|
2004
2004-01-05
St. Louis: Dry Spell For The Arts
In St. Louis, "many arts groups barely have survived the recent lean years. Only five years ago, a 100-page report commissioned by the civic group St. Louis 2004 found that St. Louis boasted a healthy and relatively well-funded arts scene. But that was when arts organizations were reaping the benefits of a flush economy. Since then, foundations have seen their portfolios shrink, and corporations that once generously contributed have moved or have been bought, and the government has collected fewer taxes to share." St. Louis Post-Dispatch 01/04/04
2004-01-05
The New Arts Landscape
Tighter funding, changed attitudes--it's tough to run an arts organization these days. Chicago-area arts administrators reflect on the new cultural climate: "There's a strong current of anti-intellectualism around these days, which becomes antielitism, and arts groups tend to be tarred with that charge unfairly. There should be some recognition of the arts as a socializing force. But at least the historical lack of government support for the arts in America means that we have not become dependent on it." Chicago Tribune 01/04/04
2004-01-06
Nonprofit Blues
The stock market might be up and the economy shaking off the doldrums, but America's nonprofits won't be seeing much relief any time soon. "The nonprofit sector tends to lag the rest of the economy; it is slower to show the distress of a recession or the benefits of a recovery. Analysts say the sector could continue to be weighed down for years, largely by fiscal woes of state governments, including Illinois', and the multiyear budgeting used by many foundations." Chicago Tribune 01/05/04
2004-01-07
San Francisco's New Arts Mayor?
San Francisco has a new mayor, and the city's cultural community is optimistic. "As Gavin Newsom takes center stage in City Hall with his swearing in Thursday, San Francisco's panoramic arts world awaits the new perspectives and conceptual shifts that may come with a new mayoral administration. Fingers are crossed - with some eyes skeptically rolling at the idea - that a kind of arts renaissance could be in the works for San Francisco in 2004 and beyond." San Francisco Chronicle 01/06/04
2004-01-23
Small Town, Big Plans
Butler, Pennsylvania is a former farm town about 40 miles north of Pittsburgh, which in recent years has grown to be a distant suburb of the Steel City, with the result that Butler's residents are now desirous of something more of a civic identity than grain elevators can provide. "In response, the local arts council has designed a five-year plan to develop Butler Cultural Village, a one-block area in downtown Butler" which will bring together the town theater, orchestra, and a new museum in one complex. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 01/22/04
2004-01-23
No Boost For Florida Arts
Florida arts advocates hoping to rebound from deep cuts in state funding last year got no help from Governor Jeb Bush's 2004 budget proposals. "Buried in general revenue appropriations is $8.5 million recommended for arts grants. That's below Bush's $12 million recommendation last year, although slightly above the $6 million actually approved by the 2003 Florida Legislature." South Florida Sun-Sentinel 01/22/04
2004-01-23
Prairie Art Central
Sedan, Kansas is a prairie town that not long ago looked like it was dying. But the town has reinvented itself as an art colony. "As word spreads, artists have begun arriving. Some are refugees from what they say are overcommercialized art scenes in places like Santa Fe, N.M. One, Stan Herd, a pioneer of environmental art, has built a monumental stone work called "Prairiehenge" on a hilltop outside town." The New York Times 01/22/04
2004-01-23
Austin Arts Outdraw Sports
A new national study reports that "despite a flagging economy and a stubborn reputation for elitism, Austin Texas's performing arts outdraw sports events and live music, while their audiences are more diverse than is commonly assumed. Those are among the findings of a national study on attendance and attitudes toward theater, dance, symphony, opera and related arts in five cities." Austin Statesman 01/15/04
2004-01-27
Now That's a Mayor Who Supports The Arts
The under-construction Dallas Center for the Performing Arts gets a very public boost this week, with a donation of $1 million from the family of late Dallas mayor Annette Strauss. "Supporters of the $275 million performing arts center hope to raise $257 million in private funds for its design and completion, with the rest coming from city bond money. The center's opening is targeted for 2009. The Strauss family contribution brings the amount of private donations to $140 million." Dallas Morning News 01/26/04
2004-01-27
It's Not Just Culture, It's A Smart Investment
"Armed with new custom-created research claiming Chicago-area theaters are worth a whopping $347 million in total economic activity to their home metropolis, the League of Chicago Theatres is on a newly energized mission to convince local corporate leaders that Chicago theater deserves to be taken more seriously by business interests... The study, to be released on Monday, argues that Chicago's live theater industry has doubled its direct and indirect economic impact in just seven years--from $164 million in 1996 to $347 million in 2002." Chicago Tribune 01/26/04
2004-01-27
Boston's Controversial Arts Commissioner Quits
"Boston cultural affairs commissioner Esther Kaplan has abruptly resigned after five years as Mayor Thomas M. Menino's liaison to the city's arts and cultural community. Neither Kaplan nor Menino would discuss what led to the resignation... News of Kaplan's departure surprised many in Boston's tight-knit cultural community, but only a handful expressed disappointment... Over the years, the heads of midsize and large arts groups privately complained that Kaplan functioned more as an advocate than a leader, focusing her energy on grass-roots and neighborhood efforts, sometimes at the expense of those with far bigger audiences." Boston Globe 01/24/04
2004-02-04
Promoting Smoking Through The Arts
In Seattle, the company that makes Lucky Strike cigarettes has become a patron of the arts. The company spreads money around, promoting Luckys in subtle ways - such as hiring attractive young people to sit in bars passing out tickets to alternative arts events (and talking up smokes). "Instead of battering the brain of the target audience, Lucky slides neatly into consciousness, trailing clouds of glory gathered from discreet arts funding. Credit spreads by word of mouth, making the product--which was launched as a brand in 1871--appear modest and friendly." Seattle Post-Intelligencer 02/03/04
2004-02-03
Bush Proposes Smithsonian Budget Increase
Along with proposing to increase the budget for the National Endowment for the Arts, George Bush proposes increasing the Smithsonian's budget by five percent. "The administration proposed giving the museum complex $628 million for fiscal year 2005, an increase of $32 million from the current year." Washington Post
2004-02-03
Denver Arts Institutions Had A Difficult 2003
Overall, Denver's arts organizations saw declines in attendance, membership and fundraising in 2003. It was the second year in a row of declines... Rocky Mountain News 02/01/04
2004-02-03
The NEA Reborn
So George Bush is proposing that the National Endowment for the Arts get a big increase in funding. Roger Kimball writes that while there's still plenty of room to debate whether the arts should be publicly funded, the NEA has reinvented itself into an institution that suddenly matters. "After a couple of decades of cultural schizophrenia, the NEA has become a clear-sighted, robust institution intent on bringing important art to the American people." National Review 01/29/04
2004-02-05
Where The Ahts Are Wicked Populah
"More than three-fourths of metropolitan Boston residents took in a performing arts event in 2002, according to the results of a new national survey to be released today at City Hall. In fact, more Greater Bostonians attend performing arts events (78 percent) than professional sports events (56 percent) each year, according to a report by the Performing Arts Research Coalition." And in Boston, home of some of the country's most rabid sports fans, that's saying something. Boston Globe
2004-02-05
Vandals Hit Detroit Arts High School - Again
The music program at the Detroit High School for the Performing Arts is one of the best in the nation, and has been widely praised for its work in bringing the arts to an inner-city population which might otherwise have been economically frozen out of such opportunities. But the program has apparently also become a favorite target of area vandals, with more than $200,000 of damage caused to instruments and equipment in the most recent break-in. Desiree Cooper is dismayed by the vandalism, but wonders if such rebellions without cause are actually further evidence that Detroit's youth desperately need a chance to experience the arts. Detroit Free Press
2004-02-09
Jumping Hoops To Support Cleveland Arts
In Cleveland, county commissioners are trying to get more money for the arts. "The Cuyahoga County Commissioners resolved that half of the $20 million-per-year property-tax increase would go to arts groups and individuals to protect those jobs, encourage new arts enterprise and stabilize cultural assets that boost the county's image, attracting visitors and investors. But state law prohibits the arts from being named as a beneficiary of an economic development tax. Because voters won't see arts and culture mentioned on the ballot, campaign leaders want to make sure they understand that the levy is about both arts and general economic development, especially jobs." The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 02/06/04
2004-02-09
Increase Funding For The NEA? Yeah, Right!
