The new magazine Walrus was supposed to reinvigorate the Canadian periodical scene. But the mag’s first editor quit after only a few months, and now, new editor Paul Wilson and managing editor Gillian Burnett are quitting as well, saying that they can’t work with ultra-hands-on Walrus publisher Ken Alexander.
Tag: 05.26.04
Because Gay People Need Crappy Music, Too!
MTV has announced that it will launch a new channel aimed at gay and lesbian viewers next February. LOGO, as the channel is being called, will air a mix of acquired and original programming. No word on whether MTV’s plans call for the channel to stick to its planned format for a few years, then veer off into a mix of whiny reality shows and insipid profiles.
Small Town, Big Drama
Another conductor controversy has broken out in a small North American city. This time the showdown is in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where the board of the La Crosse Symphony has voted narrowly to dismiss conductor Amy Mills, after musicians in the orchestra complained bitterly about her musicianship. But some board members are furious at the way the vote was conducted, saying that two uncounted proxy votes in favor of Mills were not counted because they would have swung the vote in favor of retaining her past 2005.
Bailing Out Orange County
“Chronically behind in their fundraising, Orange County [California] Performing Arts Center officials said Tuesday that they will issue $180 million in bonds to ensure completion of a theater and a 2,000-seat concert hall. Center officials said they have raised $117 million in cash and pledges toward their $200-million goal to pay for the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, the 500-seat Samueli Theater and an education center. Officials previously said they had hoped to raise $130 million by the end of 2003. But in the past 11 months they have raised only about $5 million.”
KC Bistate Tax Initiative Ready For Vote
An unprecedented bistate tax proposal is headed to the voters of Kansas City and its surrounding suburbs. The initiative, which calls for a quarter-cent sales tax to be collected for 15 years in order to support arts and sports projects in the area, is complex because of the geographical location of the city. Kansas City proper actually stretches across the Missouri-Kansas state line (technically divided into two separate cities,) and the metro area stretches far and wide in both states. The ballot measure was approved after months of haggling over how the money from the tax would be divided – more than 50% of the funds will go to small community groups.
Healing Wounds In The Auditorium
Following an 8-year legal battle over ownership rights, Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre is being folded into the operations of Roosevelt University, and the theater’s new director “plans to more closely align the historic downtown venue with the educational institution that fought long and hard for the right to govern the Auditorium as it saw fit.” Brent Batterson, a 45-year-old set designer turned arts administrator, has been brought on largely because he has no history with the Auditorium, and therefore no axes to grind in the various wounds that developed over the course of the court fight.
CT Philanthropist Dies, With Arts To Benefit
A seed heiress living in Connecticut has died, leaving $16 million to various arts groups in the state. Louise Wheelock Willson was a passionate promoter of the arts, donating money to various groups and handing out stacks of tickets to friends and acquaintances in an effort to promote the groups she supported. The Hartford Symphony, Connecticut Opera, and New Britain Museum of American Art are among the list of beneficiaries in her will, and the big winner is the Nutmeg Ballet in Torrington, which will receive $5 million, the biggest gift in the company’s history.
What’s Happening To The WTC Cultural Facilities?
Some New York arts leaders are wondering if the planning for the World Trade Center site has lost its focus and whether plans for arts facilities will be realized. “Lost in the debate over whether an opera house can fill its off-season or whether a dance and theater space could together attract sufficient funds, some arts leaders and planning experts say, is the more fundamental question of whether either of these options lives up to the grand plans for Lower Manhattan’s hallowed ground.”
Scottish Ballet – Promoting Personalities
Scottish Ballet has decided that the key to getting bigger audiences is to promote the personalities of its dancers. “The company is looking at sponsorship, fashion shoots, websites and media interviews as just some of the ways to boost the dancers’ profiles and build up a fan base around individuals.”
Dance Theatre Of Harlem In Danger Of Folding
“Dance Theater of Harlem, the groundbreaking black ballet company founded 35 years ago, may disband its 44-member troupe if it fails to come up with $2.5 million to stanch its losses by the end June, Arthur Mitchell, the group’s founder, said yesterday. The company intends to continue its school, which serves 800 to 1,000 students, Mr. Mitchell said.”