“With more than $1 billion being raised for new museums and other arts facilities, Boston is in the midst of an unprecedented cultural boom, one that museum directors hope will elevate the city as a cultural mecca without overbuilding or saturating the market. The construction wave occurs a century after Boston’s major institutions — the Museum of Fine Arts, Symphony Hall, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — opened their current homes. This time, the projects are more varied, ranging from a contemporary art museum on the waterfront and downtown theaters to a pair of cultural centers slated for open space created by the Big Dig.”
Tag: 04.10.05
A Bright Beacon In The Floridian ‘Wasteland’
The Palm Beach International Film Festival may not be Cannes, or even Toronto, but the event has been making big gains in prestige lately, and has even been ranked as one of the world’s top 25 film fests. “PBIFF has become a cultural asset in a state that is mentioned in nearly 11 percent of the Google hits returned by the search phrase ‘cultural wasteland.'”
Thompson’s Ashes To Be Blasted From Cannon
In keeping with his final wishes, Hunter S. Thompson’s ashes will be blasted out of a cannon. The gun-loving writer will go out with a bang from a cannon mounted inside a 16-metre-high (53ft) sculpture of his trademark “gonzo” fist – a clenched hand on an upthrust forearm with the word gonzo written on it. “It’s expensive, but worth every penny,” his wife, Anita Thompson, said. “I’d like to have several explosions. He loved explosions.”
Cincy Opera Posts Help-Wanted Sign
Cincinnati Opera is looking for a new artistic director, and that person should reflect the progress the company has made in the past decade. “I think vision is imperative. Someone who comes here has to be able to look at what we’ve developed and say, ‘This company can go to the next level.’ I’m not sure that 10 years ago you could have said that. We want this to be their primary job.”
Boston, Philly, New York, Cleveland, Chicago… & San Diego?
Three years ago, the San Diego Symphony received a $120 million gift from a local couple, and instantly, the ensemble was vaulted from the lower ranks of full-time American orchestras to… well, where the vault ends is still unknown. The SDS is fiscally secure for the future, to be sure, and salaries have risen, as have budgets. But can money – even that unbelievable amount of money – really catapult an orchestra into the upper ranks? San Diego’s CEO thinks so, and is even speculating about a future in which the SDS is mentioned alongside America’s fabled Big Five orchestras.
Rare Jazz Great Recordings Never Heard In US Found In Library Of Congress
“The U.S. Library of Congress says it has uncovered long-forgotten recordings by some of the superstars of American jazz -Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Ray Charles and the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra. Recorded in 1957, the tapes have never before been heard in the United States. The Voice of America recorded the music at a Carnegie Hall concert in New York City for broadcast to the rest of the world.”
Hide! The Art Cows May Be Coming To Edinburgh
The art cows could be coming to Edinburgh, home to some pretty great art of its own. “There is no question that they [the cows] have been popular, attracting tourists and generating a buzz. So I’m sure you are wondering what grumpy cow would dismiss a herd that brightens up our streets and gives money to good causes. My problem with this exhibit is that it is one of many banal but inoffensive displays littering our public spaces.”