So arts supporters are cheering George Bush's proposal to raise the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts. Big deal, writes Dominic Papatola. "Even if Bush's proposed boost isn't the cynical political maneuver it appears to be—who wants to bet that congressional Republicans don't have a backroom deal to nix the increase?—the NEA budget will still be $37 million less than its high-water mark. And that's in nonadjusted dollars." St. Paul Pioneer-Press 02/08/04
2004-02-09
Really? An Increase For The NEA?
Linda Winer was, like many arts lovers, stunned that George Bush wants to increase the National Endowment for the Arts' budget by $18 million. "So why, when important segments of the GOP are complaining about Bush's election-year spending spree, would the president dare to wave millions of NEA dollars at Congress? Sorry, but I cannot keep from fearing that the new elevated visibility of the NEA will put artists right back in the crosshairs..." Newsday 02/08/04
2004-02-10
Columbia University's Arts Initiative
Columbia University wants to become more involved in the arts. How to do this? First, Columbia has hired director Gregory Mosher. "All of us believe there should be far less separation among intellectual and creative activities. We don't know exactly how we will do this. But we are going to make an effort. We hope to build something quite distinctive, and to make a contribution." The New York Times 02/09/04
2004-02-10
Seattle Rakes In The Music Dollars
A new study measures the economic impact of Seattle's music business. Figures show that the music business generates "more than $650 million in annual revenue and 8,700 jobs for the local economy, according to an economic impact study released last night by Mayor Greg Nickels. When combined with revenue generated by businesses that support the core music industry, the figure tops $1.3 billion." Seattle Post-Intelligencer 02/09/04
2004-02-10
Toledo Arts Groups Painting The Town Red
Arts groups in Toledo, Ohio are selling plenty of tickets these days. But that isn't protecting the bottom line. "Some of Toledo’s best-known regional arts and community assets - from black-tie traditions to avant-garde artists - are working in a new medium: red ink. At least four of the area’s major venues have posted a string of deficit years, according to records they’ve filed with the IRS: the Toledo Opera, the Arts Commission, COSI, and Citifest." Toledo Blade 02/09/04
2004-02-10
Figuring Out Baryshnikov
Mikhail Baryshnikov is a prodigious talent. But "in all the agony and ecstasy that has surrounded Baryshnikov's every move – the matchless dancing, the seething love-life, the mediocre film career, the downmarket commercial activities – it has taken time to see that his greatest claim to world gratitude is the almost unbelievable generosity with which he has marketed his talent." The Telegraph (UK)
2004-02-12
Sacramento Helps Out Opera, Ballet With Loans
The Sacramento City Council votes to help the city's opera and ballet companies financially. "Both the Sacramento City Council and county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to grant the Sacramento Ballet a dollar for each dollar it pays of a $362,000 consolidated loan from 1989 and 1995, without interest. Over the next decade, the ballet will donate half that amount in tickets and arts programming to underprivileged audiences. The Sacramento Opera will pay half of a $76,781 loan from the city in the same manner over five years." Sacramento Bee 02/11/04
2004-02-12
Wolfe Leaving The Public
George C. Wolfe is leaving the helm of New York's Public Theatre. "Mr. Wolfe has established something of a cult of personality at the Public, in the tradition of the legendary Joseph Papp. And as the leading black stage director in the country and an openly gay man, he embodied the Public's determination to reach diverse artists and audiences." The New York Times
2004-02-13
Bush's NEA Increase Proposal - Just Hot Air?
George Bush proposes increasing the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts by $18 million. But in arts circles, "suspicion of Bush's motives, however, is widespread. Why in the world is this president offering a palm frond to the arts, even a modest one, while cutting other domestic programs in a $2.4 trillion budget that's heavy on defense and military spending and simultaneously aimed at deficit reduction?" San Francisco Chronicle 02/12/04
2004-02-13
Bush's NEA Increase Proposal - Just Hot Air?
