“This year, students have discovered the drama of the fantastical and the grotesque. In an education system that has become increasingly utilitarian, they want an outlet for their creativity where they can shout and scream in pain or pleasure. The NSDF is a celebration of the imagination that for more than 50 years has made a real contribution both to the professional theatre and to generating an enthusiastic and informed audience. That is already a hard job. To make it harder by withdrawing public funding would be, well, grotesque.”
Tag: 03.30.08
A Struggle For The Soul Of Art
“Art has become perhaps the biggest legal economy in the world to be almost totally unregulated, so it should come as no surprise that the art world is the scene of a mighty struggle for control. The principal contenders are the auctioneers and the dealers, with a supporting cast of collectors, art advisers, entrepreneurs, curators and an increasingly active group of über-artists.”
Hear Any Good Art Lately?
“Remember when art appreciation used to be a simple, straightforward affair? You walked into a gallery, looked at some pictures, or maybe a few sculptures, and that was that. Then came photography, followed by film, the emergence of performance art and all that conceptual stuff with unmade beds, pickled sharks and rooms full of oil. Now, thanks to 21st-century technology, sound art – art for the ears, as well as the eyes – is bringing a new dimension to the art world.”
Nouvel Wins Pritzker Prize
Jean Nouvel, one of architecture’s most insightful and bravura talents, has landed the coveted Pritzker Prize. The Pritzker jury lauded Nouvel for “his courageous pursuit of new ideas and his challenge of accepted norms in order to stretch the boundaries of the field.”
Major Arts Leadership Changes In Philadelphia
“It’s big turnover time. It’s not just here. It’s a national trend. Those of us who came up in the early 1970s got into this business when it was really new, when funding was becoming more and more available through the [National Endowment for the Arts] and other sources, and there was a lot more emphasis being put on being a well-run organization.”
Florida Arts Funding In Danger?
Florida’s budget crunch endangers state arts funding, as lawmakers look for places to cut. “Culture’s champions argue that the arts already suffered severe cutbacks in the last budget year, when the $32.7 million allocated for culture in 2006-07 was reduced to $12.5 million in 2007-08.”
Armory Show Art Sales Strong
Any jitters by American buyers were offset by Europeans. “For Europeans the low dollar makes New York a bargain hunters’ paradise, and the fair manÂagement reported that the number of Europeans registered for VIP cards was up 33%. European buyÂing was up significantly.”
Artists Struggle With Downturn In Economy
“According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the art world thrives in good times and crashes in bad. And lately, it’s pretty bad out there.”
Winnipeg Art Gallery Gets New Director
Stephen Borys, a former Winnipegger who is currently chief curator at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Fla., will be the new director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Borys replaces Pierre Arpin, who left the WAG last September to run the Canada Council’s visual art program.
A Theme At This Year’s Humana Festival?
“The 2008 Humana Festival of New American Plays will be remembered as a celebration of bad parenting: Kidnapping, abandonment, ridicule, sexual abuse and even matriarchal claw-hammering took center stage this year.”