Tag: 01.05.05

An Artist & A Fighter

“In addition to having the hand and eye of a gifted artist, Will Eisner… had an amazing insight into the human condition and the heart of a true club boxer. He was tough, game and always moving, packed a powerful punch and never quit… He carried two concealed weapons — a wry, deadpan sense of humor and a lightning wit — both of which held no respect for pomposity or rank.”

Seattle Museum Expands Staff

“Gearing up for an expansion downtown that will more than triple its gallery space by 2007, the Seattle Art Museum has created a new curatorial position and hired a conservator of sculptors, installations and other objects.” The hires are part of a larger strategy to raise SAM’s profile and enourage donations to enrich the museum’s collection.

Art Amidst The Ads

Amid the inescapable glut of billboards and oversized wall advertisements in New York City, a giant 1300-square-foot digital video screen is garnering attention. And it isn’t selling anything. “Operating on the notion that New York deserves art where it least expects it, SmartSign Media is presenting a month-long exhibition of images from Magnum Photos, the legendary photojournalism collective.” The images appear on the giant screen which wraps around Port Authority, the city’s main bus terminal.

Well, All Those Mars Crashes Were Sort Of Artistic

When one thinks of NASA, one probably doesn’t think of art, but performance artist Laurie Anderson would beg to differ. Anderson recently became the agency’s first-ever artist-in-residence after being offered “$20,000, plus unlimited access to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore and more, to create a new work.” The result is “a 90-minute flow of electronic music, personal musings and melodic stories that meander from the nesting habits of gay penguins and her favourite haiku… to the latest advances in robotics and photos from the Hubble Space Telescope.”

No Quick End In Sight To St. Louis Strike

The St. Louis Symphony officially asked its musicians yesterday to return to work under the terms of their old contract while negotiations continue for a new agreement. But due to unusual funding terms of the previous agreement, any “play-and-talk” scenario would have the musicians playing for far less than the weekly pay rate they had been receiving, a plan which the musicians have rejected. Still, the SLSO’s top exec is claiming that the offer of a paid return to work proves that the stoppage is a musician-called strike, not a management-imposed lockout.

California In Verse (If Anyone Wants The Job)

“California is in the market for a new poet laureate. With an official state dirt, a state fossil and a state tartan, we need a state bard. And as a blue state, it’s our obligation to demonstrate that airport bookstore thrillers and bodice-rippers are not the alpha and omega of literature and that just because poetry usually comes in slim volumes with even slimmer royalty checks doesn’t mean it don’t kick heinie.”

33 Wannabes Left Hanging

The work stoppage at the St. Louis Symphony came at the worst possible time for dozens of hopeful players who had spent the weekend piling into the city for two auditions scheduled to be held this week. The auditions were canceled after the musicians and management could not come to a contract agreement, and the orchestra is reimbursing the auditionees for their travel expenses. The SLSO musicians were willing to allow the auditions to go on as scheduled, but that would have required the audition committee to be paid a small gratuity, which the orchestra’s managers refused to allow.

Does Anyone in Florida Like Music?

In the wake of the Florida Philharmonic’s bankruptcy and the demise of Miami’s lone classical radio station, many observers have been wondering aloud whether South Florida really just doesn’t have any use for the form. Now, more evidence for the affirmative: the Palm Beach Chamber Music Society is slashing its current season by a third, and may close up shop completely before fall 2005. Poor ticket sales and sluggish donations are cited as the major reasons for the society’s problems. A lack of local product may also be a factor – the internationally known Miami String Quartet decamped for Ohio last year, and many local performers have left town with the Philharmonic’s shutdown.

Deficit Forces Cuts In Salt Lake

Utah-based Ballet West has announced its intention to make big cuts in its performance schedule and company size in order to compensate for three years of red ink. The company “will drop its poorly attended fall repertory program, and begin its 2005-06 season with The Nutcracker next December. Other cuts include a reduction from 40 to 35 dancers, and a trim to artists’ contracts from 38 weeks to 35.”