“A special all-dance benefit has raised approximately $710,000 for the financially troubled Oregon Ballet Theater. … The ballet has until the end of its fiscal year, June 30, to raise the $750,000 it needs to close a funding gap caused by a dramatic reduction in donations and a series of Christmas-time storms that decimated crowds for its most important production, ‘The Nutcracker.'”
Tag: 06.15.09
In Pursuit Of Beauty, Pisa Lashes Residents With Hefty Fine
“Every June for centuries, Pisa and its leaning tower have been illuminated by thousands of candles and oil lamps to celebrate its patron saint, Ranieri, in one of the most atmospheric festivals in Tuscany. But tomorrow night, for the first time, participation in the Luminara festival will be compulsory under a new city law, with police set to roam the twinkling city to slap fines of up to €500 [£420] on anyone caught without a candle in their window.”
Budget Woes Force University Presses To Show Their Worth
“Chancellor Michael Martin doesn’t question the prestige the Louisiana State University Press brings to his school, with Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction and poetry, tomes on Southern history and culture and other noted works to its credit. What it doesn’t bring in is revenue, and like cash-strapped colleges across the country, LSU is getting tired of propping up its press.”
NY’s New Archbishop Is Quick Study In Hawking Broadway
“When Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan left Milwaukee for the Big Apple, we didn’t expect him to become a celebrity endorser of Broadway shows, but here he is waxing enthusiastic about ‘Irena’s Vow’ on the World War II drama’s website.”
Laguna Museum Seeks Secret OCMA Buyer To Talk Deal
“[W]ho’s the private collector who dealers specializing in early 20th Century California Impressionist paintings say got a fabulous buy” — $963,000 — “on 18 pieces that the Orange County Museum of Art sold in March because the museum no longer shows and collects works from that period? And who should Bolton Colburn, director of the Laguna Art Museum, which does show and collect what’s often also called plein air painting, call to beg or dicker with?”
A Cultural Center Takes Root In Harlem
“The new Dwyer Cultural Center, with a series of public programs that begin Tuesday, hopes to stake its claim in the neighborhood with exhibitions, performances, workshops and other events designed specifically to showcase Harlem’s history, and to support its established and future artists. The $3 million, 7,000-square-foot Dwyer Cultural Center, at 258 St. Nicholas Avenue (at 123rd Street), is emblematic in some ways of the latest Harlem Renaissance.”
Artists Remind Google It’s Not A Cash-Strapped Start-Up
“When Google representatives recently invited dozens of prominent artists to contribute work to be featured on its new Web browser, the company enthusiastically sold the idea as an opportunity to have artwork shown to millions.” The catch: Google was not offering payment. “In the ensuing weeks, a tide of indignation toward Google swelled among illustrators,” already suffering from the downturn in print publications.
Open Film Market To Foreigners, MPAA Chair Urges China
“China needs to open up its market to foreign movies to match the country’s increasingly sophisticated film market, Dan Glickman, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, told an audience of biz leaders at the Shanghai Film Festival on Sunday. China needed to ‘make the most of the collective economic opportunity by nurturing the health and growth of the legitimate marketplace,’ Glickman said.”
Journos’ ‘Humility Lesson’: News Written By Authors, Poets
“What a truly excellent idea. Last week, a group of 31 Israeli authors and poets took over writing the Hebrew daily paper Haaretz, producing sonnets summing up the weather forecast and a reassuring take on the stock market summary. (Weirdly, they weren’t given the chance to tackle the sports pages.)”
Fired Architect Calls For Probe Of Prince’s Involvement
“Richard Rogers, the architect who was sacked last week from a multibillion pound development in London after Prince Charles complained about his designs, has accused the prince of ‘an abuse of power’ and ‘unconstitutional’ behaviour.” The architect “called for a national inquiry into whether the prince has a constitutional right to become involved in matters such as planning applications which have economic, political and social ramifications.”