Museum, Library: Future of the Art Gallery of Windsor
Windsoritedotca, 8 February 2012
WINDSOR, ON -
"This morning, Art Gallery of Windsor Director Catharine Mastin sent out
an update on the status of the City purchase of the AGW Building, the library
move and the recommendation of the museum feasibility study to locate a new
museum at the gallery:
"On
February 2, 2012, Lord Cultural Resources, the consulting firm
retained by the City of Windsor, presented their recommendations
regarding a feasibility study for the Windsor Community Museum. Their
proposals include consideration of a long-term relationship with the Art
Gallery of Windsor and an expansion of the downtown Cultural Hub, a concept
which has been discussed at length this past year. The preferred location
identified for the Windsor Community Museum expansion is the AGW’s main
floor. Based on consideration of public input, we look forward to working
with the City and the Museum to ensure that the Gallery’s needs are met
through further refinements to this proposal. The Gallery must play an
important role in developing any Cultural Hub concept."
Let's Get Cultural, Cultural
Weetu to Lead
Marketing Campaign for Chicago Cultural Plan Initiative
Branding and
Social Media Campaigns to Begin in February
WEETU Corp, www.goweetu.com, 7 February 2012
CHICAGO, IL –
"Weetu will helm the social media and marketing outreach for the Chicago
Cultural Plan 2012. As the communications component of the City of
Chicago's selected planning team led by Lord Cultural Resources,
weetu's role will be to develop an overall branding campaign to be
implemented across social media and traditional marketing channels. In
partnership with Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events,
this plan will deliver a set of recommended initiatives that support the
Chicago arts and promote its economic growth while enhancing the city’s
reputation as a global cultural destination. [text
omitted] "We are honored to be working with weetu on this
project. Weetu's innovative approach, principles of inclusive public
engagement, and leading-edge design emulate the elements we wish to reflect
in Chicago's cultural plan," said Orit Sarfaty, Project Lead for Lord
Team. Gail Lord, co-president of Lord Cultural Resources added,
"Chicago is one of the world's leading cultural cities and so we are
truly honored to be working with City leadership to plan its even greater
cultural future."
Cheryl McClenney-Brooker, Director of External Affairs at the
Philadelphia Museum of Art, to retire after 29 years
Recent News,
artdaily.org, 4 February 2012
PHILADELPHIA, PA
– "The Philadelphia Museum of Art today announced that Cheryl
McClenney-Brooker, the Museum’s Director of External Affairs since 1987, will
retire on March 2, 2012, after 29 years of service. Over the years, Ms.
McClenney-Brooker has been a key member of the Museum’s senior
administration, serving to generate a broad range of initiatives to attract,
engage, and build audiences for the Museum and to advocate on behalf of the
Museum to elected officials and many other constituencies."
Museum feasibility study discussed with public
Sonia Sulaiman, Ourwindsor.ca,
3 February 2012
WINDSOR, ON –
"Thursday night, the consulting firm Lord Cultural Resources
presented findings of a feasibility study into the expansion of Windsor's
Community Museum, currently located in the Francois Baby House. The event was
well-attended by city councillors Jo-Anne Gignac, Alan Halberstadt, Ron
Jones, Al Maghnieh, and Fulvio Valentinis, and residents from across the city
filling Mackenzie Hall’s court auditorium. Recomendations included
restructuring historic attractions of the region into a "hub and
spoke" concept. A new central museum was proposed as the hub for the
concept, and detailed plans were presented for housing the new museum in the
current Art Gallery of Windsor's ground floor." [See
also Art Gallery of Windsor, museum called good fit, by Rebecca Wright, The Windsor Star, 3
February 2012]
Cultural center taking shape
Jo Anne Killeen, Onalaska Holmen Courier-Life , Posted:
Thursday, January 26, 2012 1:35 pm
ONALASKA, WI - "Consultants say the new Onalaska cultural and
tourism center will attract more than 47,000 visitors a year by its third
year of operation. That ranks the center right behind the Children’s Museum
of La Crosse, which has an average annual attendance of 47,641. Last week,
city leaders had their first comprehensive peek at the cultural center’s
draft business plan and its key assumptions, the interpretive strategy for
the exhibit spaces and proposed architectural designs.
Business plan
Lord Cultural Resources, the consulting firm hired by the city to
develop the business plan, assumes the cultural center will be
self-sustaining and will not have to rely on taxes from residents. Revenues
are projected to be $819,199 in the first year and grow to $875,351 by the
fifth year. According to Lord’s projections, the center will experience
profit margins of 3.9 percent in the first year to 8.62 percent in the fifth
year. According to Orit Sarfaty, senior consultant for Lord Cultural
Resources, the margin is high relative to similar institutions, but by
being smart, extra funds could be reinvested into opportunities for the
center."
Back to Top
China to build 1st archaeological museum
Xinhua, China
Daily, 9 February 2012
XI'AN, CHINA -
"China's first archaeological museum will be built in Xi'an, capital of
the northwestern Shaanxi province this year, local authorities has said. The
museum will aim to popularize knowledge of archaeology among common people
and diversify China's museum types, said Zhao Rong, director of the
provincial cultural relics bureau, at a provincial meeting attended by
cultural relics officials."
Museum hunts for stolen artifacts
Officials hope
to see stolen pieces returned
Jason van
Rassel, Calgary Herald, 8 February 2012
CALGARY, AB –
"Many were relics paid for with the blood of Canadian veterans: hundreds
of medals and other military artifacts stolen from a Calgary war museum and
sold for profit. Although a recent police investigation recovered some of the
relics stolen from the Military Museums of Calgary, most of nearly 600 items
taken from its collection have not been found. Now museum officials want to
find the items that are still missing, issuing a public appeal Tuesday to
collectors and others to return any articles they may have bought not knowing
they were stolen."