George Bush proposes increasing the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts by $18 million. But in arts circles, "suspicion of Bush's motives, however, is widespread. Why in the world is this president offering a palm frond to the arts, even a modest one, while cutting other domestic programs in a $2.4 trillion budget that's heavy on defense and military spending and simultaneously aimed at deficit reduction?" San Francisco Chronicle 02/12/04
2004-02-18
America's Closing Borders (Artists Too)
"According to organisations connected with film, theatre, music, opera and dance, new American immigration and visa policies are making it extremely difficult, sometimes impossible, for foreign artists of all sorts to come to the U.S. to perform and show their work. No one, it seems, is exempt." The Guardian (UK)
2004-02-18
Ambitious Plans For An American National Theatre
"Today, no one doubts that Lincoln Center Theater is one of the most vital not-for-profit companies in the nation, but its status as a national theatre--indeed, the question of what a national theatre is--is open to debate. So at the dawn of the 21st century, and in the painful, soul-searching aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, a new national-theatre movement is underway." Backstage 02/17/04
2004-02-18
Study: American Participation In The Arts Is High
A new study of audiences for the performing arts in America confirms a high rate of participation and consumption of the arts. "Approximately three-quarters of those participating in the newest survey reported attending one live professional performing arts event within the past 12 months. While this ranged from a high of 78% for Boston respondents to a low of 71% for those in Sarasota, the numbers nevertheless represent a significant level of continuity across a broad swath of the nation." Backstage 02/16/04
2004-02-18
Do Arts Taxes Help The Local Economy?
"Does spending tax dollars on the arts give the local economy any more of a boost? Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) residents will vote in March on Issue 31, a property-tax levy that would raise nearly $21 million annually to help local industries, including the arts. If it passes, what can the voters expect in exchange for their higher property tax?" The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 02/15/04
2004-02-18
How To Save The NEA? Privatize!
Tony Brown writes that it's all well and good for George Bush to propose budget increases for the National Endowment for the Arts. But if he really wanted to do something, he should privatize the agency and give it a real endowment that could sustain its funding for years to come. The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 02/15/04
2004-02-18
Americans For The Arts - How To Spend $80 Million
In 2001 Americans for the Arts learned it was getting a bequest of between $80 million-$120 million. And what will Americans for the Artsdo with the money? "The first installment in January 2003 topped $3 million, and a comparable cheque arrived last month. The board is handling the funds with great caution. Newly established committees for investment and planning decided to put most of the income into an endowment to extend the value of the donation beyond 30 years, with a target of $100 million." The Art Newspaper 02/13/04
2004-02-19
Florida Arts Groups Fighting To Restore State Funding Cuts
Last year the Florida State Legislature cut its arts funding by 75 percent. This year Arts and cultural groups are "fighting back to restore money that had been legally set aside for cultural and historic preservation. They have found surprisingly strong support, convincing many legislators that the arts are not just about culture but are also an economic issue important to tourism and jobs." The Sun-Sentinel (South Florida) 02/18/04
2004-02-19
Gioia: Of Arts And Logistics
Dana Gioia says his job as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts is to take charge of logistics. "He points out that it was Nancy Hanks, the endowment's chair during the Nixon administration, who spread the money that helped build dance companies, opera companies, and museums. As Gioia sees it, there is no fight: Most people want the arts in their communities and schools. The only real issues are logistical." Boston Globe 02/18/04
2004-02-20
A Code Of Ethics For Nonprofits
As government officials consider drafting new oversight rules for nonprofits, a Washington group proposes a code of ethics that nonprofits could sign on to. "As a matter of fundamental principle, the nonprofit and philanthropic community should adhere to the highest ethical standards because it is the right thing to do. As a matter of pragmatic self-interest, the community should do so because public trust in our performance is the bedrock of our legitimacy." Backstage 02/19/04
2004-02-20
A Trio Of Jobs
Three of New York's most important cultural institutions have vacancies in their top jobs. Running Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera and the Public Theatre are among the most difficult arts jobs there are. And it's not immediately obvious who the should get the jobs. The New York Times 02/19/04
2004-02-24
Keeping Cuba Out Of The USA
"Over the past few months, the State Department has cracked down on Cuban visitors—specifically artists—seeking to enter the United States. Since November, every Cuban musician who applied for a visa—151 in all—has been turned down, including the five Grammy nominees invited to the recent awards' ceremony. The State Department denies a specific policy against musicians, although officials appear to have raised the bar for performers who want to tour the United States." MSNBC 02/23/04
2004-02-24
In Connecticut - Are Arts Supporter's Troubles Trouble For The Arts?
Connecticut governor John Rowland has been a major supporter of the arts. Now the governor's in trouble, and his "troubles couldn't come at a worse time for cultural groups. The arts are weathering tough economic times locally, statewide and nationally. New initiatives are being downsized or postponed. And a new state super-agency--established by the legislature at the governor's urging last year to oversee the state's interests in tourism, arts, history, culture and film--is still finding its identity, focus and voice. During this time of trials and tribulations for the governor, is the arts agenda lost?" Hartford Courant 02/22/04
2004-02-24
Welcome To The New Houston
"For most of the past half-century, Houston was the proud avatar of freebooting suburban sprawl. You could do anything you wanted in Houston, as long as you did it as God intended, behind the wheel of your car. Downtown sprouted a forest of new office towers in the 1970s, but the old business district along and near Main Street fell into disuse." In the past seven years, however, Houston has transformed itself... San Antonio Express-News 02/22/04
2004-02-24
Making A Case For The Arts In North Carolina
"One out of every eight people in North Carolina is a member, supporter or volunteer of an arts organization. The craft arts make about $538 million a year for North Carolina." Wilmington Star-News (North Carolina) 02/20/04
2004-02-25
Making Miami PAC Whiz Bang
"In a bid to turn Miami's Performing Arts Center into one of the world's whiz-bang wonders, students from the MIT Media Lab are spending this semester figuring out how to incorporate digital technology into the center's opera, concerts and ballet." Miami Herald 02/24/04
2004-02-26
America Gets Its National Opera Company
The US Congress has marked the changing of the name of the Washington Opera to the "National Opera." Congress decided in June 2000 that the 48-year-old company whould be renamed. "According to Placido Domingo, the company's general director, the new name is a reflection of "the fact that it is in the nation's capital and therefore touches a wide national audience." Washington Post
2004-02-27
Challenging The Nea Funding Increase
President Bush's proposal to increase the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts by 15 percent is a good thing, right? So why are so many arts supporters talking down the idea? Backstage 02/26/04
2004-03-01
Cleveland Voters Vote On Arts Funding Measure
Cleveland voters go to the polls Tuesday to vote on a measure that would provide $100 million for economic development. "Half the money would underwrite job creation, worker training and retraining, brownfield cleanup and business start-ups. The other half would go to cultural groups and artists through a county-run grant process involving the review of applicants by panels of community leaders and out-of-region arts experts." The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 02/29/04
2004-03-01
Attacking The Idea Of The Creative Class
Richard Florida's "Creative Class" ideas have been widely embraced in America. But there's a backlash, and he is "taking political hits from the right and the left "There is just one problem: The basic economics behind [Florida's] ideas don't work," writes one critic. Another "calls Florida's city-revitalization theory 'so wrong and backward that it reads like satire.' Florida has mistaken the side effects of a booming economy for the causes of growth. After all, 'Potemkin bohemias' are not going to get old steel cities humming again." Boston Globe 02/29/04
2004-05-11
Massachusetts' Billion Dollar Culture Crisis
A new report says that Massachusetts cultural groups pump more than a billion dollars a year into the economy. But the "cultural sector is losing its luster as a tourist destination, and it is in danger of losing ground as a cultural hub as well. Theaters and historic homes are crumbling, and vital museums and arts centers are struggling to pay for basic repairs, maintenance, and expansion planned, the report found. Yet Massachusetts is one of the few culture-rich regions of the country that provides no steady support for capital improvements." Boston Globe
2004-05-17
Cultural Affairs Funding Eyed
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed his $46.9 billion executive budget. The Department of Cultural Affairs would get $104.03 million. That's $10 million more than the mayor had proposed in January for his FY05 preliminary budget; but it's $15.7 million less than cultural funding for the present fiscal year Backstage 05/12/04
2004-05-17
Minnesota Mayor Wants More $$ For Arts
The mayor of St. Paul has responded to a study which showed the city's arts groups stuck in a cycle of deficits by proposing a new annual infusion of cash into the arts scene. Mayor Randy Kelly's proposal, which was crafted in consultation with several arts leaders, calls for a $25 million bump in annual support for St. Paul's cultural sector, including $6.5 million in new public subsidies. St. Paul arts groups have been struggling in comparison wth those across the Mississippi River in larger, more cosmopolitan Minneapolis. St. Paul Pioneer Press 05/12/04
2004-05-17
He Cuts Because He Loves?
