Berlin seemed to have it all culturally after the fall of the Berlin Wall. “Seen from, say, London, Paris or Vienna, Berlin had all the ingredients to become a, if not the, European cultural capital. Almost overnight, the city government was owner of 17 museums, 3 opera houses, 8 orchestras and 17 theaters. Further, as the only city to experience German unification firsthand, Berlin itself became a work in progress. For artists, this meant unfettered freedom to explore new avenues.” The reality has turned out somewhat different…
Tag: 02.17.05
Star Search – UK Arts Orgs Hunt For New Leaders
Several of the UK’s most important culture jobs are vacant, and a talent search is underway. But where is the talent for those top jobs going to come from?
Politicians Are Arts-o-Phobic?
“Sir Christopher’s suspicion that it is ‘almost as if politicians are embarrassed to be associated with the arts’, rings horribly true. Labour leaders are happy to be pictured with sports stars and TV personalities, but their alarm bells ring when an artist, playwright or composer gets within snapping range.”
St Louis Symphony Strike Drags On
The St. Louis Symphony musicians’ strike is taking its toll. Musicians are hurting for money, the orchestra says it’s lost $700,000 in revenue. “Fifteen subscription concerts have been canceled. Thousands of schoolchildren have missed out on educational concerts at Powell Symphony Hall, a cavernous former vaudeville theater built in 1925. Half a dozen of those were canceled, along with 20 concerts in churches, schools and homes for the elderly in poor neighborhoods that were part of the orchestra’s lauded outreach program.”
Cooper-Hewitt Wants To Expand
New York’s Cooper-Hewitt Museum is proposing a “$75 million expansion that would create three new floors beneath the spacious gated garden of its home, the landmark Carnegie Mansion on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. ‘In visitation and profile, Cooper-Hewitt is struggling to gain traction in the competitive cultural environment of New York City’.”