Tag Archive "rocco-landesman"

Weekly Update – Let’s have a Philadelphia Biennial

Now in its 75th year, the Whitney Biennial is still the big kahuna—the show every American artist wants to be in and every art lover wants to see. This year, the career-boosting show includes no Philadelphia artists. Instead, the curators of this national show sought talent in Chicago, Oregon, Los Angeles and, of course, New York. They rounded up 55 artists and, for the first time, more than half were women. Reflecting our times of war and global recession, the show is a somber parade, sometimes tedious, sometimes achingly beautiful, with a surprising number of photographers and video artists channeling ... More » »

Arts, culture and public dollars — what’s the value?

We got this press release yesterday from Amy Adams, Fleisher-Ollman Gallery Director and member of the Mayor’s Cultural Advisory Council.  It’s about a panel discussion with people worth listening to, like Rocco Landesman, the new NEA Director who’s on the giving away end of the public dollars spectrum; Nick Spitzer of public radio’s American Routes show (on the receiving end of public funds) and others who are policy makers or players in the public funding for the arts arena. Arts and The City Can the Arts Revive Our Cities and the Nation’s Economy? March 2, 2010 5:00 – 7:00 pm, ... More » »

New, no-nonsense NEA chief sounds good

Rocco Landesman, new NEA Chairman interviewed in yesterday’s NY TImes story by Robin Pogrebin takes no prisoners.  He calls the current NEA funding of $155 million “pathetic” and “embarrassing” and says he’ll be asking for more than incremental increases for the arts.  He sees the arts as an integral part of the economic recovery. And he will change the way grants are handed out, inserting criteria such as artistic merit where apparently now there are no merit requirements (the grants are handed out on a geographical basis, one grant per county). Also, he’s in favor of re-instating the grants to individual ... More » »