San Francisco's new mayor recently announced that the city's arts grant program would be taking a 25% hit in his new budget, infuriating arts supporters. But Gavin Newsom insists that he loves the arts, and plans for them to be a major part of his administration's goals for the city. The mayor got together for a meeting with 200 area artists last week, with author Dave Eggers moderating the discussion. San Francisco Chronicle 05/12/04
2004-05-01
California Arts Economic Engine
California's nonprofit arts groups pump $5.4 billion annually into the state's economy, according to an economic impact study released Thursday by the California Arts Council. This represents a 152 percent increase since the last study was done in 1994. Sacramento Bee 04/30/04
2004-05-01
Arts Funding Outlook Mixed For 2004
If 2003 was the year of uniformly negative news nationwide on the state arts-funding front, 2004 is shaping up to be the year of the definite maybe, with some states looking at boosting funding and some localities considering more cuts. And in Florida, which sustained deep arts-funding cuts last year, well-mobilized cultural organizations may find themselves feeling sorry/grateful for their advocacy efforts. Backstage 04/29/04
2004-05-01
Study: Philanthropic Giving Down By Almost $1 Billion
Charitable giving by America's grant-making foundations -- a universe of nearly 65,000 organizations -- fell from $30.5 billion in 2001 and $30.4 billion in 2002 to approximately $29.7 billion in 2003. A downward shift of $800 million might, arguably, be small change when one compares it to America's multitrillion-dollar economy, but for nonprofits, it is another sign that times have been tough, are still tough, and are likely to remain tough for the foreseeable future. A nearly $1 billion decline in giving in just three years, in fact, stands in stark contrast to the boom years of the late 1990s, when foundations, feeling flush and optimistic due to the dot-com stock market upswing, seemed to forever be moving their giving levels via a northern trajectory. Backstage 04/29/04
2004-05-01
Miami - America's New Arts Capital?
Is it true that experts consider "greater Miami as a potential capital of arts in the Americas?" If so, the state of Florida isn't stepping up to the table to support it happening. Miami Herald 04/29/04
2004-05-01
Officials to Investigate Faltering Arts Center
When Pennsylvania's Mountain Laurel Performing Arts Center closed its doors only five months after opening, arts supporters and state officials were aghast at what appeared to be a classic case of mismanagement and overreach. Now, the state Auditor General's office is getting involved at the request of Pennsylvania legislators, investigating the decisions and deals that led to the construction of the $35 million venue. Mountain Laurel, located in the Pocono Mountains in the northeastern part of the state, was to have been the summer home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and planned to host summer concerts by the Philadelphia Orchestra as well. Scranton (PA) Times Tribune 04/28/04
2004-05-01
Busing In The Artists
Paducah, Kentucky wants artists. And they'll help you move there if you are one. Paducah's "Artist Relocation Program has exerted the same magnetic pull on others who've dreamed of living, working and, most importantly, owning in a neighborhood of like-minded residents. In 2 1/2 years, nearly 40 people have moved here to transform a beat-up area of homes known as Lower Town into a blossoming art colony. Chicago Tribune 04/27/04
2004-05-01
Florida City Bets Future On Arts
The city of Sarasota, Florida has decided that its future is with the arts. "A consultant's proposal would add up to 375,000 square feet of new cultural space and 300,000 to 600,000 square feet for shops, restaurants, galleries, offices and residences. There's also a planned three-acre public park, a 10th Street pier and marina, and a baywalk path along the water. Sarasota Herald-Tribune 04/25/04
2004-05-01
Big Increase For Florida Arts Funding
Florida lawmakers agreed Saturday to boost spending on arts and cultural programs by millions of dollars in the coming year -- but killed a plan that would guarantee future funding." The increase cheers arts supporters, but leaves the arts vulnerable in future budgets. The News-Journal (Florida) 04/25/04
2004-05-01
Protests Over Philly Arts Cuts
Philadelphia cultural leaders are protesting the mayor's plans to cut $4.4 million of cultural funding. "The city now spends just 12 cents per $100 on the city's arts and cultural sector, which in turn supports 11,000 jobs, generates more than $560 million in regional spending and returns $6.5 million in city tax revenue, according to a 1998 Pennsylvania Economy League study. CentreDaily.com (AP) 04/20/04
2004-05-01
Building A Downtown Neighborhood (We Hope)
As mid-sized American cities go, Minneapolis has a fairly thriving urban center. But what the city has always lacked is a heavily populated downtown neighborhood to anchor its impressive cultural scene. A new building spree aims to create that sought-after mix of residential and commercial space, but Minneapolitans have seen this type of ambition before, only to see the grandest plans fall to the budget knife or the wrecking ball. And at the core of the debate is the question of what makes a neighborhood vital: is it upscale boutiques? Affordable housing? Lots of coffee shops and bars? Easy access to theatres and baseball games? The goalposts seem to move with each passing year. City Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul) 04/21/04
2004-04-20
Two National Groups Fold Into Americans For the Arts
Two national arts groups, the State Arts Advocacy League of America (SAALA) and the National Community Arts Network (NCAN), have agreed to be folded into Americans for the Arts. Backstage 04/19/04
2004-04-20
The Battle For Florida
The state of Florida slashed arts funding last year. But arts supporters were cheered in the past few weeks when members of the legislature proposed a cultural trust fund that would provide long term funding for the arts, restoring last year's cuts. But Governor Jeb Bush has been throwing cold water on the plan: "The priorities of the future should be established by future governors and legislatures. That's the general principle that I support and believe in. Miami Herald 04/18/04
2004-04-20
Old Culture War Fears Bedevil Arts Funding (Still)
The failure of a major initiative to fund arts in Cleveland came down to some very old issues left over from the culture wars of the 1990s: "The reluctance to approve government-administered money for the arts might be due to the two deep-rooted and opposing fears that the Mapplethorpe battle caused: Would the grants pay for art that the public finds incomprehensible, unattractive, obscene or blasphemous? And would the government place restrictions on artists' freedom of expression as a direct or indirect condition of the grants? The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 04/18/04
2004-04-20
Utah's Culture Boom
Utah arts groups are struggling. But voters have recently approved bonds for several big cultural building projects. Indeed, there's a building boom going on in Salt Lake City as about $500 million in new cultural facilities are contemplated. Salt Lake Tribune 04/18/04
2004-04-20
Is New Jersey In For An Arts Funding Increase?