Wedgwood Museum may lose UNESCO listing
Status will be reviewed if collection dispersed
Patrick Steel, Museums Journal, 8 February 2012
STOKE-ON-TRENT, ENGLAND - "David Dawson, the chair of the Memory
of the World Working Group, which administers the UK Memory of the World
Register, told Museums Journal that if the Wedgwood collection were dispersed
it might not remain on the register. "If the collection were broken up
we would have to review its status, and its status as a designated collection
would also be reviewed," said Dawson. [text
omitted] The Wedgwood collection is currently one of only 20 collections
to be inscribed to the UK Memory of the World Register, a list of documentary
heritage which holds cultural significance specific to the UK." [see also Wedgwood Museum closure condemned by Unesco, by Dalya
Alberge, The Guardian, 5 February 2012]
Ford's Theatre opens new museum, education center in DC to
study Abraham Lincoln's legacy
Brett Zongker (Associated Press), The Republic, First Posted:
February 08, 2012 - 5:46 am, Last Updated:
8 February 2012 - 5:26 pm
WASHINGTON, DC — "Flowers once attached to President Abraham Lincoln's coffin and
ribbons from mourners have joined videos and interactive displays to explore
his life and legacy in a new museum and education center at the theater where
Lincoln was assassinated. The Ford's Theatre Center for Education and
Leadership opens to the public Sunday, the 203rd anniversary of Lincoln's
birth. The new center built in a 10-story former office building is part of a
$60 million project to create a four-part campus for visitors to learn about
the 16th president in the nation's capital."
Cash's 80th birthday, legacy to be celebrated
AP, CBS News, 7 February 2012
NASHVILLE, TN - "Johnny Cash is still
cool. Like Elvis or Hank Williams, Cash retains a certain cachet in current
popular culture even in death. More proof of his enduring legend is on the
way as plans to celebrate what would have been the American icon's 80th
birthday unfold later this month and year. There will be a groundbreaking on
the project to preserve Cash's childhood home in Dyess, Ark., on Feb. 26, his
birthday. A new Cash museum will open in Nashville later this year and
several music releases are expected to commemorate the anniversary of his
birth. There are three documentaries in the works as well." [see
also New Johnny Cash Museum Set To Open In Nashville, Starpulse, 7 February 2012]
St. Louis tries new approach in museum expansion
Bruce Olson, Reuters, 7 February 2012
ST. LOUIS, MO - "A U.S. art museum is
rearranging galleries by theme rather than time period, seeking to make them
more accessible to visitors as part of a $162 million expansion. Galleries at
the St. Louis Art Museum that once covered the 18th Century, for example, now
focus on "The Modern Body" with nudes from different eras, or
"The American Scene." It's an approach already in use at the
Detroit Institute of Arts Museum and the Cincinnati Art Museum, as more
museums try to connect art to visitors' personal experience, said Robin Cembalest,
executive editor of ARTnews. "Themes like food and eating or similar
approaches are a way to get into other cultures or past culture so we see the
commonalities with our own daily lives," Cembalest said."
Transformed Yale University Art Gallery to open in December
2012
Recent News,
artdaily.org, 7 February 2012
NEW HAVEN, CT –
"The Yale University Art Gallery, in New Haven, Connecticut, the oldest
and one of the most important university art museums in America, is in the
final phase of a renovation and expansion that will transform the visitor
experience of both the museum and its esteemed collections. The project will
enable the Gallery not only to enhance its role as one of the nation's most
prominent teaching institutions but also to join the ranks of the country's
leading public art museums. The expanded Gallery will open in December
2012."
Art Fund Prize unveils longlist but drops public poll
List includes four new museums and three Scottish venues
Rebecca Atkinson, Museums Journal, 7 February 2012
UNITED KINGDOM -
"The
Art Fund Prize 2012 will not include a public poll following criticism last
year that the judges ignored the public choice. [text
omitted] A spokesman for the Art Fund said the public poll, which was
used by the judging panel to assess visitor support, caused “confusion” last
year. Instead, members of the public will be invited to submit comments about
their favourite longlisted museum." [see also Longlist for
Art Fund Prize Museum of the Year 2012 announced, by Culture24
Reporter, 08 February 2012]
Forgan makes the case for Smarter Loans at launch of MA's
principles for UK loans
Cheaper to loan from Gdansk than London, says Captain Cook Museum
chair
Patrick Steel, 7 February 2012
UNITED KINGDOM -
"Speaking
at the launch of the Museum Association’s publication Smarter Loans: key principles for loans in the UK, Sophie
Forgan, chair of trustees at the Captain Cook Museum, told the audience: "I know loans take work, time and trouble,
and I know they cost. "But I was amazed that bringing material over from
Gdansk in Poland cost us a fraction of what it takes to bring stuff up from
London.
NDP offre 150 000 $ au Musée d'art de Joliette
Geneviève Blais,
L'Action, 7 février 2012
JOLIETTE, QC –
"Notre-Dame-des-Prairies accorde 150 000 $ au Musée d'art de Joliette
pour son projet de mise aux normes et de réaménagement. «Le conseil municipal
a décidé d'investir dans son Musée, parce qu'il y croit», affirme d'emblée le
maire de la Ville, Alain Larue. Lors de leur passage dans la région, en juin
2011, les ministres Christine St-Pierre et Michelle Courchesne ont fait
valoir l'urgence d'agir puisque l'établissement, en plus de manquer d'espace,
ne répond plus aux normes muséales canadiennes. Elles ont du même coup
annoncé l'injection, par le gouvernement, de dix millions de dollars dans ce
projet de réfection. Cette aide représente tout près de 85 % du coût total
des travaux, lequel est estimé à 11 775 000 $. Afin de compléter le montage
financier, le Musée d'art a lancé une campagne de financement à laquelle
répondent aujourd'hui les élus prairiquois."
