“Due to the rather dire current state of the print media, launching a new magazine goes against the grain of conventional wisdom. But when the Montreal-based creative team of Daniel Charron, Jean Blais and André Ducharme decided to create a new publication, they had a solid previous success in their favour. And with Manoeuvres, their ode to Montreal style, design, fashion and creativity launched tonight, the trio has maintained the principle rule they obeyed during their first print run of 1987-91: Ignore as many rules as possible.”
Tag: 05.12.04
A Jazzer’s Circuitous Route
Saxophonist Oliver Lake is a big name in jazz circles, having made his name as a founding member of the St. Louis-based Black Artists Group, and as 1/4 of the World Saxophone Quartet. So what is he doing hanging out with a bunch of middle school kids in inner-city Minneapolis?
Spurned Steppers See SPAC Sales Soar
“A campaign to increase ticket sales for the New York City Ballet’s summer residency at The Saratoga Performing Arts Center appears to be paying off. As of May 9, SPAC had ticket orders totaling $511,464 for 17,240 tickets to the ballet, compared with $429,297 for 15,611 tickets through the same date last year.” The ticket sales initiative was undertaken after the SPAC board announced that the ballet would be booted from its schedule after this summer, then reversed course in the face of public criticism. SPAC’s other major summer tenant, the Philadelphia Orchestra, has not apparently benefitted from the sales push: orchestra sales are down from this time last year.
Pooling Resources in Glasgow
A new umbrella organization backed by many of Glasgow’s high-profile arts organizations has been created to attract audiences to cultural events in the city. Glasgow Grows Audiences (GGA) is funded in large part by the Scottish Arts Council, and “will act as a marketing organisation for the theatres, galleries and companies based in the city.” GGA’s first project will be to undertake extensive audience research to determine where the city’s residents are spending their entertainment dollars.
Pittsburgh Ballet Exec Steps Down
Steven Libman, whose 17 years at the helm of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater make him one of the longest-tenured dance executives in the U.S., is resigning from the company and will depart later this summer. Libman is credited with raising the PBT’s endowment to become the fourth-largest in the country among ballet troupes, but since 2001, the company has struggled, and several of Libman’s decisions have been questioned by members of the company and the public.
He Cuts Because He Loves?
San Francisco’s new mayor recently announced that the city’s arts grant program would be taking a 25% hit in his new budget, infuriating arts supporters. But Gavin Newsom insists that he loves the arts, and plans for them to be a major part of his administration’s goals for the city. The mayor got together for a meeting with 200 area artists last week, with author Dave Eggers moderating the discussion.
Apple Looks To Expand Its Library
With Apple’s iTunes service an unqualified success in the lucrative music-downloading business, the company is setting its sights on a massive expansion of the library of music available digitally. Consumers are coming to expect that iTunes will be able to come up with the music they want to hear, even if it’s obscure or out of print, and the company’s team of song-hunters are determined to convince record companies to open their vaults and license more songs for digital release.
Art Auction Prices Spiralling Upward
A Jackson Pollock painting from 1949 fetched $11.65 million at auction this week, a record for a post-World War II American artist. The total take from the auction, which also inlcuded works by Mark Rothko and Andy Warhol, was more than $102 million, also a record.
Kramer: A Clinic In Dumbing Down
The Brooklyn Museum is trying to better connect itself with its Brooklyn community. Hilton Kramer takes offence: “All of this is a ghastly reminder, if we need one, that when arts institutions invoke “the community” rather than the public at large as their primary constituency, you can be certain that something crucial—like, say, artistic standards—is being sacrificed on the altar of identity politics, in this case the politics of race and class. What follows from this descent into political accommodation is a surrender of the institution to a mind-set guaranteed to render it innocuous, if not something worse.”
Cannes Under A Cloud
“The Cannes International Film Festival, which usually counts on big-name stars and underdressed starlets to provide the excitement, will open on Wednesday under a cloud, as thousands of French actors and technicians prepare to carry a bitter dispute over unemployment benefits to this ritzy Côte d’Azur resort.”