A proposal before Congress would force foundations to cover their administrative costs outside the five percent of their assets they’re required to give away each year. “Foundation execs are in a flutter. They see the bill as a threat to the immortality of their institution, and perhaps of their founders’ names. In their view, the bill demands that they either cut costs to the bone (at the expense of more difficult or adventurous projects) or go extinct. Susan Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation, has said the bill will force foundations “to eat into capital and the country will lose these… public assets for the common good’.”
Tag: 06.01.03
Protester Dumps Red Paint On Chapman
A man was arrested in London after throwing red paint on one of the Chapman brothers. “The unidentified man fought with the Turner Prize nominee after throwing the paint in an apparent protest at his alteration of work by Goya, the Spanish master. The attack came the day after Jake and his brother Dinos were shortlisted and strongly tipped for this year’s £20,000 prize.”
Jazz Takes A Non-Jazz Turn (Again)
The insular, elitist world of jazz is being rocked in more than one sense of the word. Young musicians, and even some old ones, are thumbing their noses at jazz purists and exploring popular forms of music, from grunge to indie-rock to rap. Flip through your local record store’s jazz bins and you’ll find pianist Jason Moran covering the rap classic ‘Planet Rock’ and the veteran organ player Dr. Lonnie Smith tackling an entire album of Beck songs. Some jazz artists are even borrowing a page from hip-hop, packing their discs with guest appearances by rappers.”
Eurovision – Send It Up In A Song
European TV’s Eurovision Song Contest is “quite possibly the world’s most garish musical spectacle. Each year, contestants kitted out in everything from Viking helmets to bondage outfits perform original compositions to taped backing music. Viewers across Europe (some 150 million in total) vote by telephone for their favorite, excluding their own nation’s song. The most famous winner was ‘Waterloo’ in 1974 by ABBA, who went on to become to pop-music kitsch what Jesus is to Christianity.”
Will The FCC Permit Big Media Control Of The Internet?
“It’s not alarmist, given the plain-as-day trajectory of policies – including the FCC’s own recent actions – to suggest that the Net’s promise is in jeopardy. A few giant media and telecommunications companies could well grasp full control of the Net. Earlier this year, the FCC gave U.S. regional phone companies the right to control access to their high-speed data pipes. This basically mirrored earlier policies allowing the cable companies, which also created networks by getting government-granted monopolies, to refuse to share access to their lines. In other words, U.S. high-speed data access will soon be under the thumb of two of the most anti-competitive industries around.”
What Becomes A Great Theatre?
Time’s list of best regional theatre prompts Frank Rizzo to wonder what makes a great theatre. “To me, a great theater engages an audience in a way that lingers well past the time theatergoers make it to the parking lot after a show. A great theater does the classics, but it also understands it is not a museum and must present them in a way that is vital, elegant or challenging. A great theater presents works of new voices, not just in a marginal way. A great theater knows how to attract a great audience, one that will stick by it as it attempts the extraordinary. A great theater is as hungry for the new, young audience member as it is interested in retaining loyal supporters. A great theater reflects the world around it, and that begins with its community. A great theater also knows the difference between art and pretension, knows that you don’t have to pander to be accessible, and knows the distinction between a small show and a cheap one.”
This Year’s Cannes – What A Stinker!
“The shock of this Cannes was the overall mediocrity of the official competition slate, which, by the time the awards were announced last Sunday, had overwhelmed even the most tolerant and optimistic observers. There were calls for the ouster of Gilles Jacob, the president of the Board of Directors, or of Thierry Fremaux, the festival’s artistic head, and competing theories as to which one was responsible for the debacle.”
Cirque’s New Erotic Show
Cirque du Soleil is moving beyond family entertainment, producing a new erotic show for Las Vegas. “The R-rated ‘Zumanity’ is being billed as ‘a provocative exhibition of human sensuality, arousal and eroticism.’ In addition to traditional theatre seats and bar stools, couples will be able to purchase tickets for two-person love seats and sofas to enjoy the show more intimately. Fifty dancers, acrobats, clowns and musicians are rehearsing in secret at the Cirque du Soleil’s Montreal headquarters in preparation for the Aug. 14 premiere.”
Florida Fallout From Arts Cuts
After the Florida legislature hacked down the state’s arts budget, “all across South Florida, arts groups are tallying their potential losses, which range from $1,500 to more than $500,000 per year. The fallout will include delayed construction projects, reduced services and, perhaps most damaging in the long run, cutbacks in educational programs for children. ‘We can no longer count on state arts funds as a part of our annual operating budget. Because the grants are non-recurring and the trust funds are eliminated, we would do ourselves a fiscal disservice to rely on the state’.”
The “Art Of Everything” School
” The Orange County Regisert’s new arts columnist writes that art is everywhere: “Whether we realize it or not, art is all around us. From the purple, inflated gorilla grinning atop a Dodge dealership along the Garden Grove (22) Freeway to murals in downtown Santa Ana, Huntington Beach and Laguna to the big, red ‘A’ that lights up after an Angels win, aesthetic images surround us. The trick is taking the time to see. We may think of some of these as eyesores more than art, and we may bemoan the lack of ‘real’ culture here in Southern California, Orange County in particular. But the truth is, the rest of the country – and the world – looks in our direction when they talk about the cutting edge of artistic and visual production.”