Fermeture
du Liechtenstein Museum de Vienne
Connaissance des arts, 6 Février 2012
VIENNE, AUTRICHE – "À
Vienne, le Liechtenstein Museum ferme ses portes au grand public et
n’accueillera plus que les visites réservées et les réceptions. N'attirant
que 45 000 visiteurs par an sur les 300 000 escomptés, le musée, situé dans
le Gartenpalais, coûte trop cher au prince Hans-Adam II du Liechtenstein.
Ouvert en 1807 à Vienne pour abriter les collections de la famille princière,
le Liechtenstein Museum est pourtant l'un des premiers musées d'Europe en
terme d'acquisition."
Guggenheim to Close Berlin Outpost
Carol Vogel, The
New York Times, 6 February 2012
BERLIN, GERMANY
- "After 15 years, Deutsche Guggenheim, an outpost of the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum in the headquarters of Deutsche Bank in Berlin, is closing
at the end of the year. The decision to end the partnership between the Solomon
R. Guggenheim Foundation and Deutsche Bank was announced in Berlin on
Monday morning. Neither the bank nor the Guggenheim gave a concrete reason
for the decision, saying only that their contract expires at the end of
2012." [see also Fermeture
du Deutsche Guggenheim de Berlin, Le
Journal des Arts, 8
Février 2012]
Chase
Museum recovering from fire
Salmon Arm
Observer, 5 February
2012
CHASE, BC –
"The spirit of community is strong in the Village of Chase, residents
are active as volunteers in non-profit organizations in addition to busy
careers in other businesses. Word gets around quickly, groups pool efforts to
make great things happen. After the two fires in July 2011 caused by arson,
the Chase and District Museum is slowly rising from the ashes once again.
Insurance benefits fell short of reconstruction costs, so other fundraising
is in the works. Reasonable decisions are being made to make the best use of
financial resources in the rebuilding."
Cheekwood announces new 2012 Officers and Board of Trustees
Recent News,
artdaily.org, 4 February 2012
NASHVILLE, TN –
"Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art has recently announced
new officers of the Board.
The new
officers, who will serve for two years in these roles are:
Chairman: Mr.
George B. Stadler, CFA [text omitted]
Vice-Chairman:
Mrs. Lillian C. Bradford (Tooty) [text omitted]
Treasurer: Mr.
Don MacLeod [text omitted]
Secretary: Mrs.
Katherine Higgins DeLay."
Walker Art Center's Sarah Schultz appointed Director of
Education and Curator of Public Practice
Recent News,
artdaily.org, 3 February 2012
MINNEAPOLIS, MN
– "Sarah Schultz has been named Director of Education and Curator of
Public Practice at the Walker Art Center. Schultz has been the Walker’s
Director of Education since 2000. The new title reflects the evolution of the
Walker's pioneering education department and recognizes Schultz's leadership
around several important public initiatives. In 2010, Schultz and her team
organized the Walker's Open Field, the first in a series of summer-long
experiments in how museums can engage the public in new ways. Inspired by
models of the commons, crowd-sourcing, collective action, and new forms of
socially-engaged art practice, Open Field opens the museum to the public and
artists together by using four acres of adjacent green space to create an
alternative public park--a type of cultural commons with social interaction
and creative participation as its guiding philosophies. Open Field hosts over
100 activities each summer season, created and led by interested members of
the general public alongside invited artists-in-residence and activities
generated by the Walker."
Mine Museum wins awards
Renovations at
Britannia attraction recognized
John French, Pique
Newsmagazine, 2 February 2012
BRITANNIA BEACH,
BC – "The $14.7 million transformation of the mining museum in Britannia
is paying off with the museum picking up two prestigious awards. The
Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC) and the B.C.
Museum Association (BCMA) have honoured the Britannia Mine Museum on Highway
99. AME BC gave the museum the Award for Social and Environmental
Responsibility while the BCMA honoured the museum's executive director with
the award of merit."
Back to Top
HWKN’s Eco-Friendly ‘Wendy’ Wins MOMA PS1 Young Architects
Program
Stephanie Murg, UnBeige,
on February 8, 2012 11:30 PM
"Who’s
tripping down the streets of the city, smilin’ at everybody she sees? Who’s
reachin’ out to neutralize an airborne pollutant? Everyone knows it’s Wendy!
That’s right, fans of emerging architectural talent, the spiky and proactive
creation of New York-based HWKN (Hollwich Kushner) has been declared the
winner of this year’s MOMA PS1 Young Architects Program, besting finalists
Ammar Eloueini of AEDS Ammar Eloueini Digit-all Studio (Paris and New
Orleans), Martin Felsen and Sarah Dunn of UrbanLab (Chicago), and the solid
Cantabrigian (Massachusetts) contingent: Mariana Ibañez and Simon Kim of I|K
Studio and Cameron Wu. Now in its thirteenth year, the Young Architects
Program program challenges each year’s winners to develop creative designs
for a temporary, outdoor installation at MoMA PS1 that provides shade,
seating, and water."
Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei to design Serpentine
Gallery Pavilion 2012
Recent News,
artdaily.org, 8 February 2012
LONDON, UK –
"The Serpentine Gallery announced that Herzog & de Meuron and Ai
Weiwei will create the 2012 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion. It will be the
twelfth commission in the Gallery’s annual series, the world’s first and most
ambitious architectural programme of its kind. The design team responsible
for the celebrated Beijing National Stadium, which was built for the 2008
Olympic Games and won the prestigeous RIBA Lubetkin Prize, will come together
again in London in 2012 in a special development of the Serpentine’s
acclaimed annual commission which will be presented as part of the London
2012 Festival, the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad. The Pavilion will be
Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei’s first collaborative built structure in
the UK." [see also Le pavillon éphémère 2012 de la Serpentine Gallery confié à
Ai Weiwei et au duo Herzog & de Meuron, Le
Journal des Arts, 09.02.12]
New York City Mayor Says Green Building Codes Will Help City
Meet PlaNYC Goals
Carolina
Worrell, Architectural Record, 8 February 2012
NEW YORK, NY –
"New York City’s adoption of new green building codes are expected to
result in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 5% and saving $400 million by
2030, says a recently released report from the Urban Green Council, the U.S.
