of creationism, critics propose alternative “scientific” ideas like “intelligent design.” “The approach is not exclusively religious, nor exclusively rightwing, but is spreading worry as never before through the nation’s laboratories and lecture halls. These aren’t the old wars of science versus religion. The new assaults on the conventional wisdom frame themselves, without exception, as scientific theories, no less deserving of a hearing than any other.”
London Theatre Gets Political
Who says the theatre hasn’t been political? To Michael Billington’s surprise, over the past few weeks London theatre has been “startlingly repoliticised and has confronted, directly or obliquely, the conflict in Iraq.
Carnegie Hall’s Footprint Expands
This fall Carnegie Hall will open a new hall underneath its main auditorium. “What this new underground hall should mean for Carnegie is clear enough, assuming good acoustics and proper insulation from subway rumbles. But what will its impact be on other New York performing institutions, especially those at Lincoln Center?”
UK: Tax Breaks For Art Donations?
Until now, people donating art to cultural institutions in the UK didn’t get tax incentives. But the government has indicated it is rethinking the policy and might extend tax breaks to art. “Until now, philanthropists have been able to get tax relief on cash and share donations, but there was no incentive to give art or artefacts to museums.”