“The Helen Keller award began in 1933 as an essay competition, after the famous American campaigner visited Scotland, and has been an art award since 1992. Anyone can enter, as long as the art is on the subject of deaf-blindness; this year over 200 entries were sent from across the world. To create a level playing field, the judging panel – including, this year, sculptor Kenny Hunter – aren’t told which artists are deaf or blind, both or neither. This presents challenges, both for the judges and the organisers.”
Tag: 01.18.05
Redeveloping Manhattan (A Missed Opportunity?)
A 40-block area on Manhattan’s west side is a major opportunity for redevelopment, writes Nicolai Ouroussoff. But “despite the tinkering, the city is left with a vague, crudely executed master plan whose main selling point is that it gives developers the freedom to articulate their own visions. Even with a few interesting flourishes, it essentially relies on developer-driven planning formulas. What’s missing is a voice that could give the plan a cohesive and vibrant identity.”
Get Your Picasso At Costco
A Florida art dealer is offering a Picasso for sale through Costco. “Dealer Jim Tutwiler of Orlando, Fla., says collectors can find bargains when they buy from Costco because its markup is just one-tenth that of traditional galleries. He’s been selling art through Costco for the past decade.”
Broadway’s Record Week
Broadway scored a record week at the box office in the last week of 2004. “During the week between December 27 and January 2, the 31 shows on the Great White Way took in a total of $22,069,502. That topped the previous record, set during December 23 to December 29, 2003, by $718,869.”
Thief Robs Theatre, Leaves Tsunami Relief Collections
A man burst into the box office of the Town Hall Theatre in Galway, Ireland and took the evening’s ticket receipts. But “on his way in and out of the theatre, he pointedly walked past the bucket of money in the foyer, donations which had been collected for the tsunami disaster fund before each matinee and evening performance.”
Artistic Differences, And Behold, The Phoenix Rises
Members of New York’s venerable Jean Cocteau Repertory Company were dismayed when a new artistic director took the theatre in a direction they didn’t like. So they quit and built a new theatre company – the Phoenix. Its first run sold out to critical praise. But can the company sustain itself as a going concern?
Film Signals New German Attitudes
A German movie about Turkish immigrants has become a hit in Germany. “As the first ethnic film to be both a box-office and critical success in Germany, it signals new acceptance of multiculturalism. On screen, at least, Germans are now ready to meet immigrants they have long walked past on the street.”
New Kids Book Award Named For Dr. Seuss
“The American Library Association has created a new award for children’s books, to be named after the late Dr. Seuss. The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for outstanding children’s literature will begin next year, the Association for Library Service to Children announced Friday.”
When In Doubt, Blame The Oldsters
The baby boom generation is stifling Australian theatre, according to the younger directors and writers struggling to worm their way into the business, and one prominent playwright is calling for nothing less than a revolution. “We have lost the notion of a ‘whole’ Australian theatre, one in which each component part has a vital yet interdependent function… This has been the most serious casualty of Anglo-New Wave disaffection. We have lost a sense of overarching identity in our theatre. And we need to get it back.”
Architects Treading Carefully In Tsunami-Ravaged Asia
The architecture world has been profoundly generous in its response to the Asian tsunami disaster, sending large donations and offering expertise in rebuilding a good-sized chunk of several countries. But all the good will in the world doesn’t make the decision-making regarding reconstruction any easier, and many in Asia are worried that governments will approve the construction of a large number of concrete and prefab housing units just to appear to be doing something. Those on the ground say that what is really needed is “architectural acupuncture, knowing what to do where, marrying local traditions with global expertise.”