Green Building Council’s New York chapter. The codes are also expected to
divert 100,000 tons of asphalt from landfills each year; reduce greenhouse
gas emissions citywide by 5%; and lower the costs of lighting energy by 10%.
The city has so
far enacted 29 of 111 recommendations made by a task force established two
years ago to detail steps the city should take to increase sustainability in
the buildings sector. Eight more recommendations are in the process of
becoming codified, the city says. The new codes will help put the city on
track to meet its PlaNYC program goals, says Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who
launched the green initiative in 2007."
Met Aims to Build Itself a Museum-Quality Plaza
Carol Vogel, The New York Times, 7 February 2012
NEW YORK, NY - "More than 40 years after its last makeover, the
plaza in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is showing its age: the
fountains are leaking, the sidewalk is crumbling, and the trees are dying.
Overcrowding on the institution’s grand front steps — one of the most popular
meeting places in Manhattan — often causes bottlenecks for visitors trying to
get to the front door. Now an ambitious plan is in the works to transform
this four-block-long stretch along Fifth Avenue, from 80th to 84th Street,
into a more efficient, pleasing and environmentally friendly space, with new
fountains, tree-shaded allées, seating areas, museum-run kiosks and softer,
energy-efficient nighttime lighting." [see
also Met Museum Announces Major Renovation Plans for its Fifth
Avenue Plaza and Fountains, Recent News,
artdaily.org, 8 February 2012]
Story of the North: Young Danish architects win competition
for the House of the North
World Architecture News, 7 February 2012
ODENSE, DENMARK - "A design consisting of three houses on
pillars in a landscape of stairs, shelves and terraces is the winning
proposal for a future culture house on the harbour of Odense in Denmark. The
building is set to open in 2013. Young Danish architects CORNELIUS + VÖGE and
ISAGER architects together with contractor Hans Jørgensen og Søn, Grontmij
and Masu Planning, have been selected winners of the cultural building House
of The North Atlantic. The Building will represent and exhibit the 3 North
Atlantic countries: Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland in Denmark. The
building has an area of 3800 m2 and will include exhibition areas, conference
rooms, restaurant, library and student housing."
Canada's Gorgeous Green-Roofed VanDusen Botanical Garden
Visitor Centre Opens to the Public!
Diane Pham, Inhabitat, 7 February 2012
VANCOUVER, BC - "Canada's brand new VanDusen Botanical Garden
Visitor Centre is a flowing green building that blends into its surrounding
landscape in Vancover. Designed by Perkins+Will, the billowing structure is
sited amidst a thicket of tall and lush greenery, and it brings a harmonious
balance between modern architecture and nature. From its rammed earth walls,
all the way to the top of its green roof, this LEED Platinum building is also
steeped in green building strategies that will help it achieve net-zero
energy."
Marks Barfield Proposes a Soaring Bamboo Science Center for
the Amazon Rainforest
Nathaniel Ross, Inhabitat, 02/07/12
RORAIMA, BRAZIL - "Imagine the High Line elevate park on the
lower west side of Manhattan, only instead of a one-mile walkway above
beeping taxis and century-old brick facades, it's a six mile network of
walkways spanning over unspoiled rainforest with chirping Toucans and ancient
trees over a thousand years old. This walkway, part of a proposed science
center designed by Marks Barfield Architects in the northeastern Brazilian
province of Roraima, would offer important research opportunities to
scientists from the Royal Botanical Gardens and organizations like Kew and
the Brazilian Amazon Research Institute, as well as breathtaking views for
visiting tourists."
Architects Fight Obesity Epidemic Through Active Design
Paula Melton, GreenSource, 7 February 2012; This article
originally appeared on BuildingGreen.com.
NEW YORK, NY - "Better design choices in homes, workplaces, and
communities can increase access to healthier food and provide built-in
opportunities for physical activity, fighting the nation’s childhood obesity
epidemic. That’s the premise of the burgeoning “active design” movement
focusing on elements like playgrounds, walking trails, gardens, and prominent
and attractive stairways. The Active Design Guidelines developed by New York
City collect many of these design strategies—for cities, neighborhoods, and
individual buildings—into a free reference guide."
New Research Reveals the Safety Hazards of Green Building
By Katie Frasier, GreenSource, 7 February 2012, This article
originally appeared in ENR Mountain States.
UNITED STATES - "During the past several years, the green
building trend has soared, with an increase in government incentives and
availability of affordable supplies driving a huge growth of U.S. Green
Building Council LEED-certified buildings. With the LEED program ambitiously
hoping to certify one million commercial buildings by 2020, it’s no surprise
that this trend has come under some scrutiny. And while most great rewards
often have a price, in this case it could be at the expense of the safety of
construction workers on the job."
Steven Holl Architects Chosen to Design Houston Museum of Fine
Art Addition
Molly Cotter, Inhabitat, 02/06/12
HOUSTON, TX - "The Houston Museum of Fine Arts has just chosen
Steven Holl Architects to design a new building for their expansive
institution. One of our longtime favorite firms in sustainable design and
recent winner of the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, Holl and
Co. will certainly produce an eco-savvy and innovative addition to the
museum. With buildings already designed by iconic artists Isamu Noguchi, Mies
van der Rohe, and Rafael Moneo, the museum’s newest structure is certainly in
good company."
