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Le
Louvre et ses Amis
Artclair, 19 janvier 2012
PARIS, FRANCE – "Alors qu’une nouvelle polémique touche le Musée
du Louvre, après la décision d’envoyer par solidarité une vingtaine
d’œuvres dans trois villes du Japon, dont Fukushima, la Société des amis du
musée se lance dans un nouveau type d’opération. Pour la première fois depuis
sa création, elle participe à la rénovation d’une des salles consacrées aux
arts décoratifs du XVIIIe siècle. Elle ne finançait jusqu’à présent que des
acquisitions."
Local News: Community Input Key Element of Municipal Cultural
Planning
NorthumberlandView.ca,
18 January 2012
PORT HOPE, ON –
"The Municipality of Port Hope is developing a Cultural Plan and
Joint Facility Feasibility Study to identify community priorities for
strengthening the arts, cultural, and seniors programming sectors in Port
Hope. Public participation is vital to the project and in addition to the
public meetings held in December 2011, a survey launched on January 18, 2012
will enable Port Hope residents to provide valuable input into the process.
With provincial funding through the Creative Communities Prosperity Fund and
the assistance of Lord Cultural Resources, the Municipality is developing a
comprehensive plan to identify and leverage Port Hope's cultural resources
and strengthen the coordination and integration of those resources. The final
plan will include recommendations for areas of growth in Municipal cultural
services and will address the feasibility of a Joint Cultural and Seniors
Centre."
Canada's Royal BC Museum appoints Museum of London's Jack
Lohman as new CEO
Recent News,
artdaily.org, 17 January 2012
VICTORIA, BC –
"The Royal BC Museum Board of Directors has named British
cultural leader and scholar Jack Lohman as the organization's new Chief
Executive Officer. He will assume his new position on March 26, 2012.
Lohman, Director
of the Museum of London since 2002, will succeed retiring CEO Pauline
Rafferty, who has led the Royal BC Museum for the past 10 years." [See also Royal B.C. Museum picks new boss,
By Jeff Bell, Victoria Times Colonist, 14 January 2012; and, Museum of London director to step down, By Rebecca Atkinson, Museums Journal,
13.01.2012]
Le
Louvre prépare une exposition à Fukushima
Artclair, 16 janvier 2012
PARIS, FRANCE – "Le Musée du Louvre prépare une
exposition itinérante qui sera présentée au Japon à partir de fin avril 2012.
Trois villes, dont Fukushima, accueilleront la vingtaine d’œuvres prêtées par
le musée parisien. Selon l’établissement, l’événement a pour but de montrer
la solidarité du Louvre envers le Japon sinistré, mais le projet ne fait pas
l’unanimité."
Lancement
du chantier du nouveau musée égyptien du Caire
Connaissance des
Arts, 16 janvier 2012
CAIRO, EGYPT –
"La semaine dernière, le Conseil suprême des
Antiquités égyptiennes a annoncé avoir signé le contrat de construction pour
le nouveau musée égyptien du Caire. Le projet, qui a été confié à
l'architecte irlandais Heneghan Peng, se composera d'une galerie d'exposition permanente
de 24 000 m² qui permettra d'accueillir plus de 100 000 objets."
Will Windsor's history finally go on display?
Gord Henderson, The
Windsor Star, 14 January 2012
WINDSOR, ON –
"The frantic pace of asset development in Windsor will be cranked up yet
another notch early next month with the unveiling of plans for a first-class
downtown museum linked to the Art Gallery of Windsor and new central library.
With the ink barely dry on the $77-million aquatic centre contract and with
the dust still settling from this week's stunning revelation of a $12-million
private investment to transform Windsor Arena into an urban mall and farmer's
market, Mayor Eddie Francis now has his sights trained on a new museum that
would tell Windsor's colourful story and become another key piece of the
downtown renaissance puzzle. "The museum is the next priority. It will
be huge for our downtown on top of the other investments. It offers a whole
new opportunity for Windsor," said Francis of a museum plan being
developed by Lord Cultural Resources, a Toronto-based consulting
company that's been involved in more than 1,800 museum projects around the
globe. Lord Cultural, awarded a $95,000 contract last fall to conduct a
museum feasibility study for council, will be at Mackenzie Hall on Feb. 2 to
roll out its plans and get feedback from the community.
Mobile Interpretation in Museums
Chelsea Omel
(Collections and Research Coordinator), Royal Ontario Museum,
January 13, 2012
TORONTO, ON - "Learn about the latest research and
discoveries happening at the ROM and mark your calendars for the 33rd
annual ROM Research Colloquium coming up on February 3, 2012. Ryan Dodge is
the Acquisitions Technician in the Library as well an active member of the
ROM’s Social Media team. Here, he tells us a little bit more about his
upcoming colloquium presentation, Mobile Interpretation in Museums.
What are you
going to talk about at the colloquium this year?
