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Le Centre Pompidou annonce un record de fréquentation pour
2011
Artclair, 27 December 2011
PARIS, FRANCE – "En cette fin 2011, le Centre Pompidou annonce
un record annuel de fréquentation. Avec 3,6 millions de visiteurs attendus,
le centre national d’art et de culture prévoit une hausse de 15 % de sa
fréquentation. Un record jamais atteint depuis la réouverture de
l’établissement en 2000."
Design Museum signs Memorandum of Understanding with The
Seoul Design Foundation
MuseumPublicity.com,
29 December 2011
LONDON, ENGLAND
– "The Design Museum in London has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The Seoul Design Foundation, becoming
part of an international consortium of design institutions, which includes
the Seoul Design Foundation, Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum in New
York, Vitra Design Museum, Frankfurt Museum of Applied Arts and Red Dot
Design Museum in Germany, Taiwan Design Centre and Objeto Brazil."
Smithsonian Museum 2012 Federal Appropriation Totals $811.5
Million
MuseumPublicity.com,
28 December 2011
WASHINGTON,
DC – "The Smithsonian’s FY 2012 federal
appropriation totals $811.5 million. It is $52 million above the FY 2011
appropriation.
The new budget
includes $636.5 million for Salaries and Expenses and $175 million for
Facilities Capital, which includes $75 million for construction of the National
Museum of African American History and Culture. All of the above accounts
will be reduced by .16 percent, according to the bill that applies to the
Smithsonian."
Tracy Lopez: National Museum of the American Latino Still Not
a Sure Thing
Tracy López, Fox
News, 29 December 2011
WASHINGTON, DC –
"The Smithsonian Institution, according to their website, is "the
world's largest museum and research complex." Located in Washington,
D.C., most museums are free and open every day of the year except December
25th. The nineteen museums and galleries include the African American History
and Culture Museum, and the American Indian Museum, but will they find room
for a museum highlighting the contributions of Latinos in the United
States?"
Smithsonian receives $2 million grant from Coca-Cola
Foundation
Recent News,
artdaily.org, 28 December 2011
ATLANTA, GA –
"This holiday season, The Coca-Cola Foundation spreads more than $4.8
million worth of cheer – in the form of its fourth-quarter grants – to 29
organizations across the U.S. and Canada.
In 2011, the
philanthropic arm of The Coca-Cola Company awarded more than $24.2 million to
115 community organizations in the U.S. and Canada, benefitting active,
healthy living; community, arts and culture; diversity and inclusion;
education and youth development; and environment programs. In total, the
Foundation has given more than $70 million to sustainable community
initiatives across the globe this year."
«Occupy Wall Street» entre au musée
Artclair, 28 December 2011
NEW YORK, NY – "Après trois mois d’existence, Occupy Wall Street
s’apprête à faire son entrée au musée. Plusieurs institutions rassemblent
depuis des semaines les archives de ce mouvement protestataire et une
exposition est prévue prochainement dans un musée de New York."
[See also Stopping a Movement While Saving Its Art, By Marissa Gluck, The Atlantic Cities, 28
December 2011, Museums Archiving Occupy Wall Street: Historical Preservation
Or "Taxpayer-Funded Hoarding"?, John Del Signore, Gothamist,
26 December 2011, and Museums are collecting Occupy Wall Street artifacts, NY
Daily News, 24 December 2011]
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Given National Accreditation
MuseumPublicity.com,
28 December 2011
KANSAS
CITY, MO – "Attendance at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of
Art in Kansas City jumped significantly in the 2011 calendar year, to 410,000
visitors. In 2010, 359,000 visitors came to the museum. The higher numbers
are attributed to a renewed sense of energy surrounding the exhibitions and
events offered by the Nelson-Atkins."
Electric Railway Museum wins major national award
Recent News,
artdaily.org, 28 December 2011
LONDON, ENGLAND
– "One of the highest accolades given to recognise
railway preservation in the UK and Ireland has been awarded to Electric
Railway Museum. The Coventry-based attraction has received the prestigious
Small Groups Award from the Heritage Railway Association. The award
identifies the work done by Electric Railway Museum since its creation in
2008 as 'an outstanding contribution to railway preservation', specifically
'in recognition of its excellence in the preservation of less fashionable
stock outside the scope of most heritage railways'."
Museum opening faces delay over asbestos claim
Wendy Frew, The
Sydney Morning Herald, 28 December 2011
SYDNEY,
AUSTRALIA – "A call for an investigation of asbestos
inside and around the Museum of Contemporary Art could delay the official
opening of its new wing, set for next March.
A blame game
began yesterday over who was responsible for identifying and handling
asbestos at the building site, after the Construction, Forestry, Mining and
Energy Union claimed the major contractor for the $52 million renovation and
extension, Watpac Constructions, had covered up details of workers' exposure
to the material."
[See
also Sydney contempoary art museum builders 'exposed to asbestos', By Mitchell Nadin, The Australian, 28 December
2011, WorkCover dismisses museum asbestos fears, ABC Sydney, 27 December 2011, Last updated 28
December 2011, 400 exposed to asbestos at Sydney museum, By Karen
Barlow, ABC Sydney, 27 December 2011, and Museum
contractor claims asbestos report wrong, By Matt Peacock, ABC News,
28 December 2011]
New
Law Limits Free Admission at Illinois Museums
Mark Stevens,
Mystateline.com, 28 December 2011
ILLINOIS, UNITED
STATES – "A new law changes who can get free admission into an Illinois
museum.