Le
Grand Palais prépare son chantier
Connaissance des arts, 6 Février 2012
PARIS, FRANCE – "Le Grand Palais a obtenu l’accord de l’État pour des
travaux de rénovation qui s’élèveront à 236 millions d’euros. Ce projet,
présenté en avril 2010 par le président de la RMN-Grand Palais, Jean-Paul
Cluzel, sera mis en œuvre de 2014 à 2022."
Zaha
Hadid signe le phare de Marseille
Connaissance des arts, 6 Février 2012
MARSEILLE, FRANCE – "Troisième groupe mondial de transport maritime en
conteneurs, la CMA-CGM a confié à Zaha Hadid le soin de construire son
nouveau siège social, en plein cœur d’Euro méditerranée, à Marseille. Tel un
phare face à la mer, la tour de trente-trois étages est venue se loger sur
une parcelle ingrate, entre deux viaducs autoroutiers."
La
hausse de la constructibilité proposée par Nicolas Sarkozy inquiète les
architectes
Le Journal des Arts, 2 Février 2012
PARIS, FRANCE – "Depuis l’annonce par Nicolas Sarkozy, le 30 janvier
2012, d’une loi augmentant de 30 % les possibilités de construction,
plusieurs associations de défense du patrimoine ainsi que le Conseil national
de l’ordre des architectes s’inquiètent. Ils craignent que cette mesure,
destinée à abaisser le prix de l’immobilier, ne nuise à l’esthétique des
immeubles et ne remette en cause les zones patrimoniales protégées."
Back to Top
Maurizio Cattelan app named top app for 2012
Recent News, artdaily.org, 8 February 2012
NEW YORK, NY - "The Sunday Times (UK) has recognized Maurizio Cattelan: All in its list of Top
500 Apps. Produced on the occasion of the Guggenheim's Maurizio Cattelan
retrospective exhibition, which was on view November 4, 2011–January 22,
2012, the app is available on iPhone, iPad, and Android. It includes dramatic
views of the Guggenheim installation, texts about the works, and video
commentary by many of the artist’s key collaborators. The annual list is put
together by a team of experienced app reviewers and experts, and features a
roundup of apps from around the world in categories such as travel, music,
the arts, entertainment, books, TV and radio, science, DIY, gardening, and
games."
Short film brings the Finnish Pavilion to life at the 1900 Paris World Fair
Aalto University: School of Arts, Design and
Architecture, 7 February 2012
AALTO, FINLAND - "Researchers and students from
the Department of Media of the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and
Architecture have created a short film called Le Pavilion de la Finlande à
l’exposition universelle de 1900 à Paris. The eight-and-a-half-minute film
will be shown at a large exhibition presenting the works of Akseli
Gallen-Kallela opening on February 7 at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris. The film
takes its viewers on a journey in time to see the Finnish Pavilion at the
Paris World Fair in 1900. The makers of the film have used 3D modelling and
animation and connected archival materials with computer generated imagery in
order to render a simulation of the Finnish Pavilion and the 1900 World
Exposition in Paris."
Access
thousands of TV clips from across Europe
JISC, 6 February 2012
EUROPE - "Over 14,000 items of archived TV footage from 17
European countries are now available via the EUscreen online portal. EUscreen – the result of
collaboration between 36 partners across Europe – provides a rich insight
into Europe’s television heritage with content dating from the 1920s to the
present day. The portal includes rare footage and commentary on key events in
history, including a 1962 interview with Martin Luther King about racial
discrimination in the US. John Ellis2, Professor of Media Arts at Royal
Holloway and principal investigator on the EUscreen project, said: "This is a valuable resource for anyone interested in
social history or indeed TV history, as it brings together tens of thousands
of clips from across Europe. The portal is available to anyone (not only
academics) and it is very easy to get absorbed and spend hours browsing all
of the footage." The expansive
footage has also proved popular as a learning aid for foreign language
students, with clips available in 14 languages."
Back to Top
Hungary’s government tightens grip on arts
Right-wing
leadership stands accused of controlling the cultural sector for political
ends
Julia Michalska.
The Art Newspaper, Issue 232, February 2012, Published online: 09
February 2012
HUNGARY -
"Already under attack from the European Commission for its policies on
banking, the law and the media, Hungary’s national conservative government is
now facing a tide of protest from the arts community. The government, led by
Viktor Orban, stands accused of systematically replacing key figures in
cultural institutions, staging pro-government exhibitions, rethinking
permanent museum displays and replacing historic statues to fit its political
agenda."
Four-in-10 children 'have never been to an art gallery'
Millions of
British children have never been to an art gallery, theatre or stage show,
according to research.
The
Telegraph, 9 February
2012
UNITED KINGDOM -
"The 'culture starved' generation emerged in a study of 2,000 parents of
five to 12 year-olds throughout the UK. Four in 10 children have never seen
the inside of an art gallery, while 17 per cent haven't visited a museum with
their parents. The research, which was commissioned by Visit Birmingham, also
revealed that a quarter of children haven't been to the theatre, while six in
10 have never heard or been to a classical music concert. One in 10 kids
hasn't even left their home town to visit other cultural sites in the UK. And
half of parents admit they make little effort to educate their children on
culture or history, relying on schools to do so."
Why sip your java when you can inhale it?
Rodrique Ngowi
(The Associated Press), The Globe and Mail, Published Wednesday, Feb.
08, 2012 3:31PM EST
Last updated Wednesday,
Feb. 08, 2012 3:46PM EST
CAMBRIDGE, MA —
"Move over, coffee and Red Bull. A Harvard professor thinks the next big
thing will be people inhaling their caffeine from a lipstick-sized tube.
