“Could it be that big movie stars simply don’t swing that way? That lead actors defy all percentages and likelihood to remain a strictly heterosexual crowd? Or is the more logical explanation that while Hollywood preaches openness, it is fearful to practice it?”
Tag: 11.24.08
London’s Mayor Proposes Oyster Card To Boost The Arts
“An ‘Oyster card’ for the arts, giving free or cheap entry to events and venues, could be handed out to Londoners under plans announced by the Mayor today. The electronic pass” — used on London’s transit system — “would provide access to museums, theatres and sports centres for the elderly and children in care, and could eventually be extended to all schoolchildren.”
Gustavo Dudamel, The Magical Southpaw
Going to see Gustavo Dudamel conduct? “If so, keep an eye on the young conductor’s left hand. No, this isn’t some weird fetish thing. It’s a chance to focus on a key element of his technique, which is what makes him the real deal. A quick tutorial….”
Minn. Museum of American Art To Close, Reopen Eventually
“The Minnesota Museum of American Art in downtown St. Paul plans to box up its collection and temporarily close in January after years of financial and leadership trouble. Its board president David Kelly, a Minneapolis lawyer, said the institution hopes eventually to reopen in a new location although it has not identified a potential site or raised any money.”
Star Turn: Qatar Opens Its New I.M.Pei-Designed Museum
“The museum, which houses manuscripts, textiles, ceramics and other works mostly assembled over the last 20 years, has emerged as one of the world’s most encyclopedic collections of Islamic art.”
Foundations Pinched By Money Squeeze
“This is the worst-case scenario; other groups, both the community foundations that act as philanthropic umbrellas and the private family foundations that tackle particular causes, are struggling to keep the grants flowing at a time when their investments are not doing well enough to produce any income.”
The Million-Dollar Artist No One Heard Of
“Ana Tzarev is a 72-year-old painter, and though almost nobody has heard of her, she is about to become the first person in New York – indeed, perhaps in the history of the art world – to have her work carry a price tag of a million dollars without first ever having sold a single piece of art.”
Does This Mean Goldman Sachs Will Sell Stradivari Bonds?
“Almost alone among investments, important violins have proved immune to economic downturns… During the market upheavals of recent weeks, spot gold prices bobbed at around eight hundred dollars per ounce. The best Stradivarius violin, on the other hand, could have gone for something like seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars per ounce. That’s twelve million dollars for an avoirdupois pound of wood.”
To Avert Further Collapse, Build (Beautifully) For The Future
“We need to do for the 21st century what FDR did for the twentieth–invest in worn-out highways, our frail electrical grid, our public transit, brittle bridges, and water supplies. … This late-model WPA would take advantage of a moment when great architecture, buoyed by a long construction boom and debilitated by the bubble’s pop, is looking for a purpose.”
Post-Mortier, What’s City Opera’s New New Direction?
“[D]espite the Mortier fiasco, a bold, exciting (but cheaper) agenda remains exactly what the company needs,” Justin Davidson prescribes. “It needs to reconnect with the reasons Fiorello La Guardia founded the ‘People’s Opera’ in the first place–as a frothier, less pretentious, and more affordable alternative to the Met.”