“Ontario culture minister Aileen Carroll announced a major boost to six cultural agencies yesterday, pledging $43.4-million in new operating funds this year. Flanked by elated cultural leaders whose organizations have been battered by the declining economy, she announced a one-time boost of $18.6-million for 2009-2010 and an annual operating increase of $24.8-million to be split among six institutions.”
Tag: 04.09.09
Philadelphia Orchestra Trims Budget Further
“The Philadelphia Orchestra’s interim leader has revealed another round of cuts. Though smaller than the reductions announced Tuesday to the orchestra’s residency this summer at the Mann Center, the newest contractions curtail efforts to grow audiences and reward loyal ones.” Master classes and next season’s “postlude” concerts are among the casualties.
Unesco To Put Treasures Online In World Digital Library
“It is not every library that displays ancient Chinese manuscripts alongside postcards of Sarah Bernhardt, crumbling Iraqi newspapers near maps of the New World, and Rabelais originals next to the voice recording of a 101-year-old former slave named Fountain Hughes. But then the World Digital Library (WDL) is not every library. Hailed as an online ‘intellectual cathedral’, it is an unprecedented coming together of some of the world’s finest treasures.”
Hearst Castle To Turn Over Paintings Stolen By Nazis
“For decades, three Italian Renaissance paintings have hung on the walls of Hearst Castle without betraying their grim history. But on Friday, state parks officials will formally acknowledge the artworks’ past, turning them over to the heirs of a Jewish couple who were forced by the Nazis to liquidate their Berlin art gallery in 1935.” The family will allow one of the paintings to remain at the castle.
Modern Passion Plays See Gospels As Epic, With Violence
“The moments of beating and crucifixion are sparse in the Gospel accounts, but modern Passion plays match our culture’s taste for visual realism. The audience viscerally experiences each of the 39 lashes delivered onto Jesus’ body and each of the four stakes driven into his limbs. Christians have long dwelled on the details of the suffering of Christ, but with today’s theater techniques, nothing has to be left to the imagination.”
Schwarzenegger Buys Sculpture For Calif. Kids To Play On
“Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has reintroduced the grizzly bear to California. On a recent business and skiing trip to Aspen, Colo., the governor popped into an art gallery and became transfixed by a large-scale bronze sculpture of a grizzly bear. … So he reached into his personal bank account and ponied up for the bear — as well as the shipping costs to Sacramento last month — and there it now sits, outside Mr. Schwarzenegger’s office….”
Marian Anderson’s Philly Home Is Off The Tourist Trail
“The great contralto used to live in this two-story house at No. 762 on South Martin Street, now known as Marian Anderson Way. She entertained in the basement during those inhospitable years of segregation when she feared what unkind words might ricochet her way in the city’s downtown eateries. … [H]ere, on a quiet street in South Philly, you can get a feel for the life she lived and the family she came from.”
Money At Issue As D.C. Philharmonic Postpones Concerts
“In March, with much fanfare, a new orchestra called the D.C. Philharmonic announced its inaugural concert program, scheduled to take place tonight and tomorrow night. Yesterday, it announced that both concerts have been postponed until this fall, scarcely 36 hours before the first was supposed to start.” The orchestra had contracted with musicians from the Washington National Opera and the Baltimore Opera.
At Ballpark, Washington Nationals Take A Stab At Art
“At their best, baseball and fine art are a lot alike. Both are esoteric, meaning everything to fans and little to outsiders. Both push up against a convoluted set of rules. Both get a lot of their meaning from the great plays and players of the past, and how new ones stack up against them. But what was unveiled yesterday in our new ballpark is a version of contemporary art that’s so simplified and trivialized that it’s like baseball without the subtle rules that make the game deserve a die-hard fan’s attention….”
Anti-Semitism Fades In Poland, Thanks In Part To Culture
“Culture, despite the virtual absence of Jews here, has … helped shift attitudes in this country, not entirely but significantly. Walk into a Polish bookstore these days, and you’ll find shelves heaving with volumes about Jewish history and culture. There is a Jewish book fair here in Warsaw, a Jewish cultural festival in Krakow, not to mention Mr. Halbersztadt’s museum, planned to open in 2012.”