Critics say the novel product is not without its risks. The product, called
AeroShot, went on the market late last month in Massachusetts and New York,
and is also available in France. A single unit costs $2.99 at convenience,
mom-and-pop, liquor and online stores. Biomedical engineering professor David
Edwards said AeroShot is safe and does not contain common additives, like
taurine, used to amplify the caffeine effect in common energy drinks. Each
grey-and-yellow plastic canister contains 100 milligrams of caffeine powder,
about the amount in a large cup of coffee, plus B vitamins."
Art market analysis: A market in need of supervision
The best way to
protect the trade is to safeguard scholarship
Marion Maneker, The
Art Newspaper, Issue 232, February 2012, Published online: 08 February
2012
WORLD -
"The most striking thing about the art market—especially as it has grown
from the small, passionate community of the early 1990s to a $50bn industry
today—is that it largely functions along self-regulating lines. Prices,
authenticity, standards and practices are all arrived at among the art world
itself, without much reference or recourse to government—it feels like a
libertarian’s dream of a free and unfettered market. But, the recent scandal
engulfing the 165-year-old Knoedler Gallery, with the authenticity of works
attributed to US painters including Robert Motherwell and Jackson Pollock
coming under scrutiny (The Art Newspaper, January 2012, pp4,5), suggests that
more adult supervision is required."
Second edition of $100,000 art prize launched online
The Future Generation
Art Prize, funded by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation in Ukraine, is open to any
artist around the world up to the age of 35
The Art
Newspaper, Web only,
Published online: 08 February 2012
WORLD -
"The second edition of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation’s Future Generation
Art Prize, worth $100,000, was launched this week with a press conference
streamed live on The Art Newspaper’s website and moderated by our founding
editor Anna Somers Cocks. Applications for the award are now available online
at www.futuregenerationartprize.org
until 6 May, with the winner due to be chosen in December. [text omitted] artists up to the age of
35 from anywhere in the world can apply to win."
History expert Barry Landau pleads guilty to stealing
documents; faces up to 10 years in prison
Sarah Blumfield
(Associated Press), Recent News, artdaily.org, 8 February 2012
BALTIMORE, MD –
"A memorabilia collector and self-styled expert on presidential history
pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to steal thousands of documents signed
by leaders throughout U.S. history. Barry Landau, whose knowledge of the
White House earned him network morning show appearances, acknowledged in the
plea to taking documents from the Maryland Historical Society and conspiring
with his assistant to steal historical documents from several institutions
with the intent of selling them. Thousands of documents were seized from
Landau's artifact-filled Manhattan apartment. Prosecutors say he schemed for
years, if not decades, to steal valuable documents signed by historical
figures from both sides of the Atlantic including George Washington, Abraham
Lincoln, Marie Antoinette, and Charles Dickens. The oldest document listed in
the plea was dated 1479."
Top contemporary art figure, Spanish painter and sculptor
Antoni Tapies, dead at 88
Ciaran Giles
(Associated Press), Recent News, artdaily.org, 8 February 2012
MADRID, SPAIN –
"Catalan painter and sculptor Antoni Tapies, one of the world's top
contemporary art figures, has died. He was 88. A statement from the
government of his native northeastern Catalonia region said Tapies — whose
work has been displayed in major museums across the world — died Monday
evening in Barcelona. It said he had been in poor health since 2007. Born in
Barcelona in 1923, Tapies was one of Spain's main exponents of abstract and
avant-garde art in the second half of the 20th century." [see also Disparition
du maître de l’abstraction Antoni Tàpies, Connaissance des arts, 8 Février 2012]
Les
ventes aux enchères flambent, dopées par les achats de Chine
Le Monde, 8 Février 2012
LE MONDE -
"Le produit des ventes aux
enchères d'œuvres d'art dans le monde a bondi de 21 % en 2011, atteignant le
niveau inégalé de 11,54 milliards de dollars, la Chine caracolant en tête
avec une part de marché de plus de 41 %, indique la société Artprice,
première base de données sur le marché de l'art dans le monde, qui publie
mercredi 8 février son bilan annuel du secteur."
La Cueva de Nerja podría albergar la primera obra de arte de
la humanidad
El profesor de la
Universidad de Córdoba José Luis Sanchidrián dirige el proyecto de
conservación de esta cueva
EFE, Diario Córdoba,
2012/02/07
MÁLAGA, SPAIN -
"Seis pinturas rupestres de la
Cueva de Nerja (Málaga) que representan a focas podrían tener una antigüedad
de al menos 42.000 años, lo que las situaría como la primera obra de arte de
la humanidad, que además no habría sido realizada por sapiens, sino por
neandertales, según varios expertos." [see also These Are the Earliest Human Paintings Ever, by Jesus
Diaz, Gizmodo Australia, 9:30AM February 8, 2012; and Les toutes premières œuvres d’art de l’humanité dateraient de
42 000 ans et se trouveraient en Espagne, par Chloé da Fonseca, Le
Journal des Arts, 08.02.12]
Le
Qatar achète un tableau de Cézanne pour une somme record
Le Journal des Arts, 7 Février 2012
DOHA, QATAR – "À
la fin de l’année 2011, la famille royale du Qatar a acheté « Les Joueurs de
cartes » de Paul Cézanne (1895) aux héritiers du magnat des transports
maritimes, le grec George Embiricos. Le montant de la transaction s’élève à
191,5 millions d’euros, un record historique dans le marché de l’art."
