One hundred Republican members of Congress recommend ending funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and PBS. Says the report: “In 2001, America spent $27 billion on nonprofit arts funding: $11.5 billion from the private sector; $14 billion in earned income (tickets sales, etc.); and $1.3 billion in combined federal, state, and local public support (of which $105 million was from the NEA — 0.39% of total nonprofit arts funding),” the report states. “The funding could easily be funded by private donations. Savings: $1.8 billion over ten years ($678 million over five years).”
Tag: 10.05.05
US News Eliminates Cultural Coverage
US News & World Report is cutting staff, including culture editor Sarah Sklaroff. “The culture department is being eliminated.”
Stop The Insanity. Star Soloist Fees Are Too High
“The time has come to impose a ceiling on concert fees of the kind that prevails in all the leading opera houses.” Outrageous soloist fees are killing the music business. “If the orchestras won’t ban greedy-guts soloists, the funding authorities should step in. Music is paid for in part by the taxpayer, who does not generally approve of subsidising rich foreigners unless they play football, and in part by private and corporate donors whose innocence of musical economics is cruelly abused by avaricious musicians. A principle needs to be re-established. Money that is given to the arts in a spirit of idealism should be put towards creative renewal. Any other purpose is bad for business and death for art.”
Working To Save Gulf Coast Art
Conservators are working overtime to save artworks damaged in the Gulf Coast hurricanes. “The American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works, based in Washington, is sending conservators to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency and cultural associations determine how to best repair waterlogged historic documents, sodden furniture and artwork. It also will help private citizens with damaged collections and heirlooms. Even before the floodwaters buried New Orleans, efforts were under way to preserve art treasures.”
My Name Is Shakespeare, Theory #3,482
The latest theory in the who-was-Shakespeare sweepstakes has arrived: “An Elizabethan diplomat named Sir Henry Neville was the real author of William Shakespeare’s plays, a new book claims.”
CBC: What I Learned From Shutting Down?
Of course the first priority for the CBC is trying to get its audiences back after a long work stoppage. But “beyond the short-term strategy of attracting back viewers, where does the CBC sees itself going and what does it see as its purpose? Remember, it’s been down this road before.”
Stearns: Another Take On “Atomic”
David Stearns: “The opera walks an uncertain line between representation and abstraction, unfolding along traditional linear lines until a fleet of dancers in military uniform, choreographed by Lucinda Childs, suggests “Springtime for Hitler” is on the way. Not until you’re deep into the opera do you realize that complete portrayals of key characters aren’t attempted; they’re presented, nonjudgmentally, in pieces for the audience to assemble. Is it a Faust story? Nothing so cliched. I saw an ironic parable of how saving the world may well destroy it.”
More Animals-On-Parade
The decorated fiberglass animals-on-parade phenomenon continues in cities around North America. Critics hate them: “It’s the scourge of Western civilization.” “Yet the fiberglass phenomenon remains wildly popular. Superficially, at least, the reasons are obvious. Most ordinary folks, children especially, find the sculptures just plain fun. They’re relatively cheap, so corporate patrons can easily sponsor local artists to decorate them. Because they are usually displayed for only a few months, they aren’t around long enough to become eyesores. And when their time is up, they’re auctioned off for charity, civic institutions or other worthy causes.”
Musicians Protest Pittsburgh Ballet’s Recordings
Union musicians in Pittsburgh plan a four-day protest of live music to demonstrate against Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s decision to replace its ochestra with recorded music. “Pittsburgh Ballet announced the elimination of the orchestra during unsuccessful negotiations with the musicians this past summer. The company says the move will save $551,000, which is in keeping with its overall 2005-06 budget of $6.4 million, down $1 million from the previous season. In January, PBT had a deficit of nearly $1 million.”
In Cleveland – Only One In Ten Seats Filled For Organ Concert
Cleveland’s Severance Hall was almost empty for its first major organ concert this year. “Only about 10 percent of the seats in Severance Hall were occupied Sunday when the hall’s Organ Recital Series began its season with a recital by Paul Jacobs, a wizardly musician who deserves massive audiences.”