"Throughout
my Master’s of Museum Studies program I have focused on the use of mobile
devices in museums and how these new, continually connected devices have
changed the way people work, play, explore, and interact with other people,
information, and their surrounding environment. I will give a very brief
overview of the over 60 year history of mobile interpretation in museums and
talk about how quickly mobile interpretation changes today. To demonstrate
this continual change I will discuss two mobile projects that I have worked
on since January 2010. The first project, which eventually became the ROM’s
first iPhone app, was researched between March and June, 2010. The second,
ROM Centennial focused project was completed almost a year and a half later,
in December 2011. While the mobile aspect of the two projects are
fundamental, there are striking differences that emphasize the ever-changing
environment of mobile technology and mobile device users. In my opinion, the
contrast of these two projects are excellent examples of what I call mobile
app 1.0 and mobile app 2.0." [text
omitted]
"The ROM
Research Colloquium is annual event that throws the spotlight on ROM
researchers with a full day of consecutive 15-minute presentations by ROM
experts on their recent discoveries. The program is free and open to the
public (Museum admission not included). Ryan’s presentation starts at 3:45pm
on February 3rd in the Signy & Cléophée Eaton Theatre. View the full colloquium
schedule and watch for more presenter profiles on the ROM Blog over the
coming weeks."
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Detroit Institute of Arts
collaborate with shared curatorial expertise
Recent News,
artdaily.org, 19 January 2012
SAN FRANCISCO,
CA – "The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Detroit Institute of Arts
announced a shared relationship of curatorial expertise. Directors from both
institutions are part of the Association of Art Museum Directors, which is
holding its mid-winter meeting in San Francisco this week. As the result of
an innovative collaboration between the two institutions, Nii Quarcoopome
(Nee Kwar-ku-pome), currently head of the DIA Department of Africa, Oceania
& the Indigenous Americas, will devote a quarter of his curatorial work time
to the Nelson-Atkins and also will continue in his position at the DIA."
S.F. International Airport: It's also art museum
Gail Todd
(Special to The Chronicle), San Francisco Chronicle, January 19, 2012
04:00 AM
SAN FRANCISCO,
CA - "Suppose you went to the airport but didn't have to catch a plane,
didn't have to rush through security, empty your pockets or take off your
shoes. It's not such a crazy notion: The San Francisco International Airport
is actually a museum. Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the
airport is filled with fascinating exhibits and artwork enjoyed by the 40
million travelers who pass through it every year."
Calls for museum legacy to MG Rover plant in Longbridge
Paul Suart,
The Birmingham Post, 19 January 2012
BIRMINGHAM, WEST
MIDLANDS, UK - "A campaign is gathering pace in Birmingham for a museum
to be built to commemorate the former MG Rover plant and its workforce. A
petition is expected to be submitted to Birmingham City Council in the next
few days calling for a museum to chart the Longbridge factory’s illustrious
100-year history. The move comes after a separate petition with the same
objective was lodged with Bromsgrove District Council earlier this month.
Mark France, whose dad, grandad, uncles and aunties worked at Longbridge,
launched the first petition. As many as 28,000 people worked at the factory
at its peak in the early 1970s and Mr France said a museum would be a lasting
tribute to the revered marque and those employed there."
Cleveland's Rock Hall of Fame and Museum opens new library
and archives to public
Recent News,
artdaily.org, 18 January 2012
CLEVELAND, OH –
"The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum opened its new library and
archives to the public on Tuesday to give scholars and fans access to the
stories behind the music through such "artifacts" as personal
letters from Madonna and Aretha Franklin and 1981-82 video of the Rolling Stones
tour. The collection, catalogued over the last few years, includes more than
3,500 books, 1,400 audio recordings and 270 videos, and is housed in the new
four-story, $12 million building."
Museum of Contemporary Art to Create Original Programming for
YouTube
Randy Kennedy, The
New York Times, January 18, 2012, 3:35 pm
LOS ANGELES, CA
- "Joining its hometown industry and betting on the success of YouTube’s
new initiative to promote original content, the Museum of Contemporary Art in
Los Angeles announced that it would start an online video channel in July
featuring news and talk-show programming, among other art-focused shows. MOCA
TV, as the channel will be known, will be the first contemporary-art channel
to be included as part of YouTube’s plan, announced last October, to move
more aggressively onto the turf of network and cable television by creating
dozens of channels featuring comedy, sports, music and other kinds of
entertainment."
Le
musée de Welland se refait une beauté
Jorge Oliveira, Le
Régional, 18 janvier 2012
WELLAND, ON –
"Le musée de Welland ferme ses portes pendant près de cinq mois pour
procéder à d’importants travaux de rénovation et de modernisation de ses
installations. Le musée aussi prend des vacances en ce début d’année. Sauf
que l’institution installée dans la vénérable bâtisse au 140, rue King depuis
2006 gardera ses portes fermées au moins jusqu’au mois de mai, date annoncée
de la fin d’importants travaux de réfection et de modernisation."
Miami Art Museum receives $1 million grant for the collection
of Contemporary art
Recent News,
artdaily.org, 18 January 2012
MIAMI, FL –
"As part of its commitment to serving the greater Miami community and in
anticipation of its move to a new and expanded facility, Miami Art Museum has
redoubled its efforts to build its collection of great works of art for the
public to enjoy—and has received a challenge grant of $1 million from the
Helena Rubinstein Philanthropic Fund at The Miami Foundation to support this
process."