Christie’s
et Sotheby’s Londres tablent sur une hausse de plus 20 % par rapport à 2011
de leurs ventes d’art impressionniste et moderne
Le Journal des Arts, 7 Février 2012
LONDRES, ROYAUME-UNI – "À
elles deux, Christie’s et Sotheby’s espèrent réaliser un chiffre d’affaires
de 164 millions de livres (estimations basses et hors frais) lors de leurs
vacations d’art impressionniste et moderne à Londres les 7 et 8 février. Les
auctioneers comptent notamment sur la prestigieuse provenance des œuvres,
notamment pour celles issues de la collection d’Élizabeth Taylor, pour
séduire les acheteurs."
Le 2-22 Sainte-Catherine, enfin ouvert!
Jean Siag, La
Presse, 6 février 2012
MONTRÉAL, QC –
"Sept ans après le début du projet de la Société de développement Angus
(SDA), après de nombreux revirements dans son financement et un changement
d'architectes, le 2-22 Sainte-Catherine a finalement été inauguré hier en
présence des six copropriétaires. L'édifice vitré de six étages, construit à
l'intersection du boulevard Saint-Laurent et de la rue Sainte-Catherine, a
coûté 20 millions. Les partenaires financiers sont la Ville de Montréal,
Fondaction CSN et le gouvernement du Québec. Élément intéressant, le nouveau
lieu de diffusion culturelle abrite des organismes qui sont devenus
propriétaires de leurs espaces grâce à des fonds publics, environ 12 millions
au total."
Paris participera à Art souterrain
Éric Clément, La
Presse, 6 février 2012
MONTRÉAL, QC –
"Contre vents et marées, Art souterrain revient pour un quatrième hiver
consécutif habiller nos souterrains montréalais d'oeuvres d'art et de
performances inédites. Organisé par le galeriste et commissaire Frédéric
Loury, l'événement d'art contemporain présentera du 25 février au 11 mars les
oeuvres de 200 artistes dont une vingtaine en provenance de Paris. Après
avoir dû éponger un déficit de 7 000 $ en 2010 et de 26 000 $ en 2011,
Frédéric Loury ne recule pas. Malgré le manque d'appui financier public (il
regrette l'absence d'aide du Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec), il
va de l'avant grâce aux commanditaires privées et un appui inédit: la France."
Uruguay gets its first biennale
The event is timed to take place during São Paulo’s international
exhibition
Nicolas Smirnoff, The Art Newspaper, Web only, Published
online: 06 February 2012
"The debut edition of
the Biennale de Montevideo—Uruguay’s first such event and titled "Big Sur"—is due to open on 15 October, right in the middle
of the São Paulo Biennial, which is set to take place between 8 September and
9 December. The concept of "the South" and its
relationship to the rest of the world is due to be examined in the Biennale
de Montevideo by around 50 artists from five continents, although the list
has not yet been released. Sponsored by the Laetitia d’Arenberg Foundation,
the Uruguay biennale has a budget of around $2m, says its artistic director,
Gustavo Tabares."
America's 50 top philanthropists include 12 arts donors
Mike Boehm, The Los Angeles Times, February 6, 2012
UNITED STATES - "The most generous members of the 1% devoted
more than 2% of their charitable giving last year to arts and culture,
according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, which issued Monday its annual
ranking of America’s 50 most generous donors. Reporters for the Chronicle
found specific donations of at least $1 million to arts and cultural
institutions by 12 of the 50, totaling $213.4 million. The Philanthropy 50,
as the Chronicle calls them, gave $10.4 billion in total charitable donations
in 2011, more than three times the $3.3 billion they donated in 2010. Just
about all of that increase can be attributed to Margaret A. Cargill of La
Jolla, who died in 2006, leaving a bequest to two foundations she had
established, resulting in gifts that the Chronicle placed at $6 billion.
Cargill, needless to say, was No. 1 in the rankings. The Chronicle’s
methodology on arts giving among Philanthropy 50 wasn’t sufficiently
fine-tuned to capture all the arts interests of top donors. For example, the
Chronicle did not identify Cargill (pictured), as a cultural donor, because
it counted all $6 billion as a gift to a foundation, rather than one that
would benefit the arts. But Cargill’s will specified that Native American
culture and folk art will be one of the areas funded regularly through her
foundations –- potentially yielding millions of dollars in annual arts
giving."
Do Unpaid Internships Exploit College Students?
The New York Times “Room for Debate”, 6 February 2012
UNITED STATES – "Employers often seem to flout the Labor
Department rules about unpaid interns, but college students keep lining up
for these positions year after year. Should government intervene, because the downsides
of unpaid internships outweigh the benefits? Or should officials step back,
assuming that this arrangement mutually benefits employers and interns?"
[a debate comprising 5 opinion pieces by Ross
Perlin (author, "Intern Nation"), David Lat (founder, Above the
Law), Alex Footman (filmmaker), Camille Olson (employment attorney), and
Raphael Pope-Sussman (writer)]
Une
copie contemporaine de la « Joconde » de Léonard de Vinci découverte au Prado
Le Journal des Arts, 3 Février 2012
MADRID, ESPAGNE – "Et si la « Joconde » avait une sœur jumelle ? Au
Musée du Prado, une copie du portrait de Mona Lisa était conservée depuis de
nombreuses années, mais elle n’était pas jugée digne d’intérêt Une copie
comme des dizaines d’autres, réalisées après la mort de Léonard de Vinci.
Pourtant, après des travaux de restauration, l’œuvre est apparue comme
fondamentale pour l’histoire de l’art : elle a été réalisée simultanément à
la « Joconde » par l’un des disciples du maître florentin.”
Vols
et vandalisme à la Villa Médicis
Connaissance des arts, 3 Février 2012
ROME, ITALIE – "Des voleurs se sont introduits à trois reprises dans
la Villa Médicis ces derniers jours pour y dérober plusieurs fragments de
sculptures. Pour s'emparer des pièces antiques, ils n'ont pas hésité à les
mutiler, comme pour cet Apollon du IIe siècle arraché à son bas-relief.