After two years of budget cuts totaling about $4 million, the New Jersey arts community has something to celebrate: a proposed increase of $6.6 million in state funding for arts organizations and projects. New Brunswick Home News Tribune (AJ) 04/18/04
2004-04-20
California Arts Council Director Resigns
Barry Hessenius has resigned as director of the California Arts Council. "During his tenure, Hessenius has overseen Arts Council budgets that reached a high of $30.7 million in 2000-01 and a low of $1 million for the current fiscal year, a drop of more than 97 percent in funding for the arts by the state. The money had been awarded as grants to more than 4,000 of the state's arts endeavors, large and small, rural and inner-city - everything from artists in residence in schools to major orchestras. Sacramento Bee 04/17/04
2004-04-20
Cities Zero In On Arts Budgets
Last year it was state governments that slashed arts funding. This year it's cities. Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New York... all are looking at cutting cultural funding as hey struggle to balance budgets. Philadelphia Business Journal 04/13/04
2004-04-20
A Lincoln Center Plan That's "Evolutionary"
After years of debate, finally a plan for a Lincoln Center makeover that works. "What we've got here is the inverse of the Wow Factor: a new plan for the center's public spaces so understated as to seem almost uncanny. It looks just like Lincoln Center, only smarter, more self-aware and amazingly confident in its sense of direction. The plan is evolutionary. It tweaks, here and there, the existing architecture of Lincoln Center, but the overall effect is to enhance the original rather than to negate or override it. It's respectful. This seems to me an invaluable civic lesson at this intemperate moment in our national life. The New York Times 04/13/04
2004-04-20
California City Funds Plan To Lure Artists
The city of Ventura, California has become so expensive to live in that artists moved out. So "last week, the city gave Minneapolis-based Artspace Projects Inc. $400,000 to begin work on a plan to provide homes and studios to at least 25 artists and their families. The company, which specializes in carving airy lofts out of abandoned industrial buildings, aims to raise at least $10 million, mostly from state and federal agencies and private foundations. Los Angeles Times 04/12/04
2004-04-15
Arts Make A Comeback In The Heartland
The post-9/11 focus on national security and the weakened U.S. economy has famously cost arts groups millions of dollars in local, state, and federal funding over the last few years, but in some cities, the arts are starting to rise again. In Indianapolis, where funding cuts hit hard, the city's Arts Council will see its budget rise this year, despite flat levels of government funding. Contributions from foundations and the private sector are up, and there is reason to believe that local officials are beginning to buy into the notion that money pumped into the arts is returned to the local economy in measurable ways. Indianapolis Star 04/11/04
2004-04-15
Gioia Presents NEA Budget To Congress
National Endowment for the Arts chairman Dana Gioia presented the Bush administration's request for a 15 percent budget increase to Congress. "The need for national arts leadership has never been more critical. There is presently a national crisis in state, local, and private arts funding across the United States. Budget cutbacks are nearly universal, and the majority of institutions in most arts fields are currently operating at a deficit with numerous bankruptcies, even among established organizations. Our appropriations -- 40% of which are directly allocated to state arts agencies and regional organizations -- provide much needed stability in this challenging environment." Backstage 04/09/04
2004-04-15
The Death Of American Arts Education
Arts education is quickly disappearing from schools across America. "Art and music classes have become secondary to more traditional subjects such as math and science, which means that when budgets are tight, the arts are among the first to be cut from curriculums. CNN.com 04/06/04
2004-04-15
States Look At New Regulation Of Non-Profits
The battle to force not-for-profits, including arts groups, to strengthen their fiscal accountability has moved from Congress, where it raged during 2003, to the states, where three attorneys general are pushing tough, charity-regulating legislation. Backstage 03/31/04
2004-05-25
Arizona Legislature Passes Arts Funding
The Arizona State Senate and House of Representatives have passed a budget that includes both the $1.8 million appropriation to the Arizona Commission on the Arts and the $2 million deposit to the Arizona ArtShare Arts Endowment. The Governor has 5 days now to sign the budget bill, or it becomes law automatically. Arizonans for Cultural Development
2004-05-25
Durham Debates Giant Clear Channel Theatre
The Durham (NC) City Council is considering a plan for "a 4,000-seat theater adjacent to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and the American Tobacco complex renovation. Supporters of the proposed American Center for Performing Arts say the region needs a theater of this size, and that it would serve as a permanent home to the American Dance Festival, which has long outgrown crowded Duke University stages." But media giant Clear Channel Communications would manage the theatre, and a coalition of other arts groups is coming together to oppose the plan. Durham Independent 05/20/04
2004-05-25
Whatever Happened To Funding The Arts Just Because We Should?