New York City's American Folk Art Museum celebrates
optimistic future with 50th anniversary
Recent News,
artdaily.org, 18 January 2012
NEW YORK CITY –
"The American Folk Art Museum, long plagued by financial problems, is
celebrating its 50th anniversary with a new exhibition, renewed optimism for
its future and its collection intact. At a preview of a new exhibition
celebrating its anniversary Tuesday, museum officials discussed its financial
status and projection of its future." [see
also Folk Art Museum ’Reasonably Secure’ After $3.5 Million in
Gifts, by Philip Boroff, Bloomberg, 17
January 2012]
Innovation Ignites: Announcing the 2012 Lab Museums
AAM’s Center
for the Future of Museums, 17 January 2012
UNITED STATES -
"Cue fanfare! I am so happy to share with you the names of the museums
that have been selected to participate in the inaugural round of Innovation
Lab for Museums. AAM is bringing Innovation Lab to the museum field through a
partnership between the Center for the Future of Museums and EmcArts,
generously funded by a $500,000 grant from MetLife Foundation. I will use
this post to introduce you to the three funded projects, as well as six
others recognized by the panel for their excellence."
Dundee Museum announces biology-inspired art collection, with
support of the Art Fund
Recent News,
artdaily.org, 17 January 2012
DUNDEE, SCOTLAND
– "The University of Dundee Museum Collections have been awarded a grant
of £100,000 from the Art Fund to build a collection of art inspired by D'Arcy
Thompson, the University's first Professor of Biology. [text omitted] The grant was awarded
through the Art Fund's RENEW programme, which gave a total of £600,000 to six
UK museums in 2011 to establish new collections of art, collections which
connect, in exciting and creative ways, with their existing holdings and current
audiences. The University of Dundee Museum Collections is the final museum to
be accepted into the scheme, which has been made possible through support
from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation as part of its 50th birthday
celebrations."
Nomination du Musée régional de Rimouski aux prix Innovation
Telus
Anybel Roussy, L’Avantage,
le mardi 17 janvier 2012
RIMOUSKI, QC –
"Le Musée régional de Rimouski apprenait récemment sa nomination aux
prix Innovation Telus, remis à cinq organismes communautaires du Québec.
Cette initiative vise à souligner l'originalité et la créativité des projets
communautaires destinés aux jeunes."
Mpls Museum Dedicated To African-American History
Reg Chapman (WCCO), CBS Minnesota, 16 January 2012
MINNEAPOLIS, MN — "Minnesota’s newest museum will be a historic
mansion, located on the edge of Minneapolis’s Stevens neighborhood. "It
was a mansion, a boarding house, an orphanage, a rooming house, a residence
and now it’s going to be a museum," said Nathan Johnson, the architect
who is overseeing the renovation. He’s turning the mansion built in the
1880’s into the Minnesota African-American Museum, which will open in
mid-May. It’s a major undertaking. The 8,000 square foot building cost $1
million to buy, and it will take another $3 million to complete the
renovation, but backers believe it will be worth every penny."
Back to School, Not on a Campus but in a Beloved Museum
Douglas Quenqua, The New York Times, 15 January 2012
NEW YORK - "Wanted: 50 former science majors with an interest in
teaching — no experience, please — and a willingness to relocate. Must be
comfortable sharing a classroom with dinosaur bones and giant squid. This
June, the American Museum of Natural History will introduce its first Master
of Arts in teaching program, in which students with a background, if not a
career, in science can spend 15 months learning to become earth science
teachers. Tuition is free, thanks to the New York State Board of Regents, and
students will receive $30,000 stipends and health benefits. "We’re
looking for people who want to make a career of teaching and stay in the
business," said Ellen V. Futter, president of the museum, "whether
they be just out of college or former participants in a volunteer corps or
career changers or veterans." The goal is to produce 50 new science
teachers over two years for the state’s middle and high schools, which have
long coped with a critical shortage of math and science instructors. As with
nearly any attractive offer, there is a catch: Graduates must commit to
spending four years teaching in a high-needs public school, and may be
assigned anywhere in New York State."
