A new study by Ann Markusen and David King argues that the arts are a core piece of a local economy. “Good schools, parks, recreation and housing are important, but also lively streets and ample opportunities for entertainment and artistic enrichment. It’s not surprising, then, that cities with high concentrations of artists – San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis-St. Paul – tend to be better economic performers than cities with lower concentrations – Dallas, Cleveland, Pittsburgh. Markusen is right to suggest that nurturing clusters of artists is a sound investment for governments, foundations and other donors.”
Tag: 08.03.03
Get Diverse Or Lose Your Funding
Arts organizations have often struggled to draw diverse audiences, and it can be even more difficult to achieve true diversity within the ranks of performers and managers. Ordinarily, this is one of those problems that everyone talks about from time to time without really doing anything to solve it. But in San Diego, where the city takes the diversity of an arts organization into account when divvying up available funds, the lack of ethnic and racial diversity on area arts boards is becoming a big financial problem, particularly for the city’s celebrated Old Globe Theatre.
Edinburgh Fringe Opens
“The 57th Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the world’s biggest arts event, is under way. Thousands lined the route as the traditional opening cavalcade snaked past the castle walls in an eruption of colour. The city’s streets filled with festival goers, performers, celebrities, tourists and the media as the spectacular procession got into full swing. This year’s three-week programme offers more than 1,500 shows across the spectrum of the performing arts.”
Designer Muzak…
For the most part, background music played in elevators, stores and other public spaces is an irritation of modern life. But it’s not going to ever go away. Now some designers are using background music as a branding opportunity. Designers try to match music to the brand image a store wants to project…
Sorting Out Your “Da Vinci’s” From “Leonardo”
Dan Brown’s thriller “The Da Vinci Code” has captured the popular imagination. But interesting as it is, it fails the test of historical accuracy. “Controversial in life, Leonardo still provokes a bewildering range of admirers and detractors. No other artist is burdened with such baggage, but then, the ambiguity and gaps in our knowledge render him a blank sheet onto which almost anything can be projected.”
Lies, Damned Lies, And Statistics
A new study suggests that more American adults listen to classical music than conventional wisdom would lead you to believe. Peter Dobrin points out that every piece of reliable evidence about classical audiences points to a larger audience. “While skepticism about any survey is a good thing (after all, what qualifies as classical these days, the Three Tenors?), the fact is that Americans clearly like classical music and they’re willing to admit it – in large numbers.”
The Rise and Fall of Greg Gatenby
Greg Gatenby’s life was a series of paradoxes and contradictions, says Philip Marchand, and that’s exactly what made him such a valuable figure in Canada’s literary society. “Like many amateur scholars, Gatenby resented what he felt was the cushy life of professors blessed with sabbaticals and tenure who didn’t do nearly enough, in his view, to advance the cause of Canadian literature… He was certainly an elitist — but within the bounds of his elitism, he was remarkably democratic. Every writer was treated the same way at Harbourfront, whether he was Saul Bellow or a poet from Tonga.”
Bringing Art To Mass Transit
It was nearly 50 years ago when the city of Minneapolis tore up one of the most extensive streetcar systems in the world, in return for a one-time payoff from the auto industry. Now, with traffic reaching crisis levels, the city is spending millions to build a single new light rail line, a project which is viewed as a long-overdue public good by some, and a money-sucking folly by others. In an effort to make the rail line a desirable method of travel for a populace used to climbing into SUVs for their daily commute, the station stops are being designed by local artists and architects with an eye to reflecting their surroundings. In particular, the station rising outside the MetroDome in downtown Minneapolis is “rich with symbolic references to the site’s past.”