Category: today’s top story

“Faced with an economic downturn of staggering proportions, some attack any help for the arts as waste, ignoring the millions of Americans who earn their livings and support their families through their artistic endeavors and arts-related enterprises. The economic stimulus bill currently under consideration on Capitol Hill shouldn’t neglect these Americans.”

While he had a long and very successful acting career in plays, films and television, “Whitmore was best known for his three one-man shows: as Truman in Give ‘Em Hell, Harry!, as [Theodore] Roosevelt in Bully and as Rogers in Will Rogers’ U.S.A.“

“Does the average newspaper reader even skim – much less read – a review of the latest production from a small theater company she’s never heard of and has no intention of seeing? Probably not. But she might well read movie reviews and almost certainly reads feature stories about the movie industry, even if she sees only two or three movies a year. I believe it’s because, in part, newspapers provide stories about the film industry that explain and inform, yet provide little real coverage of the theater community in this town.”

In a letter published in The Boston Globe, Jehuda Reinharz writes, “[my] statements gave the misleading impression that we were selling the entire collection immediately, which is not true.” He says “The Museum will remain open, but&#133 it will be more fully integrated into the University’s central educational mission” and that some artworks may be sold “if necessary.”

“While the NEA money is a minuscule portion of the $819 billion House [stimulus] bill, it has become a lightning rod for some critics, who question whether the dollars for the arts will create many jobs – and who see the money as a symbol of House Democrats trying to lard up the plan with spending wish lists that have been pent up for years.”

“Darci Kistler, the last remaining ballerina at New York City Ballet to have been molded and hired by its co-founder George Balanchine, plans to retire in the 2010 season, she said on Wednesday… ‘I don’t want to walk around in pain,’ Ms. Kistler said. ‘I didn’t want to see myself with a plastic hip in 10 years.'”

“‘Arts in Crisis: A Kennedy Center Initiative’ is a high-tech support service through which arts administrators can talk to the center’s personnel about the challenges of shrinking income, budget-conscious audiences and other difficulties in keeping the doors open. … ‘This is the first time we are saying to any organization, “We are there to help,” ‘ said Michael M. Kaiser, the center’s president. ‘We have never reached out to everyone.'”

“Too many ballerinas and not enough money to pay them all,” company artistic director Edward Villella wrote in a letter to the laid-off dancers. “This is not a reflection on your work… The board is convinced that such extreme measures are necessary if the company is to survive.”

“New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the foundation that runs the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum can keep two Picassos, after heirs of the paintings’ Weimar-era owner settled a suit to repossess them. The settlement was reached yesterday and announced as jury selection was set to begin in the suit that the three heirs filed against the museums.”

“For the trustees at Brandeis University, the easy part is over. Without an apparent word of dissent, all 50 or so trustees approved a plan on Jan. 26 to close the university’s 48-year-old Rose Art Museum and sell its entire 7,180-piece art collection, which was last appraised in 2006 at about $350 million.” The hard part is that “current and future donors to Brandeis may hold a grudge … if they believe that objects donated to the university will be quickly turned into cash.”