“Despite an uneasy economy on many fronts, the Joffrey Ballet has managed to close its books for the past season in the black, marking the first time since 2005 that this was the case. This successful financial outcome also came as the company had its largest annual budget in the organization’s history – $14.2 million.”
Tag: 07.07.10
The Long March Of China’s Imperial Treasures
A research project this summer “retrac[ed] the routes taken by the imperial treasures in the 1930s and 1940s, when they were being safeguarded from the ravages of civil war and Japanese aggression, not to mention floods, bandits and warlords. The project is extraordinary because it was organized by rival museums, the Palace Museum of Beijing and the National Palace Museum in Taiwan, each of which claims to be the rightful home of the artifacts.”
Bamiyan In The Tropics: Indonesian Muslim Radicals Tear Down Sculpture
“As Balinese sculptor Nyoman Nuarta reviews a video of his giant sculpture of three women being defaced with spray paint and torn down by a group of angry fundamentalist Muslim activists in west Java last month, a haunting parallel comes to mind.”
Boldface Supporters Help Tiny Publisher Get Funding Back
“A letter sent to Dedalus yesterday from Arts Council England area executive director Andrea Stark confirmed the publisher’s regular funding status would be restored, and that it would receive a grant of £26,900 in 2010/2011 for ‘the commissioning and publishing costs of new literary fiction in translation and the origination of new English fiction’.”
Trying To Save A Portrait Because Of Who The Sitter Was
“The painting according to the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is the first known portrait that honours a named African subject as an individual and an equal, and thereby gives a useful insight into Britain in the 18th Century.”
Seeing Merchant Of Venice In Stifling, Breezeless Heat
“During a scene added for this production, Shylock submits to a forced baptism in a small onstage pool. Pacino’s silent anguish as his face was dunked repeatedly in the water seemed only deepened by the thirst for it in the audience. People watched in horror at the forced christening of the Jew — but with a tinge of envy….”
Getty Museum Bids $44.9M For Turner Canvas, But Might Not Complete The Purchase
“The Getty was the high bidder for the painting” – J.M.W. Turner’s Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino – “at an auction at Sotheby’s in London. But under British law, artworks of special significance that have been on British soil for more than 50 years can’t be sold and exported without a license – and the deal can be sunk if a British institution, or sometimes an individual, steps up to match what the foreign buyer was willing to pay.”
Dance New Amsterdam, Behind On Rent, Faces Eviction
“Dance New Amsterdam, the large dance space in Lower Manhattan, faces possible eviction on July 14 from its city-owned home at 280 Broadway because the organization owes more than half a million dollars in rent.”
In San Diego, Newspaper Readers Rise Up And Demand Their Critic Back
“Three weeks ago the San Diego Union-Tribune laid off nationally admired art critic and books editor Robert L. Pincus. … In the last couple weeks Pincus’ readers have started a Facebook page, Reinstate Robert Pincus at the Union-Tribune, and a blog, Campaign to Reinstate Robert Pincus. The goal of the two sites is to force the equity fund that owns the Union-Tribune to reconsider its termination of Pincus’ position.”
Dallas Symphony Cancels Smoky Robinson Concert Due To Slack Demand
“For the second time in a month, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra has canceled a concert due to slow ticket sales. But June’s cancellation was for a ‘community concert’ featuring Jubilant Sykes – an astounding singer, but not exactly a household name. And it came with two weeks’ warning. But today’s announcement comes but one day before a scheduled show at the Morton H. Meyerson. And Smokey Robinson’s a legend.”