Corporate giving to the arts may be down in recent years, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that America’s business community is getting out of the culture game. In fact, signs of corporate commitment to the arts are all around, says Kurt Anderson. “By embracing art and artists as small parts of their businesses because they’ve decided that it’s good for their corporate images,” American companies may be showing us the future of private arts support.
Tag: 11.22.03
Why The Guardian Takes Arts Coverage Seriously
“Between them the Guardian and the Observer now employ about 60 critics backed by a similar number of editors and subeditors. The Guardian arts desk has about a dozen commissioning editors and subeditors to call upon (about twice the number of 10 years ago). The largely literary Saturday Review, which did not exist 10 years ago, has a similar number. There are good reasons for the high level of commitment to the arts.”
When Dali Drew For Disney
“An extraordinary cartoon drawn by Salvador Dalí for Walt Disney in 1946 is now being screened for the first time in 57 years at film festivals around the world. “Destino”, a six-minute cartoon that was abandoned by Disney before its completion, has already won the grand prize for best short film at the Melbourne International Film Festival.”
Timelessness vs. Timeliness
Some theatergoers can only roll their eyes at the lengths to which some contemporary directors will go to “update” classics like Shakespeare for the modern era. But, says director Michael Bogdanov, such modernizations are absolutely necessary for the classics to remain relevant to today’s audiences. “By removing the barriers that exist between the language and the audience, by allowing them to identify with the characters clearly, by associating the events with contemporary politics, I allowed the plays to breathe.”
The Paradox Of Emotive Performance
You would think that a performer who is truly moved by the music s/he is playing would be exactly the kind of performer an audience would want most to hear. But in reality, emotional connections can be both a blessing and a curse for performers, who must battle “trembling limbs, nerves, [and] memory problems. All these can intrude between the musician and the music, and between the music and the listener. Some of the most outwardly emotional music requires enormous control.”
Is Canada Ready For Its Theatrical Close-Up?
Canadian fiction has long since come of age on the world stage, but what about Canadian drama? “If its meta-narrative is to be taken at face value, the defining wave of English Canadian theatre in the late 1960s and early seventies has morphed from telling local stories into building a national identity, with international recognition viewed as an added bonus, if it happens.” But now, a series of international partnerships and a wave of productions in Europe suggest that Canadian playwrights are finally being elevated to global status.
Assassination As A Cultural Flashpoint
“Had the assassination of John F. Kennedy not happened 40 years ago today, it’s hard to imagine the writing of Six Degrees of Separation, the making of Bonnie and Clyde, the career of novelist Don DeLillo, the apocalyptic music of the Doors or the popularity of ‘Grand Theft Auto’ and other violent interactive games… After Kennedy’s death, the world became bleaker, stranger somehow. The culture — the arts it produced and the audiences that absorbed them — turned suspicious, became less respectful of government, more prone to what some would call ‘paranoiac flights of fancy,’ flights that were alternately sinister and playful.”
Bringing Culture To Big D
Dallas may be better known than Fort Worth, but until recently, if you wanted to see great art in the Texas Metroplex, you had to head west, to Fort Worth’s impressive museum district. But that was before Raymond Nasher decided to keep his extensive sculpture collection at home, and put it to good use in downtown Dallas. “As I strolled through the Nasher’s light-filled galleries, this new urban shrine to modern sculpture seemed remarkably understated, unusual in image-conscious Dallas… Finally, Dallas can claim, without the braggadocio the city is famous for, that it too is an art destination.”
Progress In Edmonton
Eighteen months ago, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra was in serious trouble, running deficits it couldn’t afford, and facing a revolt from its own musicians after the board dismissed music director Grzegorz Nowak. Since then, the ESO has brought its finances under control, added several orchestra players to its board, and this week, the musicians ratified an extension of their current contract, which will keep the orchestra on a slow but steady path to recovery.
San Antonio: Turnover at the Top
“After two years at the helm of the financially troubled San Antonio Symphony, Executive Director Steven Brosvik is stepping down. Brosvik, 38, pledged to enhance the symphony’s image and boost fund raising when he took the job in March 2001 and began work that summer. But many potential donors didn’t open their pocketbooks during Brosvik’s tenure. This year, the orchestra cut its season short and declared bankruptcy.” There is speculation that Brosvik’s resignation may have been part of a quid pro quo for the SAS’s musicians, who recently signed a contract which officially cancelled the 2003-04 season and gutted their future salaries and benefits.