Manquent aussi à l'appel deux torses d'époque impériale, deux têtes en marbre
de la Renaissance ainsi que deux copies de têtes antiques."
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Council backs plan to raise support for the arts
David Reevely, The
Ottawa Citizen, 9 February 2012
OTTAWA — "A five-year plan to increase Ottawa’s arts spending
by $5 million a year got council’s approval Wednesday, but only after a
handful of councillors got assurances that it doesn’t actually commit them to
spending the money. It wasn’t so much the operating increases, which add up
to a steady extra $5 million a year by the end of the plan, that got
attention as a set of plans for capital projects like a downtown concert
hall, which councillors Allan Hubley and Steve Desroches wanted to be sure
the plan doesn’t require the city to live up to. The strategy suggests the
city government will push a concert hall — which several people and
organizations have tried to get built, generally failing at the point of
drawing private-sector contributions — into construction by 2018. They were
assured that the five-year plan doesn’t take the place of each year’s budget,
when councillors decide what they want to fund and what they don’t. The arts
plan is a list of priorities and timelines but not a firm commitment, said
deputy city manager Steve Kanellakos."
Canada census shows people moving west
Overall population rises to
33.5 million, with Ontario's growth slowing
The Canadian Press, CBC
News, Posted: Feb 8, 2012 8:39 AM ET Last Updated: Feb 8, 2012 10:07 PM
ET
CANADA - "The
latest census figures show Canada's population at 33.5 million, with more
people continuing to migrate to the West. Western Canada's population has
finally surpassed that on the other side of Ontario — a trend that has been
decades in the making, but was compounded by the recent recession. The first
barrage of data from the 2011 census, released Wednesday, showed that there
were 33.5 million people living in Canada in May of last year — and that for
the first time ever, more of them are living west of Ontario than in Quebec
and the Atlantic provinces. At the national level, there was a healthy 5.9
per cent surge in population from the previous census in 2006, giving Canada
the fastest growth pace of all the countries in the G8." [see also Census numbers crystallize Ontario’s exodus, by Maria
Babbage, The Hamilton Spectator, 8 February 2012; and Statistics
Canada’s 2011 Census site at http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-eng.cfm]
Restore a Gateway to Dignity
It’s time to address the
calamity that is Penn Station.
Michael Kimmelman, The
New York Times, 8 February 2012
NEW YORK, NY - "Nearly a half-century has passed since the
destruction of the great 1910 station designed by Charles Follen McKim of
McKim, Mead & White, a “monumental act of vandalism,” as an editorial in
The New York Times called the demolition in 1963. A vast steel, travertine
and granite railway palace of the people, the old Pennsylvania Station had
declined by the end into a symbol of bygone Gilded Age opulence. It was
replaced by Penn Plaza and Madison Square Garden, Modernist mediocrities,
erected to serve real estate interests, with a new subterranean Penn Station
entombed below. Some 600,000 commuters, riding Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road
and New Jersey Transit, now suffer Penn Station every day. That makes it
probably the busiest transit hub in the Western world, busier than Heathrow Airport
in London, busier than Newark, La Guardia and Kennedy airports combined. To
pass through Grand Central Terminal, one of New York’s exalted public spaces,
is an ennobling experience, a gift. To commute via the bowels of Penn
Station, just a few blocks away, is a humiliation. What is the value of
architecture? It can be measured, culturally, humanely and historically, in
the gulf between these two places. Long trumpeted as a solution to the blight
that is Penn Station has been the plan, well more than a decade old, to
transform the present James A. Farley Post Office, opposite Madison Square
Garden on Eighth Avenue, into a new train hub. The project is named for
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the New York senator who championed the idea before
his death in 2003. It is a first step. But the only way to fix Penn properly
is to move Madison Square Garden."
Modernist vision unveiled for a renovated Lansdowne
David Reevely and Neco
Cockburn, The Ottawa Citizen, 8 February 2012
OTTAWA — "Plans for a renovated Lansdowne Park will make it an
active place for Ottawans and visitors day and night, in hot weather and
cold, promised politicians and designers as they revealed drastically refined
plans for the rundown Glebe property. The Tuesday morning presentation in
city hall’s council chamber was interrupted repeatedly by applause from a
sympathetic audience of developers, former Rough Rider football players and
other allies of the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, the city’s partner
in the redevelopment plans. Although the plan’s proponents are still waiting
a tad anxiously for a ruling from the Ontario Court of Appeal on whether the
city’s deal with OSEG to share the cost of the $350-million project is legal,
the presentation was clearly designed to give the project an air of
inevitability."
‘We the People’ Loses Appeal With People Around the World
Adam Liptak, The New York Times, 6 February 2012
WASHINGTON, DC — "The Constitution has seen better days. Sure,
it is the nation’s founding document and sacred text. And it is the oldest
written national constitution still in force anywhere in the world. But its
influence is waning. In 1987, on the Constitution’s bicentennial, Time
magazine calculated that "of the 170 countries that exist today, more
than 160 have written charters modeled directly or indirectly on the U.S.
version." A quarter-century later, the picture looks very different.
"The U.S. Constitution appears to be losing its appeal as a model for
constitutional drafters elsewhere," according to a new study by David S.
Law of Washington University in St. Louis and Mila Versteeg of the University
of Virginia. The study, to be published in June in The New York University
Law Review, bristles with data. Its authors coded and analyzed the provisions
of 729 constitutions adopted by 188 countries from 1946 to 2006, and they
considered 237 variables regarding various rights and ways to enforce them.
"Among the world’s democracies," Professors Law and Versteeg
concluded, "constitutional similarity to the United States has clearly
gone into free fall. Over the 1960s and 1970s, democratic constitutions as a
whole became more similar to the U.S. Constitution, only to reverse course in
the 1980s and 1990s."
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