“By 2020, there will be a 77 percent increase in the Hispanic population and a 32 percent increase in the black population, with less than a 1 percent increase for whites. In 1980, whites were 82 percent of the working age population. By 2020, they will be 63 percent of workers. From 1980 to 2000, the educational gap between whites and blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans has actually widened. Finally, those same people of color earn less than whites at all equivalent levels of education.”
Tag: 06.12.07
Standing On Ceremony
“Audience acknowledgement, both positive and negative, is a weird form of public communication that is largely guided by acculturation. How often have you clapped at the end of a performance you didn’t like? Why did you? The de rigeur standing ovation at the end of a concert is fast becoming a similar form of groupspeak. But giving every performance a standing ovation totally destroys the impact the ovation once had.”
Dance Takes On England
“There are nearly 5 million people participating in community dance each year in England, hardly a ‘hole’. Moreover, a recent survey of over 50,000 14-year-olds showed dance was the second most popular physical activity after football. Whether this will result in more Fonteyns and Darceys is a moot point: the important element is that dance as a general activity has a strong presence throughout the country.”
Pinault Reveals Venice Plans
Collector Francois Pinault has “pledged to spend an estimated $26m (£13.2m) on the former customs house. The centre will show 141 works from Pinault’s 2,500-strong art collection over the next 30 years, including pieces by Keith Haring and Alighiero Boetti. It is due to open in June 2009.”
Struggling Tony-Best “Company” To Close
Last week the revivalk of Stephen Sondheim’s “Company” was named to a Best Musical Revival Tony. This week the show has put up closing notices. “The critically acclaimed production, in which 14 performers each play two or three instruments, has struggled at the box office. It ran at 48 percent capacity last week, according to the League of American Theaters and Producers.”
Restoring The Philadelphia Museum Of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is getting a $31 million facelift. “Viewed from ground level, it’s hard to appreciate the building’s brilliantly colored and sometimes riotous level of detail – lion’s faces lining the roof perimeter every few feet, for instance. It’s equally difficult to see the decay, but a close look reveals lots to do.”
Jerusalem Symphony May Disband
after budget cuts at the orchestra’s main funder. “Four years ago the JSO was put into receivership due to mismanagement and was in danger of being liquidated. It was saved by Leon Botstein, who accepted the position of music director and formed the American Friends of the JSO to raise funds. Botstein worked for free because the salary he was offered wouldn’t have even covered his traveling expenses, he said. As part of the JSO’s recovery program, orchestra members accepted a voluntary 20% pay cut.”
Why Are The Arts Missing From Mass. Education?
“Clearly corporate America gets it when it comes to arts education, but why don’t education policy makers in Massachusetts? The Commonwealth has the weakest arts education requirements of all the New England states, several of which have specified high school graduation requirements in the arts. In many Massachusetts school districts, including Springfield and Boston, there are students who graduate from high school without ever having a single arts course taught by a licensed arts educator.”
Resentment A Force That Shapes Lit Bloggers’ Views
As newspapers decrease their quantity of book reviews, book bloggers grow ever more vocal. “In one sense, the democratization of discourse about books is a good thing, and should lead to a widening of our intellectual horizons. The more people there are out there reading, making discoveries, and advocating for their favorite books, the better. But book bloggers have also brought another, less salutary influence to bear on literary culture: a powerful resentment. … As anyone who reads literary blogs can attest, hell hath no fury like a blogger scorned.”
How To Make A Memorable Building — Realistically
“True, not every project can claim an extravagant budget or a big-name architect,” John King writes. “But there’s no reason new buildings in suburban downtowns or big-city neighborhoods can’t be modest triumphs of quality and care. The problem is when developers have formulas, communities have demands, architects have rent to pay and the actual building becomes an afterthought. So consider today’s column a manifesto of sorts….”