“There are about 548,000 creative businesses in the U.S., ranging from nonprofits like museums, symphonies and theaters, to film production, architecture and advertising companies. They account for about 2.2 percent of the workforce tracked in Dun & Bradstreet’s business database, or about 3 million jobs.”
Tag: 06.29.04
Massachusetts Increases Arts Budget
The Massachusetts Legislature has approved a $1 million increase in the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s budget to $8.3 million in the 2005. This follows a $12 million cut in arts funding made in 2002.
The SF Arts Shuffle – Unintended Consequences
San Francisco is facing a $300 million budget deficit, and its mayor, “in an effort to achieve greater efficiency, has proposed merging San Francisco’s nationally recognized Grants for the Arts with the San Francisco Arts Commission. Managerially, the merger might seem to make sense, but the unintended consequences could be dramatic.”
Should The BBC Be Privatized?
As the BBC begins the process of applying to have its charter renewed, critics go on the attack, suggesting the public broadcaster be privatized. “I can’t see any justification for what the BBC does which can’t be equally well done in the commercial world. Why force anybody to pay £121? What you are forcing people to do is to pay – by threat of jail – for a view of life that people can get in the commercial world.”
The Coming Art Market Crash?
Depending on who you ask, the number of contemporary art collectors has doubled, tripled or even quintupled in the past decade, and many are betting on unknown artists, hoping to cash in on the next big thing. The market is being bid up as collectors try to guess who will be hot in the future. But with ten times the players there were during the art bubble of the 80s, are we in for even a bigger crash this time around?
Beverly Hills To Get New Arts Center
The Annenberg Foundation has announced plans for a cultural center for Beverly Hills. Wallis Annenberg, the “daughter of Walter H. Annenberg, the philanthropist, art collector and communications mogul, who died in 2002, said the center would include a 500-seat theater, a 150-seat studio theater, a rehearsal hall, classrooms and a sculpture garden. The overall project, costing $30 million, is expected to be completed in late 2007.”
The Artists Move In, The Artists Move Out
Artists in the Brooklyn neighborhood known as DUMBO are relocating as they get priced out of their lofts. Nothing new about this kind of gentrification – except the speed at which it’s happening. “Five years ago, when I first came here, there were no city services, no trash pickup, and it was completely dark and desolate.”
And This Week’s No. 1 Download Is…
Demonstrating the impact downloaded music has had, a new chart of best-selling downloaded music is being launched. “The new chart will register the sale of tracks from websites run by HMV, Coca-Cola and Microsoft’s MSN and will be broadcast on BBC Radio 1. Separately, mobile phone operator T-Mobile announced plans to turn handsets into personal stereos, downloading songs at about £1.50 each.”
A Measure Of The Arts In America
An Americans for the Arts study reports that “arts-related businesses make up 4.3 percent of all the companies in the United States, and employ almost 3 million people, according to the most detailed account yet of their economic impact. The New York metropolitan area ranks No. 1 nationally in arts-related businesses, with nearly 55,000.”