The Met Reimagines the American Story
Holland Cotter, The New York Times, 15 January 2012
NEW YORK CITY - "Right on time for the election year, American
art has reoccupied the Metropolitan Museum of Art en masse. After four years
of renovation the museum’s galleries of American painting and sculpture —
long the most popular part of its now completely reopened American Wing —
will be back on view on Monday, washed with light, rich with stories and
scenic prospects, and packed with enough politics to fuel any presidential
campaign. Economic inequities? The environment? Family values? Immigration? A
nation at war, and at war with itself? It’s all there, along with a
population of hawks, tree-huggers and 1-percenters, in images that make up
one of the finest collections of American art. How do the updated galleries
look? Sensational, which is news, because the old ones didn’t. They had a
warehouse atmosphere, with pictures stacked up on the walls, sculpture
plunked down wherever and narrative logic disrupted because the collection
was split between two floors. Now all the galleries are on one floor, the
second. And, thanks to an addition of 3,300 feet of repurposed space, there
are more of them, 26 in all." [See also
New 30,000 square feet American Wing galleries open at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, Recent News, artdaily.org, 13
January 2012]
Art Heist: Hot Pictures
Brent Bambury, host of Day Six on CBC Radio, broadcast
Saturday January 14, 2012
[Brent Bambury interviews Richard Ellis, art detective
and founder of the Art and Antiques Squad at New Scotland Yard; text below is
from CBC Radio’s webpage for Episode 60 of the Day Six program; there
is an accompanying audio clip of the interview – the portion of the show with
the interview begins around 13:13 in the audio clip and finishes around
21:23]
"When the theft of three art works from Greece's biggest art
museum was made known in international media this week, no one would comment
on the dollar value of the haul. "Museum officials have not yet
determined the worth of the stolen artwork", reported BBC news. There
was no mention of the value of the art in reports filed by New York Times,
Reuters or on this site. "The value of the pieces have not been
revealed," sniffed the Daily Mail, which then went on to speculate on
the worth of the Picasso, a wartime masterpiece the artist gifted to the
Greek people in 1949. There's a reason the museum declined to attach a dollar
value to the missing art: It helps the thieves."
New
pearls museum opens in Ras Al Khaimah
Everything from
legends surrounding pearl, its history, its impact on local culture, economy,
can be found inside new Ras Al Khaimah Pearls Museum.
By Rym Ghazal -,
Middle East Online, 14 January 2012
RAS AL KHAIMAH,
UAE - "There are many ancient myths about the
precious pearl, but two local legends say she has two mothers. One says she
is Bint Al Matar' daughter of the rain, conceived when the oyster shell
captured a single sweet drop of precipitation before mixing it with the salty
sea. The other claims she is Bint Al Qamar, daughter of the moon, born during
a full moon after the oyster swam to the water's surface and captured a
single dew from the silvery ray. Everything from the legends surrounding the
pearl, its history as a treasure sought by merchants and monarchs across the
world, its impact on the local culture and economy, and where it stands today
in the modern world, can be found inside the new Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Pearls
Museum. "Whether born out of the moon or out of the rain, there is
nothing more beautiful or precious than a pearl," said Mohamed Al
Suwaidi, the museum's excursion operation manager."
Upgrades plug holes at Maritime Museum
A-frame building
at Vanier Park houses war-era RCMP vessel
Cheryl Rossi, Vancouver
Courier, 13 January 2012
VANCOUVER, BC –
"Crews started peeling shingles off the A-frame structure that shelters
a national treasure at the Vancouver Maritime Museum Jan. 11. They're
exploring the work that will have to be done to ensure embarrassing leaks
become a thing of the past. [text omitted]
attendance numbers have remained steady over the years with roughly
half of those who visit in the summer hailing from beyond the Fraser Valley,
dropping to 10 to 20 per cent tourists in the off season. Still, to survive,
the museum will be looking to expand."
National Museums Liverpool leaves NMDC
Fleming says NMDC no longer has "clear purpose"
Rebecca Atkinson, Museums Journal, 13.01.2012
ENGLAND - "National Museums Liverpool has quit the National
Museums Directors’ Conference (NMDC) in light of changes to the body's
membership. As reported in January’s Museums Journal, the majority of NMDC
members voted at a meeting last year to expand its membership to include
major grant-funded museums from April. Arts Council England (ACE) will
announce major grant awards on 27 January, with about 15-20 museums in
England expected to receive funding, and the NMDC will meet at the end of
February to ratify its new membership. David Fleming, director of NML and a
board member of the Museums Association (MA), said the changes risked
reducing the value of the NMDC."
A Boston Museum's Deft Attempt at Balancing Old and New
Anthony
Flint, The Atlantic Cities, Jan 13, 2012
BOSTON, MA - "Cities are constantly in a tug-of-war with the old
and the new. The Eiffel Tower was considered an eyesore when first built; the
first skyscrapers of Chicago, similarly an outrage. Jackie Onassis helped
fight a proposed modernist tower that would have transformed Grand Central
Terminal in New York. Pennsylvania Station could not escape its destruction,
replaced by Madison Square Garden. Fenway Park, with Wrigley Field the last
of the old-time major league ballparks standing, avoided the wrecking ball
and modernized replacement. The owners once said it was unsafe and would fall
down any day. Since then, it has been extensively renovated and had multiple
appendages added, and this year will celebrate its 100th anniversary. [text omitted] Over the next few days, Boston's
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum will take center stage as a case study in how
such institutions, and more broadly cities, can evolve in the 21st century.
The $118 million expansion and renovation of the turn-of-the-century
socialite’s residential palace in the Fens, tests our understanding of the
city of memory, traditions and the powerful historic preservation movement in
U.S. cities. That movement has left extensive restrictions, regulations, and
binding guidelines in place to make sure certain buildings and entire
districts are not altered. In the case of the Gardner museum, an additional
covenant was in place: Gardner’s detailed will, which stipulated that the
palace and the arrangement of the collection not be changed in any way."
