It’s been a year since Minneapolis’s Walker Art Center opened its massive addition to the public, and the museum has gotten great press and serious local buzz ever since. Donations are also up, but the uptick in attendance the Walker had hoped for hasn’t materialized. “The figures for the first post-expansion year are somewhat unexpected since museums often see a substantial upswing in visitors when they open a new wing, especially when it is designed by a high-profile firm such as Herzog & de Meuron.”
Tag: 04.12.06
9/11 Films: Ready Or Not, Here They Come
“As the nation nears the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks, a growing debate is emerging in Internet chat rooms and elsewhere over Hollywood’s decision to tackle elements of that day in “United 93,” set for release April 28, and Oliver Stone’s planned August release of “World Trade Center”… The key points of contention: whether the films are coming too soon for a nation still trying to sort out its emotions and whether Hollywood is guilty of callousness in using victims’ stories for studio gain. Yet both movies were produced with the help and support of those most closely affected, suggesting that the families of those who died that day could be farther along the healing path than some of the rest of the nation.”
Toronto’s Unlikely Arts Veterans
Leading a cultural institution is one of the more challenging jobs a person can take on, which is why many don’t last very long in the role. “Fifteen years ago, both Peter Simon and Robert Sirman took on jobs that probably only enemies would have wished on them, so daunting were the prospects for success. On paper, the jobs sounded prestigious, top-of-the-line — in Simon’s case, the presidency of the Royal Conservatory of Music, in Sirman’s the administrative directorship of the National Ballet School of Canada, each based in the heart of the country’s largest city. But beneath the fancy-pants titles were organizations in deep trouble.” Somehow, both men are still in place, and both organizations are now models of cultural success.
Toronto To Refurbish Old Venues
Hot on the heels of some very high-profile cultural development projects which have been completed in the last year, Toronto is now making public plans to renovate and update three of the city’s oldest, dowdiest venues: The Hummingbird Centre, the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts and Massey Hall.
Canadian TV’s New Anti-Bureaucrat
“Entertainment-industry veteran Dave Forget has been appointed Telefilm Canada’s newly minted go-to and fix-it man for national television. As the federal funding agency’s first director of Telefilm’s Television Business Unit, the 45-year-old Forget will be the main point man/overseer of the millions handed out annually through the Canadian Television Fund. His appointment is part of an effort by the CTF and Telefilm to cement a union that started a year ago to become a one-administration funder for TV and film projects — a move designed to get rid of the red tape that has frustrated producers and broadcasters for decades.”
Who’s Afraid Of A Film Shoot?
The film adaptation of Edward Albee’s classic play, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, has become a classic in its own right. But 40 years ago, when filming began, not everyone was thrilled about the production, particularly some alumni of New England’s Smith College, where much of the movie was shot.
The For-Profit Jesus
This Sunday is Easter, of course, and even if you’re not particularly religious (or Christian,) odds are good you’ll have trouble avoiding Jesus this weekend. In fact, Christianity is not only on the rise in the U.S., it’s taking over the bestseller lists. That’s fine for the fiction list, but “over on the nonfiction list, the laughable ‘Jesus Papers’ debuts at the No. 5 spot. ‘Misquoting Jesus,’ a proto-academic howler, ranks No. 8, followed by the conversational ‘Home With God’ at No. 10, and Garry Wills’s ‘What Jesus Meant’ at No. 16.” Alex Beam sees a trend emerging, and it isn’t nearly so much about religious piety as it is about a cynical attempt to make millions off of gullible readers who will buy anything with the word Jesus on the cover.
The Dangers Of A Permanent Collection Of “Modern” Art
“While there’s something inherently contradictory in the notion of a contemporary art museum having a permanent collection, most do… Until last month, [Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art] had no collection. But last week it announced the acquisition of four more pieces, which will be part of a permanent collection put on display this fall… They cover a decent range of media, including video and installation. Yet building a collection, while necessary, presents a challenge. The museum should be wary of getting entrenched as a steward of culture rather than providing a vehicle for the iconoclasm of contemporary art.”
Leslie Norris, 84
Welsh-born poet Leslie Norris, whose work focused on the power of nature, has died at his home in Utah, aged 84. “Mr. Norris was the first writer to be named a member of both the Welsh Academy and the Royal Society of Literature in England.”
Gerard Reve, 82
“Gerard Reve, considered one of the Dutch postwar literary greats, has died, his partner announced on Sunday. He was 82. Mr. Reve, whose full name was Gerard Kornelis van het Reve, published his first novel, ‘De Avonden’ (‘The Evenings’), in 1947. An account of the staunch, oppressive environment of the lower-middle-class Dutch in the postwar years, it is considered a classic of modern Dutch literature.”