Arts Advocacy Update XXX

The content below is from Americans for the Arts' Cultural Policy Listserv.


Comcast Defends Role As Internet Traffic Cop
Washington Post, 2/13/2008
"Comcast said yesterday that it purposely slows down some traffic on its network, including some music and movie downloads, an admission that sparked more controversy in the debate over how much control network operators should have over the Internet. . . . Comcast argues that it should be able to direct traffic so networks don't get clogged; consumer groups and some Internet companies argue that the networks should not be permitted to block or slow users' access to the Web."
Should we be outraged by this? Oh, but that's ok -- people in red states, some of them at least, will still vote against their interests by electing Republicans who see nothing wrong with these kinds of clearly anti-American, anti-constitutional shenanigans. Shame on these idiots.


First Salinas arts congress strives to boost business, young minds
The Californian (Salinas, CA), 2/7/2008
In California, "[a]bout 100 of Salinas’ most creative citizens met Thursday to help generate and shape a vigorous future for the city’s arts. The Sherwood Hall event was the first-ever Salinas Arts Congress. . . . Citizens’ ideas included: A city-wide arts festival; Displaying art in vacant downtown buildings; A grant writer to get money to promote the arts in Salinas; A cultural arts center; An arts effort that is ethnically diverse and open to all. Those and other goals added up to a blueprint for action, which will undergo refinement and planning at the next Salinas Arts Congress, set for March 17."
Funny thing is, look how many of these ideas have NYC resonance -- art in vacant buildings, for example, makes me recall Chashama. This is encouraging stuff.


Giving the Arts More Room to Grow
Washington Post, 2/7/2008
"Cultural groups throughout the [Washington, DC] region are lining up for a new kind of casting call, hoping to be chosen by Arlington County to play a leading part in the county's transformation from a suburban bedroom community to an artistic mecca. Arlington County recently finalized a deal with a Rosslyn developer that will allow it to offer the former Newseum rent-free for 10 years, presenting arts organizations with the prospect of getting a world-class performance space."
Not to be negative, but this sounds a little pie in the sky, I fear. The idea is that the Newseum is kicking off this radical remaking of Arlington County? Really? Are the numbers there to assure this will happen, or this is along the lines of Build it and They Will Come? I'm just a little skeptical.


Bush's proposed arts cuts bring outcry
Akron Beacon Journal (OH), 2/7/2008
After describing President Bush's proposed budget for the arts, including cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Dorothy Shinn comments, "[P]erhaps worst of all, Bush asks nothing — not one thin dime — for the U.S. Department of Education's Arts in Education program in the 2009 budget, compared with the $35.3 million enacted appropriations in the 2008 budget. . . . Once again, the current administration fails to understand the valuable role of arts education in developing an innovative and creative society."
Well, Ms. Shinn, that's because we need every available dollar to ensure we murder more young Americans "surging" in Iraq. At least in Bush's post-Administration view of it, that is.


Statewide school for the arts awaits governor's signature
New Mexico Business Weekly, 2/11/2008
"A statewide public charter school focusing on the arts is inching closer to reality with passage of legislation now awaiting Gov. Bill Richardson's signature. The House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 34, sponsored by Sen. Cynthia Nava, D-Las Cruces, to create the New Mexico School for the Arts. The school is slated to start in 2009 and will be a residential public charter high school for students with promise and aptitude for the arts."
Nice!


A Tight Grip Can Choke Creativity
New York Times, 2/9/2008
Joe Nocera discusses fair use vis-a-vis the case of Warner Bros. Entertainment and J. K. Rowling v. RDR Books, over RDR Books' plan to publish a Harry Potter Lexicon. Rowling "is essentially claiming that the decision to publish — or even to allow — a Harry Potter encyclopedia is hers alone, since after all, the characters in her books came out of her head. They are her intellectual property. And in her view, no one else can use them without her permission." Lawrence Lessig's Fair Use Project was born "to push back against copyright hogs like J. K. Rowling. No one is saying that anyone can simply steal the work of others. But the law absolutely allows anyone to create something new based on someone else’s art. . . . And that is what is being forgotten as copyright holders try to tighten their grip."
Truth is, this is about more than J.K. Rowling. Can you say "Disney" and "Mickey Mouse" and "Gershwin"?


City ready to boost the arts
Columbus Dispatch (OH), 2/8/2008
"Columbus [OH] City Council members are expected to announce financial support today for several cultural groups, including the struggling Columbus Symphony. The money, which would come mostly from higher-than-expected hotel-room tax revenue, is likely to be matched by Franklin County commissioners and corporate donors. . . . The arts support is part of up to $2.8 million in council amendments to Mayor Michael B. Coleman's city budget for 2008. The money would go to the Columbus Cultural Leadership Consortium, a coalition of 16 cultural organizations."
Also nice!


Rell Proposes Cultural Boosts
Hartford Courant (CT), 2/10/2008
"On Wednesday Gov. M. Jodi Rell proposed a boost to culture and tourism in the state with a $3.6 million increase in grants, a separate $20 million bonding fund for capital improvements for arts, cultural, historic and tourism venues, and a new home for Hartford Symphony Orchestra rehearsal and performance. In announcing her revised, $17.2 billion state budget for fiscal 2008-09, Rell asked the legislature to increase grant money to the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism to total $10 million, an increase of $3.6 million. Last year the legislature boosted cultural and tourism grants to the commission by $4 million on top of the existing $2.4 million designated specifically to arts groups."
A particularly good thing about this is that Rell is apparently on McCain's short list for VP. Rell is that extinct species -- a moderate Republican. I tend to think she won't get the nod because of that, and that's fine. Let her stay in Connecticut and support the arts.


Foundation Spending Patterns Driven by Multiple Factors, Report Finds
Philanthropy News Digest, 2/7/2008
"Foundation type, size, staffing patterns, and operating activities are the key factors that consistently drive foundation expense and compensation patterns, a new report from the Urban Institute, the Foundation Center, and GuideStar finds. Moreover, even under changing or volatile economic conditions, the administrative expense and compensation patterns of U.S. foundations are consistent and predictable. The report, 'What Drives Foundation Expenses and Compensation? Results of a Three-Year Study' (104 pages, PDF), presents the findings from the first large-scale, long-term study of independent, corporate, and community foundations' expenses and compensation."
I haven't read the study but I will. I recommend that all of us do. It's probably very interesting.


Knight Foundation announces $40 million boost for local arts groups
Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL), 2/6/2008
"South Florida arts groups got a $40 million boost from the Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which announced on Wednesday a broad range of grants designed to spur the region's cultural growth. The largest segment of the Knight Arts Partnership is a $20 million fund that will be made available on a matching grant basis to individuals and groups in Broward and Miami-Dade counties — from grass-roots to institutional levels — in a contest for 'innovative arts ideas' over the next five years."
I'm curious as to what "innovative" means and whether it will be connected in some way to the real estate slump. Just thinkin'.

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