Natural History Museum announces new hall for history and
ecology
Mike Boehm, Los Angeles Times, January 12, 2012, 1:01 pm
LOS ANGELES, CA - "For the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
County, 2012 means another year and another major new attraction. Officials announced Thursday that a
permanent exhibit tentatively called “Becoming Los Angeles,” the next phase
of the $135-million “NHM Next” campaign that began in 2007, will open in
December, adding 14,000 square feet of galleries documenting the region’s
ecology and human history and how they intertwine. The makeover will culminate in 2013, the
museum's 100th anniversary year, with its first permanent outdoor exhibit, a
3.5-acre "urban wilderness" focused on the region's biodiversity,
and the reopening of the special exhibitions hall that's been closed since
2006. The first attraction there, in June 2013, will be "Traveling the
Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World," a touring show about
the famed trading route between Baghdad and China that debuted in 2009 at New
York's American Museum of Natural History."
Gardner Museum Spreads its Wings: A transparent addition
sheds new light on a much-loved museum
World Architecture News, 16 January 2012
BOSTON, MA - "When the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum decided to
embark on a two year $180m expansion project of its prized palazzo building
to relieve it from the pressure of years of misappropriated programs, the
Italian architect Renzo Piano was among those it considered to help them with
the project. But Piano was busy at the time and he removed himself from
consideration. It was also the case that the architect did not compete for
commissions but rather was handed them. Paraphrasing the dialogue that went
on between the Museum leadership and Piano, Matt Montgomery the Gardner’s
Communication Director, said: “Piano told us ‘you either want me or you
don’t’.” At the prodding of Ray Nasher, a Bostonian and the Founder of the
Nasher Sculpture Center, a Piano-designed museum, the Gardner abandoned its
process and its short-list and hired Piano for the job. Judging from the
first look at the museum’s new wing last week, it should be glad it
did."
GC Prostho Museum Research Center / Kengo Kuma &
Associates
Victoria King, ArchDaily, 16 January, 2012
"Architects: Kengo Kuma & Associates
Location: 2-294 Torii Matsu Machi, Kasugai-shi, Aichi Prefecture,
Japan
Client: GC Corporation
Site Area: 421.55 sqm
Built Area: 233.95 sqm
Total Floor Area: 626.5 sqm
Cooperation for Design: Design Department of Matsui Construction
Structural Design: Jun Sato Structural Design
Photographs: Daici Ano
This is architecture that originates from the system of Cidori, an
old Japanese toy. Cidori is an assembly of wood sticks with joints having
unique shape, which can be extended merely by twisting the sticks, without
any nails or metal fittings."
Grand Opening: Met's Renovated American Wing by Roche-Dinkeloo
Ula Ilytzky (Associated Press/AP Online), Architectural Record,
01/15/2012
NEW YORK CITY - "Get ready to fall in love all over again - with
John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, Frederic Edwin Church, Frederic Remington
and other masters of American art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is opening
its understated but elegant new American Wing for paintings, sculpture and
decorative arts on Monday after a four-year renovation. The collection,
covering works from the 18th to the early 20th century, shines as never
before. For the first time, the works are displayed on one floor,
chronologically and thematically, in a modern interpretation of the classic
European Beaux-Arts picture gallery. There are 26 rooms featuring coved
ceilings, cornices and natural light from skylights in 18 of the galleries.
The new galleries mark the completion of a $100 million three-part renovation
of the American Wing that began 10 years ago. New galleries dedicated to
American neo-Classical arts opened in 2007 and the period rooms and
light-filled Charles Englehard Court atrium with its monumental sculptures
and Tiffany glass windows reopened in 2009. "They are so elegant,
stately and serene that they almost make one speak in a whisper,"
Morrison Heckscher, chairman of the American Wing, said of the galleries,
designed by New York architects Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo &
Associates."
Ideas to Change British Architecture: Entries wanted for
British exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2012
World
Architecture News, 12
January 2012
UK - "This week the British Council launched
its brief for the British Pavilion for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2012.
