Concert-Hall-As-Billboard

This week Dallas’ Meyerson Hall – home to the Dallas Symphony – is going to be transformed into a giant billboard. The IM Pei-designed building will be bathed in projected-light advertisements for a car-maker and publisher. “The projections will emblazon the symphony hall’s north walls facing Woodall Rodgers Freeway with intricate, abstract designs reminiscent of computers, in a tribute to Bill Joy, Internet wizard, Sun Microsystems co-founder and another of the Audi 8.”

Does UK Arts Policy Value The Right Things?

“There are many in the arts world who believe that the government’s obsession with education and diversity has actually obscured what artists aim to do – produce wonderful work. But are “access” and “excellence” mutually exclusive? Are there too many strings attached to arts funding? Has the government been too utilitarian in its view of the arts, valuing its economic and social by-products, from tourism promotion to crime reduction, over its intrinsic worth?” England’s arts ministers take on the questions.

When Benefactors Default (What Should Happen?)

Recently the Metropolitan Opera took the unusual step of prying off a donor’s name from its building when the promised gift failed to arrive. So “what can be done when donors can’t meet commitments? Nonprofits can bring lawsuits to force donors to pay up, but seldom do so. Lawsuits are unproductive if the donor does not have the funds and usually spell public relations disaster for both parties. The public, off-with-his-head (or in Vilar’s case, off-with-his-name-plaque) approach may be the last, necessary resort in some cases, but it’s not likely to win future support from the donor if his fortunes recover. It also may have a chilling effect on prospective donors.

Ossuary Isn’t Fake Experts Say

Several experts have contested claims that the James ossuary is a fake. “Several paleographic, geological and linguistic experts previously examined the box and saw nothing suspicious. ‘They all may be mistaken, I recognize that, and if it’s a forgery, I want the forger put in jail. But we’re not there yet by any means’.”