Economic impact studies are becoming the preferred method of convincing the citizenry to support public subsidies for arts and culture. But not everyone is buying the message: "The arts folks are trying to sell their idea... by using the vehicle the public seems eager to buy these days: It will help the economy. The arts’ pitch is smaller but not dissimilar to the pitch made by the biotech people. We can not only cure diseases, we were told, we can cure downturns in the business cycle... When we make these arguments long enough, other economists will come up with research that shows these are not such good investments. This will lead to more resistance to funding projects we probably ought to fund for the civic good." East Valley Tribune (AZ) 05/23/04
2004-05-25
Remaking Davenport, Heavy On The Arts
Times have not been good lately in Davenport, Iowa, one of the four adjoining Iowa/Illinois river towns known as the Quad Cities. But the city is trying to make its own good luck with a $113.5 million revitalization program focused on making Davenport a cultural center for the region. From the wholesale renovation of a ballpark frequently called the most beautiful in all the minor leagues to a $9 million dollar museum and performance venue celebrating the city's jazz/blues tradition to a spectacular new $34 million building housing the Davenport Museum of Art, civic leaders have unquestionably been putting their money where their mouths are. Chicago Tribune 05/20/04
2004-05-25
NEA Awards $58 Million In Grants
"The endowment announced this week the distribution of $57,958,600 to not-for-profit national, regional, state, and local organizations across the country, funding projects in the categories of arts on radio and television, folk arts infrastructure, heritage and preservation, learning in the arts, and state and regional partnerships. The NEA's budget for the year is $122.5 million." Backstage 05/19/04
2004-05-25
New Deal For Toronto Performing Arts Center A Threat To Some Tenants?
A controversial motion passed recently by the Toronto City Council to change the governance of the St. Lawrence Centre for the Performing Arts, has raised concerns that it amounts to a takeover by primary tenant CanStage." The center's six other, smaller resident tenants charge that their survival would be in doubt under the new arrangement. Toronto Star 05/18/04
2004-05-25
Building A New NPR (That's What Money Can Do)
"At meetings last week in Arlington, Va., a vision of NPR's strategic plans for the future was presented to 100 local station managers from around the country. So far, the unexpected funding has allowed NPR to give an unusual bonus to its 700-member staff (roughly 1 percent of each employee's annual salary), return $2.4 million to member stations to offset rising expenses, and plan for a flurry of hires. The interest income alone will pay for 45 additional reporters over the next three years." Denver Post 05/22/04
2004-05-25
Reinventing the Wheel in St. Paul
One year ago, the musicians of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra agreed to a new contract which would fundamentally change the way the ensemble operates. The position of music director will soon be eliminated in favor of a network of "artistic partners" who the SPCO hopes will bring star power and musical expertise to the organization. "Perhaps even more significantly, decision-making, formerly the responsibility of top management and the music director, would now be the work of two committees, each composed of three musicians and two management personnel, a ratio that puts musicians in the driver's seat." The rest of the American orchestra industry is watching St. Paul closely, if skeptically. Minneapolis Star Tribune 05/23/04
2004-05-25
Art, History, & Politics: Cy Thao & The Minnesota Hmong
Minnesota state legislator Cy Thao is a prominent figure in the Twin Cities' large population of Hmong, a nomadic people of Chinese origin who fled to the U.S. from Laos following the Vietnam War. As a lawmaker, Thao is one of only two Hmong officeholders in America (the other is also from St. Paul,) and is steadily gaining influence at the Capitol. But Thao is also an accomplished artist who is determined to break the thousand-year cycle of lost Hmong history through his work. This week, a series of 50 of Thao's oil paintings goes on display at a Minneapolis museum. City Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul) 05/19/04
2004-05-25
Library As New Urban Star
"The number of visits made to libraries nationwide more than doubled between 1990 and 2001, according to the most recent data available from the American Library Association. Sixty-two percent of adult Americans surveyed in that 2002 study said they had a library card, and they visited libraries an average of 13 times per year. Part of the draw results from the depressed economy. "Instead of paying $24.95 for a best seller, they say, 'I think I'll get it from the library.' But a bigger increase, some analysts believe, comes from libraries' nimbleness in adopting new technologies. Rather than becoming obsolete in the Internet age, they have expanded their role." Seattle Post-Intelligencer 05/20/04
2004-05-25
Man With The (NYT Culture) Plan
As the New York Times' new culture editor, Jon Landman will oversee a plan to revampt the paper's cultural coverage. "Executive editor Bill Keller, in a staff memo, conceded that Mr. Landman — best known as the Metro editor who tried to warn higher-ups about Jayson Blair—'does not bring to the job a thick portfolio of cultural expertise.' So how’d he become the new culture boss? 'Bill asked me to do it,' Mr. Landman said. 'Sometimes life is simple'." New York Observer 05/19/04
2004-05-25
SF Jewish, Mexican Museums Endangered
In San Francisco, "the proposed Jewish and Mexican museums, once seen as ideal ways to embody San Francisco's racial and ethnic mosaic, are in such financial trouble that City Hall and museum backers worry they may never get built." San Francisco Chronicle 05/21/04
2004-05-25
Seattle Library - Building As Art
Seattle's new Rem Koolhaas-designed central library is winning raves from the critics. "High-end architecture is often a monument to the architect. Rarely is it art. This library is rooted in its functions, blooms where it's planted, is art in itself and is going to be a huge hit with the mass audience that is its principal customer." Seattle Post-Intelligencer 05/20/04
2004-05-27
Bistate package ready for vote
Kansas City civic leaders announced a compromise Tuesday to the bistate cultural improvements package that they said had suburban support and was ready to go before voters this fall. The 1/4-cent bistate sales tax would be collected for about 15 years and would be expected to raise more than $1 billion for sports and arts programming throughout the metropolitan area. Changes from earlier proposals give more bistate money to the suburbs. Kansas City Star, 5/26/2004
2004-05-28
Milwaukee groups ally to tout arts, culture
While the Milwaukee metropolitan area boasts a strong cluster of arts and cultural groups, no single organization has led a coordinated effort to promote and mobilize that industry. A new collaborative aims to change that. Representatives from the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Spirit of Milwaukee, the United Performing Arts Fund and the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts have formed the Cultural Alliance of Greater Milwaukee. The alliance will be similar to a chamber of commerce, such as the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, said Dean Amhaus, president of the Spirit of Milwaukee, a Milwaukee nonprofit which works to promote the city. The new group will serve visual, performing or literary arts organizations, cultural attractions or venues, and museums, as well as individual artists in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington, Ozaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties. Milwaukee Business Journal, 05/14/2004