Curated by Vicky Richardson, Director of Architecture, Design, Fashion at the
British Council and Vanessa Norwood, Head of Exhibitions at the Architectural
Association, they explained the proposal: Ideas to Change British
Architecture. The proposal is a complex and an ambitious idea. The pavilion
will be an exhibition to present ideas on how to improve built Britain by
taking inspiration from overseas. The aim is to inject new ideas into the UK
and create a platform about who and what makes great architecture. It is
intended to build on the UK’s strengths in architectural research, writing as
well as design. This year’s pavilion is the opposite of a traditional British
Expo; the panel explain it has a much more humble approach. The exhibition
will question the conditions that determine the British built environment and
hopefully be the first to make a lasting difference back home. Vicky
Richardson, the chair of the advisory panel, described the pavilion thus: "rather than being a showcase for British
architecture, we are hoping to transform British architecture by absorbing
and gathering ideas from around the world, it is an extremely ambitious
project as we are trying to make the pavilion count for something at home as
well as engaging with an international audience." "
MFAH launches world's most comprehensive digital archive of
Latin American and Latino art
Tyler Ruddick, CultureMap
Houston, 18 January 2012
HOUSTON, TX -
"After a decade of culling
historical material from across North and South America, the Museum of Fine
Arts, Houston and its research institute, International Center for the Arts
of the Americas (ICAA), will launch its long-awaited digital archive of Latin
American and Latino art on Thursday. The centerpiece of a $50 million
initiative that began in 2001 to expand the museum's 20th-century Latin
American art, the new online collection offers an array of primary-source
material — including artists' writings and correspondence as well as other
textual material from period journals and newspapers — all brought together
for the first time in a free searchable database." [See also Derivative Works No More, By Judith H. Dobrzynski, The
Wall Street Journal, 18 January 2012]
Touring Mount Rushmore's famous faces goes virtual; visitors
will be able to take in-depth tours online
Kristi Eaton
(Associated Press), Recent News, artdaily.org, 16 January 2012
SIOUX FALLS, SD
– "Virtual visitors to Mount Rushmore can now explore even more remote
areas of the memorial than some who see it in person. Three-dimensional laser
technology scans that captured every nook of the four presidential faces and
other features of the monument last year mean that starting Tuesday, visitors
will be able to take in-depth tours online of the Mount Rushmore National
Memorial in western South Dakota. The portal, comprised of models of the
monument, allows people remote access to the site to plan a visit or explore
unusual areas, said Maureen McGee-Ballinger, the memorial's director of
interpretation and education. The monument draws about 3 million in-person
visitors a year. Online users are able to manipulate or dissect the
three-dimensional models in various ways to learn more about the 60-foot
granite carvings of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore
Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, McGee-Ballinger said."
Readex
to Launch Digital Edition of the Library Company of Philadelphia's
Unparalleled Collection of Afro-Americana
More than 12,000 searchable
books, pamphlets, and broadsides will stimulate new research on centuries of
African American history, literature, and life
Readex New Release, 16
January 2012
NAPLES, FL – "A digital edition of Afro-Americana, 1535-1922: From
the Library Company of Philadelphia will be introduced in late Spring 2012 by
Readex, a division of NewsBank. Created from the Library Company’s acclaimed collection—an
accumulation that began with Benjamin Franklin and has steadily increased
throughout its entire history—this unique new online resource will provide
researchers with more than 12,000 wide-ranging printed works about African
American history. Critically important subjects covered include the West’s
discovery and exploitation of Africa; the rise of slavery in the New World
along with the growth and success of abolitionist movements; the development
of racial thought and racism; descriptions of African American life—slave and
free—throughout the Americas; and slavery and race in fiction and drama. Also
featured are printed works of African American individuals and organizations.
"The Library Company’s Afro-Americana Collection is
one of the most comprehensive and valuable archives of printed material by
and about people of African descent anywhere in the world,” says Professor
Richard Newman of the Rochester Institute of Technology. “From early
descriptions of African society and culture to the black struggle for justice
in the Americas during the 19th century, it remains a touchstone for scholars
and students alike. To have it available online and at your fingertips in a
searchable format will be a dream come true."
Artpace in San Antonio announces curator Regine Basha as new
Executive Director
Recent News,
artdaily.org, 19 January 2012
SAN ANTONIO, TX
– "Artpace announced that Regine Basha has
been appointed Executive Director. A search committee headed by Board of
Directors Chairperson J. Travis Capps, Jr. announced that Basha will assume
her post by March 1, 2012. "Regine brings a unique vision to Artpace
that will be invaluable to the organization," says Capps "Her
combined experience in the Texas and international art world are a perfect
fit for Artpace's internationally acclaimed residency program."
City Council Fully Restores Arts Grants for 2012!
Toronto Arts Council, January 18, 2012
TORONTO, ON - "Thanks to the hundreds and thousands of Toronto
residents who made their voices heard by deputing at meetings, calling and
writing their Councillors and signing the Friends of the Arts petition, there
was support across the political spectrum at City Hall yesterday for
sustained funding of arts grants. Tuesday night City Councillors passed the
amended 2012 Operating Budget which included the adoption of a motion made by
Executive Committee last week to restore arts funding to 2011 levels and a
motion introduced at City Council to restore funding to all community grants
in the Community Partnership Investment Program (CPIP)."
Report says think about this: $1 of state investment in arts
and culture creates $51 for economy
Sherri Welch, Crain’s Detroit Business, 18 January 2012
MICHIGAN - "The intrinsic value of arts and cultural
organizations has long been recognized, but a new report reinforces what the
sector has long trumpeted: They have significant economic impact, as well.
For every $1 the state invested in nonprofit arts and cultural groups in
2009, those organizations pumped $51 back into Michigan's economy through
spending on rent, programs, travel and salaries. The sector employed 15,560
people that year, paying them a total of $152 million in salaries. "Creative
State Michigan," a new report from the Wixom-based advocacy group
Art Serve Michigan, reinforces what ArtServe has known all along, said the
group's director of public policy, Mike Latvis. "For a long time, we've
heard that state funding to the arts is a handout, but it's not. This report
shows that investment is returned multiple times over to the state's
economy." "
Arab artists flourishing as uprisings embolden a generation
Innovative and edgy work attracts attention around the world – and
record prices at auction
David Batty, The Guardian, Wednesday 18 January 2012
MIDDLE EAST - "At first glance the stones look unremarkable.
