So, I'm back

So, I'm back almost a full month after going off the air - it's been a tumultuous few weeks.  I moved back home after thinking that I was going to be in Philadelphia for nearly a year.  So, unfortunately, I don't get to talk about the Philadelphia Fringe, because I'm Not There.  Which is a huge sadness.

BUT - making up for it are some lovely perks, like my rent has decreased by 200 dollars, and I am now the proud owner of a baby blue vespa named Simone (de Bouvoir, if you want to act like my mother and make everything more literary and fancy-schmancy).

So, in honor of my return, I provide the lovely links of wonder (i.e. I don't want to write 30 posts, but still think that all these things I missed are cool).  Just so you know, Arts Journal on my blogroll is the primary source of many of these articles - they do a really amazing job of filtering out valuable arts content, so check them out.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2009/aug/26/theatre-critics-artists - This link takes you to a British article on how blogging, artists and critics are all getting really up close in each others' business right now and changing the way criticism is viewed and told.  So it's pretty important, at least as far as this blog is concerned :).

A recession hits everyone differently - especially non-industry cities.  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thearts/2009752523_actors30.html?cmpid=2628

Maybe this would be a great movie, or maybe I assumed the movies would get to the topic first.  In that case, I think I'm happy that live theater is doing it instead.  http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090826/ennew_afp/entertainmentfrancetheatrebankingcrime_20090826190728

Oh wonderful wonderful (and then past all hooping) would this make an interesting avant-garde theater project...http://playgoer.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-if-woodstock-had-tweeted.html

And, to top it off, an article on my favorite Philadelphia Group, Pig Iron - http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/20090827_Pig_Iron__unalloyed.html

I Can't Believe I Missed This

Rocco Landesman's interview in the New York Times!! It's wonderful, and now there's finally more about how he views his role in the NEA. If I wasn't in the middle of trying to move cross-country, I would have a lot more to say about this, but in the meantime I'll post a few quotes:

The new chairman said he already has a new slogan for his agency: “Art Works.” It’s “something muscular that says, ‘We matter.’ ” The words are meant to highlight both art’s role as an economic driver and the fact that people who work in the arts are themselves a critical part of the economy.

“Someone who works in the arts is every bit as gainfully employed as someone who works in an auto plant or a steel mill,” Mr. Landesman said. “We’re going to make the point till people are tired of hearing it.”

Even more interesting is how Landesman got involved in the position in the first place:

Mr. Landesman wasn’t tapped for the job. “I’d love to say the president drafted me, and I had to answer the call of duty, but no,” he said. “I put my hand up for this.”

“Everybody I talked to said, ‘This is the worst idea I’ve ever heard, put it out of your head immediately,’ ” Mr. Landesman said. “The idea of running a 170-person federal bureaucracy seemed crazy.”

But it’s an unusual moment in history, he said, and he wanted to be part of it. President Obama was “the first candidate in my memory who made arts part of the campaign,” Mr. Landesman said. “He had an arts policy committee and an arts policy statement and arts advisers.”

It's true - Obama, despite how little in regards to the arts he had posted on his campaign website (and now has posted on the White House website) has been one of the few truly culturally sensitive candidates for office. The fact that Obama decided to place this man in charge (he's described as a general in the interview) is indicative that there's someone taking the arts seriously.

Please read the entire article - there's so much I would quote, but...

Illinois is in the same situation as Pennsylvania

So, a long time ago, when I began this blog, I heard really sad new - Pennsylvania was in grave danger of cutting major (read all) arts funds from their budget. And the news hasn't improved - indeed, it's just plain miserable. On the 4th, Pennsylvania cut ALL arts funding out of the budget. Yes, all. So Philadelphia, which is increasingly a truly vibrant home for impressive and imaginative theater (please check out Pig Iron Company - they're in the links on the right hand side) is really just completely demolished by this.

Well, via my friend Daniel, an article saying that half - yes, half - of Illinois' arts funding has been cut. And if anything, this is even more awful for Chicago, a larger city with more great theater. I truly approve of this article's language...

In craptastic but unsurprising news, the Illinois Arts Council (IAC) got kicked in the proverbial balls by the 2010 Illinois budget. Its $7.8 million allocation is 51% less than that in the 2008 budget, which, thanks to Blago’s veto of the General Assembly’s approved $23.1 million appropriation, was $15.2 million.

The IAC is very blunt about the gravity of the situation - in a letter sent to recent grant applicants on July 29, IAC Chairman Shirley R. Madigan stated, “I have been privileged to be a member of the Illinois Arts Council for many years and I have never seen our situation so dire. Without additional state revenues, we may well have further cuts in the months ahead, and next year will be worse.”