2004-06-02
NY Arts Groups Protest City Funding Cuts
New York City arts groups are protesting mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to slash city arts funding. "We are sending a distress signal to the mayor and the City Council that if the budget is adopted at this level, it would become the fourth year in a row that the city's cultural institutions have been seriously underfunded. Instead of helping the city to rebound, the proposed cuts risk severely imperiling the fiscal health of our city's most cherished cultural treasures." Backstage 05/27/04
2004-06-02
Bailing Out Orange County
"Chronically behind in their fundraising, Orange County [California] Performing Arts Center officials said Tuesday that they will issue $180 million in bonds to ensure completion of a theater and a 2,000-seat concert hall. Center officials said they have raised $117 million in cash and pledges toward their $200-million goal to pay for the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, the 500-seat Samueli Theater and an education center. Officials previously said they had hoped to raise $130 million by the end of 2003. But in the past 11 months they have raised only about $5 million." Los Angeles Times 05/26/04
2004-06-02
Town Offers Bounty To Bookstore
"In an ever-tougher business environment for independent booksellers, the town of St. Johnsbury, Mass., population 7,571 as of 2000, is offering startup money and a break on rent to a qualified person willing to open a bookstore downtown. The word is out in the book trade, and St. Johnsbury officials say calls are coming in." Boston Globe 06/01/04
2004-06-02
Artist Pension Fund Forming
A company in New York has started a pension fund for artists. "The fund, called the Artist Pension Trust, is designed to offer some retirement security for a fairly select group of up-and-coming visual artists now in their 20s and 30s. Instead of investing money, artists will contribute their own artwork to a trust. The artwork will be held for a number of years, then sold, with the proceeds going into the trust, from which artists will draw their pensions." San Francisco Chronicle 05/28/04
2004-06-08
The Great Arts Confab
Five thousand performing arts professionals are converging on Pittsburgh this week in the first-ever joint meeting of America's performing arts organizations. "The idea behind the project was to give performing-arts people across the country a chance to share their thoughts on important industry problems and pool their strength. There were real, fieldwide issues that were not subject to solution by any single art form. I had the feeling that we would always be minor-league players while we operated in our silos." The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 06/08/04
2004-06-08
Crunch Time For Miami PAC
The overdue, over-budget Miami-Dade Performing Arts Center is at a flashpoint this week, as county officials are demanding a final cost estimate from the PAC's designers and builders. "The builder's contract with the county calls for the center to cost $254.6 million, but the builder has asked for $47 million more and estimates that its final extra costs could run as high as $61 million, the county said. The architect's contract is for $25.35 million; it wants more, but won't say how much. County Manager George Burgess vows to hold the line. The county has offered the builder an additional $8.9 million, rejected $26 million and is negotiating over the rest." Miami Herald 06/02/04
2004-06-08
NEA Establishes New Critics' Institutes
"The institutes will be designed for journalists who cover the arts for print and broadcast outlets located outside the country's largest media markets, where professional development opportunities are limited. Institutes for dance critics will be hosted by the American Dance Festival at Duke University; for classical music and opera critics at Columbia University; and theater critics at the University of Southern California." NEA 06/01/04
2004-06-15
The Great Florida Debate
Ever since Richard Florida published his book, The Rise of the Creative Class, urban planners and thinkers around the U.S. have been lining up either to sing Florida's praises or to knock his ideas as half-formed and unrealistic. "Many of Richard Florida's critics try to marginalize his theory of the creative class as being just about a few kooky artists in Austin. They are wrong... As governments take a serious look at his ideas, billions of dollars spent on subsidies of politically-connected industries hang in the balance." So isn't it time for a serious, substantive debate on the issues that Creative Class raised? The Next American City 06/04
2004-06-15
Taxing Sports To Pay For The Arts?
Michigan is hoping to restore the 50% of state arts funding that was cut from last year's budget with an unprecedented per-ticket tax on sports and entertainment events. Despite the financial difficulties faced by many of Michigan's arts groups, the state ranks sixth in the nation in arts funding, and the new tax would bump it up to second. But the proposal faces a tough road ahead in the conservative state legislature, and the governor has yet to even take a position. Detroit Free Press 06/14/04
2004-06-15
Hoping For Status Quo
The upscale Marshall Fields department store chain is being purchased from Minneapolis-based Target Corporation by the decidedly cut-price May Department Stores, and the changeover is causing some nervousness in the Twin Cities' top arts organizations. Marshall Fields has a history of being extremely generous to Minnesota cultural groups, and while May insists that it has no immediate plans to scale back Fields' charitable arm, such largesse doesn't seem to fit May's overall business plan. Minnesota Public Radio 06/14/04
2004-06-15
America's Arts Organizations Gather In Pittsburgh
Over the past week, 4,400 arts professionals representing America's arts groups, gathered in Pittsburgh to talk about their work. It was the first time members of Dance/USA, the American Symphony Orchestra League, Theatre Communications Guild, Opera America, and other groups met together... Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 06/14/04
2004-06-15
Report: State Arts Agencies Must Change Their Tune
A new study notes cuts in funding for US state arts agencies in 2003 and suggests that the cuts are not an aberration. "The reason for these cuts is not just a one-time fiscal crisis, but the political weakness of state arts agencies that has arisen because of a growing mismatch between their roles and structures and the cultural and political realities they face. A shift in the arts agencies’ focus and funding may be a solution, but it cannot take place until important conceptual and practical issues are resolved." Rand.org 06/09/04
2004-06-15
SF Plan To Merge Arts Agencies Worries Arts Advocates
San Francisco's mayor says that to deal with the city's deficit, he wants to combine the area's two major art funders. "But in moving the Grants for Arts program under the Arts Commission umbrella, many say, the mandates of the two different agencies could clash and endanger a fragile arts ecology in San Francisco." San Francisco Chronicle 06/09/04
2004-06-15
Baryshnikov's New Art Commune?