Nothing about them suggests a reason for their inclusion in a contemporary
art exhibition. But these stones were thrown by Egyptian military police at
pro-democracy campaigners in Tahrir Square, and are indicative of how the
Arab uprisings have emboldened a generation of artists across the region.
Ashraf Foda's work will go on show in Frankfurt later this month. "The
perception of Arab art has changed," said Reedah El-Saie, of London's
Modern Islamic and Contemporary Art gallery, which represents Foda.
"Before the uprisings people either saw it as exotic and innocuous or
steeped in the Islamic tradition; artists were wary of showing work that
might be seen as too political. "But now there's an appetite to
understand the context of the uprisings, and there's a real flourishing of
work that's more edgy."
Government wellbeing indicators are flawed, says Davies
Happiness index doesn't measure cultural engagement
Geraldine Kendall, Museums Association, 18.01.2012
UK - "The Museums Association is urging members to respond to a
consultation into the government's planned Measuring National Wellbeing
programme. The MA is concerned
that the indicators proposed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for
assessing national and individual wellbeing fail to take into account
participation in culture, heritage and the arts. The ONS published a paper
last year outlining the indicators it will use to measure the nation’s
wellbeing as part of its UK-wide happiness index. Data gathered on the basis
of those indicators will be published monthly from February and is likely to
influence future government policy."
Hockney
pinta con iPad 50 paisajes de la campiña inglesa
Walter Oppenheimer, El
Pais, 18 January 2012
LONDON, ENGLAND – "Pronto acaba el gran Leonardo pero llega David
Hockney. La Royal Academy acogerá desde el 21 de enero y hasta el 9 de abril
el testigo de la National Gallery en la carrera por batir records de público.
Presentado desde la muerte de Lucian Freud en julio pasado como "el
mayor artista británico vivo", Hockney abarrota de color los vastos
salones de la academia en una muestra de más de 150 obras, algunas de ellas
de inmenso tamaño, que no constituye una retrospectiva porque muchas son
recientes, realizadas en los últimos cinco o seis años. Titulada David
Hockney: El gran cuadro, la muestra viajará luego al Guggenheim de Bilbao
(entre el 15 de mayo y el 30 de septiembre)."
Ley
de Mecenazgo, prioridad cultural
Daniel Verdú, El
País, 17 January 2012
MADRID, SPAIN – "Pegadas al teléfono, a la espera de esa temida
llamada que confirme los previsibles recortes del Ministerio de Cultura, las
instituciones españolas que dependen de sus ayudas tiemblan desde hace
semanas por algo tan dramático, en algunos casos, como la cruda subsistencia.
El Liceo de Barcelona, por ejemplo, se plantea ya cancelar dos meses su
actividad para ahorrar poco más de dos millones de euros si el recorte en
Cultura va en aumento. No hay margen. Así que, ¿es posible mantener la misma
actividad cultural con los recortes y sin ningún otro estímulo? Los
principales agentes del sector coinciden en que se impone la necesidad de una
nueva Ley de Mecenazgo que facilite la entrada de capital privado. Una
reforma, sí, pero también, un cambio de mentalidad en la joven cultura del
patrocinio en España."
The Public Library as an Incubator for the Arts
Audrey Watters, MindShift
(KQED), 9:58 AM, 17 January 2012
MADISON, WI -
"Arguably, those who believe a public library is simply a repository of
print books haven’t been to a public library lately. Here at MindShift, we’ve
been covering the ways in which the library is evolving to change the demands
of digital technologies and of its patrons: libraries are becoming learning
labs, innovation centers, and makerspaces. Of course, the public library has
always been a community center as much as a place to go to check out books to
read, so the new extensions of the library’s service may not be so far afield
from the institution’s mission to provide access to information. Even so,
much of the emphasis has been on literacy — reading and writing, digital and
analog — and not on other forms of creativity. But three graduate students at
the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Library and Information Studies
have launched a project that points to another important way in which
libraries play a key role in their communities. The Library as
Incubator Project highlights some of the ways in which libraries and
local artists can work together. I spoke with Erinn Batykefer, Laura
Damon-Moore, and Christina Endres about the project."
Performing Arts Education Overview released today
Creative
Trust, 16 December 2011
TORONTO, ON –
"Creative Trust and PAONE (the Professional Arts Organizations Network
for Education) released the Performing Arts Education Overview today, at Theatre
Direct's Wychwood Theatre. Minister of Tourism and Culture Michael Chan
introduced this first time study, generously supported by his Ministry, of
the scope of arts education activities by 50 music, theatre, dance and opera
organizations in Toronto and area. Kelly Hill of Hill Strategies
Research presented the on-line survey's highlights. These underlined the
extent to which these companies have taken up the challenge of ensuring that
young people in Toronto experience the arts."
