Category: issues

So what’s the secret of running a successful arts center out in the suburbs? Treat people like they’re in the city. “There is this city mentality that seems to believe that everyone in the suburbs has gone brain dead. A lot of well-educated, sophisticated people come out to raise their children in a nurturing setting. That doesn’t mean they have lost their curiosity or their interest in cultural diversity.” – Chicago Tribune

Consumer groups are stepping up to object to Time Warner’s merger with AOL. Critics are afraid of a “content bottleneck” if the deal goes through. – Variety

Getting working capital from banks to finance a project is often a problem for artists. So the Alberta and Canadian governments have decided to help with a “Cultural Industries Guarantee Fund” that provides collateral for project financing.  “Some of the book publishers or magazine publishers may be in that middle stage where they have had great initial success on a lot of their projects, and need to grow, and without that investment, just can’t. And they have a very difficult time.” – CBC

“From 1950 to the late 1970s, the Central Intelligence Agency covertly spent many millions of dollars spreading American art and American ideas while hiding behind a front organization, the Congress for Cultural Freedom. The CIA practiced stealth subsidy. That project was clownish in some ways – and totally undemocratic. In theory it was a terrible idea. But what didn’t work in theory worked in practice. It left unwitting readers of CIA publications with highly conflicted feelings. I, for one, sternly disapprove of the whole idea but also remain permanently grateful for it.” – National Post (Canada)

In a bid to promote access to Seoul’s cultural resources the city’s artists have gone underground – to the subway. “The subway theater project, which was conceived late last year, is aimed at providing commuters and passersby with an easy access to a wide range of cultural experiences. In addition, the project is designed to help artists who are unable to hold shows either due to limited spaces or from lack of money.” – Korea Times

David Irving lost his libel lawsuit in London claiming that the Holocaust never happened. The judge found against Irving, calling him, in effect, a propagandist for Adolf Hitler. But, “we ought to condemn – better, dismiss – him not because of his convictions, but because of the way in which he states his evidence.” – Newsweek

How come it’s always the engineers that get to go up in space? Well, obviously there are some good reasons. But designer and choreographer Richard Seabra wants to “send artists and performers into space to work in a special art module that he wants to become part of the International Space Station (ISS). Seabra wants to see to it that the arts and humanities are given a permanent place in space, that science moves aside to make room for the bounty of other cultural pursuits humans value. – Space.com

The heart of London’s new success and prosperity is in its creative community. The arts are the driver that makes the city dynamic. So why, then, are the candidates for mayor avoiding talking about the arts at all? Nada. Zip. Hey, don’t vote for someone who doesn’t tell you their policies on the arts. – The Observer (UK)  

Maybe it’s more than just a war, just the endless “troubles” and politics. Is there a cultural difference between north and south? “Is there a Northern Ireland culture? My first annoyed reaction is that only a stranger could ask. From that one can deduce that Northern Irish culture is tribal: two tribes within a larger people who are still locked within the northern equivalent of Heartbreak House.” – The Sunday Times (UK)

Nine of Chicago’s cultural institutions will mount $4 million worth of solar panels on their buildings – each institution will get 50,000 kilowatt hours per year of sun power in this energy demonstration project. – Chicago Sun-Times