Mikhail Baryshnikov has worn many hats over the years, but these days, all his energy is going into the development of the new Baryshnikov Arts Center in midtown Manhattan. The center, for which he is hoping to raise $25 million, is designed to encourage collaboration between artists, and its namesake is clearly excited about the possibilities: "Musicians, artists, costume designers, lighting designers, playwrights, choreographers, actors will meet to work on the same projects. It will be a private place with no pressure from outside, where people can exchange their ideas. It's a bit of a socialist idea, but what the hell!" Contra Costa Times 06/13/04
2004-06-15
LA To Save Animation Studio Buildings
The Los Angeles city council has decided to preserve all three of the buildings that once comprised the historic Hanna-Barbera animation studio, where such TV icons as the Flintstones, Barney Rubble, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and Scooby-Doo came to life. "It was at the studio that Bill Hanna and his partner Joe Barbera perfected 'limited animation,' which is far cheaper than the traditional kind. It also involves far less movement of the animated characters, however, and thus is criticized by some purists. Hanna and Barbera perfected the cheap technique in the late 1950s, a time when the major studios were closing their labor-intensive animation departments, and thus some have credited them with helping save the cartooning industry." Backstage 06/08/04
2004-06-15
Congress Questions Smithsonian Strad Deal
The US Congress is questioning a Smithsonian deal that brought the museum four Stradivarius violins for $50 million. "The high-profile gift, one of the museum's largest ever, allowed its donor, Herbert R. Axelrod, a New Jersey businessman, to claim what his lawyer confirmed was a tax break of around $32 million. Mr. Axelrod fled to Cuba in March after being indicted on unrelated charges of tax evasion." The New York Times 06/14/04
2004-06-15
The Reagan Arts Legacy
Ronald Reagan "was a man of many paradoxes whose cultural legacy is colored in shades of gray," says John Hayes. And while the left-leaning arts world, which is still fuming over Reagan's deliberate ignoring of the AIDS epidemic that decimated the American cultural scene, is unlikely to remember Reagan as one of its favorite presidents, the fact is that under his leadership, public arts funding hit an all-time high. In fact, at a time when many Congressional conservatives were ready to launch an all-out assault on the National Endowment for the Arts, Reagan steered a gentle course between warring parties, and may have saved the NEA in the process. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 06/11/04
2004-06-15
Troubled Or Not, That's A Great Name For a Theatre Company
"The Soulpepper Theatre Company broke ground yesterday morning for a new $12-million theatre and school in Toronto's Distillery District... The 13-acre site of the historic Gooderham's Distillery has been made over as an arts and entertainment district, which opened a year ago. But the project has been troubled, with disappointing public attendance and financial conflict among its developers." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 06/15/04
2004-06-24
Senate Investigates Non-Profits
The US Senate holds a hearing on the behavior of non-profits. "The U.S. Senate Finance Committee hearing focused on abuses that may occur at up to 10 percent of the nation's 1.6 million charities. The abuses -- ranging from inept oversight by volunteer boards of trustees to the willingness to become partners in tax shelter schemes -- cost the nation billions of dollars each year, Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Mark Everson said." Newark Star-Ledger 06/23/04
2004-06-24
Study: Arts More Than Sports
A study on arts participation released at the National Performing Arts Convention in Pittsburgh echoes previous reports. "Once again, as in studies past, more people reported attending a live performing arts event at least once in the past year than reported attending a professional sporting event. Eight out of 10 acknowledging that the performing arts improve the quality of life in their communities. More than that, between 58 and 71 per cent of those interviewed agreed that attending live arts events encouraged them to be more creative. This has traditionally been an argument used to support arts education in schools. It was interesting to find, in this era of diminished arts education, that so many people still subscribe to the belief." Toronto Star 06/20/04
2004-06-24
Arts as Essential Service
Why is the city of Philadelphia cutting its arts funding, when investment in the arts has returned major benefits? "Why, given all of the studies showing how much the arts contribute to a city and region's health, have we not figured out how to fund the arts in a way that they don't have to go begging every year for mere survival. Why is it that we can support transit, education, health and human services, recreation and other line items with the understanding that they are necessary to our existence, but still treat dance, music, theater and art as if they are luxury items - nice if you can find the money, but not essential?" Philadelphia Inquirer 06/20/04
2004-06-24
(Under)Funding The Humanities
"According to the report by the Foundation Center and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, funding for the humanities by a sample group of some 1,000 large U.S. foundations more than doubled, from $134.1 million in 1992 to $335 million in 2002. But total foundation giving tripled in that period, to $15.9 billion in 2002, and the humanities' share of the pie crumbled from 2.5 percent in 1992 to 2.1 percent in 2002. In 2002, education ($4.2 billion) and health ($2.9 billion) were the prime recipients of the sample group's dollars, according to the Foundation Center." Chicago Tribune 06/20/04
2004-06-24
Are Arts Groups Losing The Financial Puzzle?
The strain of trying to keep arts organizations afloat financially is beginning to show. "While theaters, ballets, museums and operas perpetually live hand to mouth, as do most nonprofit groups, fundamental changes in the nature of arts financing suggest that they will continue to struggle even as the economy and capital markets recover." The New York Times 06/20/04
2004-06-24
State Largesse For Long Wharf
New Haven Connecticut's Long Wharf Theatre got a stunning surprise from the state, in the form of major capital funding for a new home. The "$30 million to Long Wharf on the day of its 40th anniversary gala stunned even the most seasoned arts leader. It's not just that the figure is the largest singular grant to a capital arts project in state history (as best that anyone can determine anyway). It's that the state subsidy is expected to make up about two-thirds of the capital project. Estimates for the new theater has it costing anywhere from $35 million to $45 million, depending on the year the question was asked. The final price is yet to be determined." Hartford Courant 06/20/04
2004-06-24
Cleveland Museum Looks For $36 Million In Government Help For Building
The Cleveland Museum is asking local and federal governments to contribute $36 million towards a $225 million expansion project. "The expansion and renovation would enlarge the 389,000-square-foot museum complex by nearly 200,000 square feet, and add 31,000 square feet of new gallery space. The museum hopes to complete its design by January and to break ground in March or April. Construction would take four years." The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 06/23/04
2004-06-24
Artist Rights Vs. Owner Rights
Does the Visual Artists Rights Act need to be revisited? "New law often has unintended consequences, and VARA, which was intended to resolve conflicts between artists and private collectors, has set off disputes between the rights of artists and those of building owners. Most of the artwork involved is owned by people who really aren't collectors. They tend to be government officials or the buyers of buildings, who are not aware of the art law's restrictions." OpinionJournal.com 05/27/04
2004-06-25
House Approves NEA Funding
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved an increase in Fiscal Year 2005 funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), upping the ante to $131 million from President Bush's original proposal of $121 million, about $4 million over what he had proposed in FY2004. Backstage.com, 6/23/2004
| 