New York lawsuit: Andy Warhol Foundation's banana use is
unappealing to the Velvet Underground
Larry Neumeister
(Associated Press), Recent News, artdaily.org, 13 January 2012
NEW YORK CITY –
"Legendary rock band The Velvet Underground sued the Andy Warhol
Foundation on Wednesday, saying the banana design created by Warhol and used
by group on its first album cover in 1967 should not be used by or sold for
use by others. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan claimed
the foundation slipped up when it licensed the design for use on iPhone and
iPad products and has ignored repeated requests to stop licensing the banana
image."
Pomona's public art movement gaining momentum
Monica Rodriguez, Contra Costa Times, Posted: 01/13/2012
06:30:54 PM PST, Updated: 01/13/2012 10:10:53 PM PST
POMONA, CA - "In the time since since city leaders adopted a
public art ordinance, there is already much movement under way to incorporate
art into Pomona's neighborhoods. One such idea being developed is the
creation of an art master plan, said Andi Campognone, a member of the city's
Cultural Arts Commission and co-chairwoman of the Cultural Plan Committee.
"We need an arts master plan," she said. Such a plan "would
take a lot of pressure off (the city's) planning department." An arts master
plan would give developers clear ideas of what types of art projects are best
suited for different parts of the city, Campognone said. "They would
have guidelines that would tell them what would be appropriate in each
neighborhood," she said. Developing such a plan will require funding but
that isn't deterring interested residents, Campognone said. People are
looking for grant opportunities that will pay to complete such a plan, she
said. The ordinance, which went into effect Jan. 4, requires projects with a
building valuation of $750,000 or more will have to include a public art
component or contribute 1 percent of the development's value to a fund for
public art."
Art will cross the line last during the Olympics
Fears that cultural tourism
will suffer this summer; museums and galleries will not reap the rewards
until the years to come
Martin Bailey, The Art
Newspaper, Issue 231, January 2012, Published online: 18 January 2012
LONDON, ENGLAND
- "Excitement over the Olympics is
hotting up, with more than six million visitors expected to pour into London
for the Games. But if sport is set to have a fantastic year this summer, will
the arts lose out? Nearly all of London’s arts venues expect fewer visitors
during the Games because of the inevitable disruption. But more worryingly,
there is increasing concern that cultural tourists will stay away for the
rest of the year."
Spanish museum organization to promote cultural tourism in
Peru
Andina News Agency, 17 January 2012
SPAIN / PERU - "Peru’s
export and tourism promotion agency (Promperu) signed Tuesday an agreement
with the Spanish Federation of Friends of Museums (FEAM) to promote cultural
tourism among affluent consumers, Peruvian Minister of Foreign Trade and
Tourism Jose Luis Silva said. "The signing of the agreement will be carried out at
the Museum of the Americas in Madrid and it is the first time that FEAM signs
an agreement with a country. This will allow us to attract more tourists to
an important niche as these consumers have a high purchasing power,"
Silva told Andina News Agency."
Tourisme d’expérience: la Mauricie domine au Québec
Louise Plante,
Le Nouvelliste, 17 janvier 2012
MAURICIE, QC –
"Culture Mauricie pourra continuer à développer le créneau du tourisme
culturel d'expérience dans la région grâce à une subvention de 150 000 $ sur
trois ans que vient de lui accorder la Conférence régionale des élus de la
Mauricie. Le coût total du projet est estimé à 722 000 $. Éric Lord,
directeur de Culture Mauricie, se réjouit de ce nouveau soutien de la CRÉ qui
permet à son organisme de poursuivre son travail entamé il y a trois ans dans
le positionnement de la Mauricie comme première destination pour le tourisme
culturel d'expérience au Québec."
The most exciting city in Canada? Toronto, of course!
In an occasional
series about what Toronto can learn from other cities, it's suggested we take
a page out of New York's book and market this town as it's meant to be sold.
Adam McDowell, National
Post, 14 January 2012
TORONTO, ON –
"The tourists got scarce after the World Trade Center fell. After Sept.
11, 2001, New York's hotels were filled to just two-thirds of their usual
occupancy rate. The tourism bureau, NYC & Company, had to give Broadway
tickets away. A 10-year low of 35.2 million visitors came to the city in
2002, as reported in a recent New York magazine piece that chronicled the
city's remarkable tourism turnaround over the past decade. Led by a
passionate Mayor, New York bounced back. Its tourism industry now employs a
reported 320,000 people, boasts 90,000 hotel rooms and welcomed 50 million
visitors in 2011. While head counts are tricky to compare, the money tells a
tale: Tourism generates a reported US$47-billion in annual spending in New
York, vs. $4.35-billion in Toronto. "New York is clearly in a league all
on its own," concedes David Whitaker, CEO of Tourism Toronto. (As in New
York, Toronto's official tourism body is not a city agency but a
not-for-profit controlled by industry stakeholders.) Toronto and New York
move in different circles, it's true. While the latter is a top world
destination and a brand everyone is familiar with, Toronto has to content
itself with doing relatively well as a second-tier major North American city.
But it could always do better."
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