Beginning in
2012, only Illinois residents can take advantage of state required admission
holidays.
The old law let
anybody in."
Higginbotham House Museum fire: Several artifacts unscathed
Kate Coil, Bluefield
Daily Telegraph, 28 December 2011
TAZEWELL, VA – "Several historical artifacts are safe and in storage
after a fire consumed the Higginbotham House Museum
Rick Fisher,
owner of the museum, said most of the historically important pieces housed at
the museum had been put in storage due to renovations taking place at the
museum. A fire on Dec. 24 destroyed much of the property."
Founder forecasts end of Marietta History Museum
Jon Gillooly, Marietta
Daily Journal, 28 December 2011
MARIETTA, GA – "Marietta Museum of History CEO Dan Cox has warned
his board that he would retire if it eliminates the museum's executive
director position, held by Jan Galt Russell.
Cox sent a
passionate email to his board on Friday, warning that such a decision would
deal a "death blow"
to the museum."
Buffalo Bill Historical Center one of nation's favorite
museums
Martin Kidston, The
Billings Gazette, 28 December 2011
CODY, WY – "The National Tour Association named the Buffalo Bill
Historical Center as one of the nation's favorite museums on Wednesday.
The museum,
known for its Western art collection, firearms and natural history, tied with
New York’s American Museum of Natural History for a bronze award in the "favorite museums for group travelers" category."
Crystal Bridges museum attracts tourists from numerous
states; 61K visited in first 6 weeks
The Republic, First posted 27 December 2011, Last
updated 27 December 2011
BENTONVILLE, AR
– "Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has drawn
more than 61,000 visitors in its opening six weeks and many of those patrons
have come from out of state."
[See
also Crystal Bridges, the Art Museum Walmart Money Built, Opens, By Roberta Smith, The
New York Times, 26 December 2011]
City museums in for share of £1m funding
Phil Miller, Evening
Times, 27 December 2011 [Note: full article
only accessible after free registration]
GLASGOW,
SCOTLAND – "Glasgow's museums and galleries will from
today be able to bid for their share of £1million in extra funding.
City
institutions such as Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum must compete with
those from other parts of the country for the cash help announced by Culture
Secretary Fiona Hyslop."
JDS Architects Propose a Spiraling Bicycle Museum for China's
Future Bike City
Helen Morgan, Inhabitat,
27 December 2011
CHONGMING,
CHINA – "JDS Architects designed this
extraordinary spiraling Chongming Bicycle Park for a competition to create
the future Bike City in China. The museum, multi-purpose hall, and visitor
center comes complete with an exterior helix for cyclists to ride down. If
built, the incredible Bike City is expected to attract people from all over the
world and it could become the country's newest landmark design."
A museum of
paleolithic complex Gobustan opened in Azerbaijan after reconstruction
Baku,
Fineko, Azerbaijan Business Center, 27 December 2011
GOBUSTAN,
AZERBAIJAN – "President Ilham Aliyev and
his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva attended the opening of the museum, built in
Gobustan State Historical-Artistic Reserve, got acquainted with
reconstruction work on the territory.
Culture
& Tourism Minister Abulfaz Garayev informed about the museum. The total
area of the museum and administrative building, being built in the Gobustan
Reserve is 2,460 sq m. At the entrance of the museum there were created
conditions for presenting the petroglyphs for the guests. Ranked in the
annular form, the images reflect the movement of live dance. In the
information center of the museum the visitors, using the touch screen, can
get detailed information in different languages."
Filming boom at National Museums Liverpool properties
Alan
Weston, Liverpool Echo, 27 December 2011
LIVERPOOL,
ENGLAND – "Historic venues belonging to
National Museums Liverpool (NML) have had more exposure on the screen in 2011
than ever before.
Film
and television crews from as far afield as China, Japan, and Iran have been
on location at an NML site this year, along with numerous British programme
and documentary-makers.
Although
the number of film crews has remained broadly constant, they have stayed
longer in 2011 and given venues such as the Walker Art Gallery, Merseyside
Maritime Museum, and the International Slavery Museum greater exposure, both
at home and abroad."
Idaho man's Museum of Clean ready to shine
Jessie
L. Bonner, Associated Press, 27 December 2011
POCATELLO,
ID – "Don Aslett may be more than a
half century into his fight against dirt and clutter, but he still can't take
a stroll without bending to pick up litter from the sidewalk. [text omitted]
And
now, he has a six-story shrine dedicated to his craft — the Museum of Clean —
that recently opened to the public in southeastern Idaho."
Children's Museum greets guests from all 50 states
The
Brookings Register, 27 December 2011
BROOKINGS,
SD – "The Children's Museum of
South Dakota reached another milestone last week.
A
person from every state in the United States has now visited the museum. [text omitted]
It
took just more than 15 months for the museum to capture guests from all over
the country and the world."
Museum of European Cultures Reopens
MuseumPublicity.com,
27 December 2011
BERLIN,
GERMANY – "The Museum of European
Cultures has re-opened in Berlin after two years of extensive renovation work
and again is able to host exhibitions in Dahlem."
African-American Artifact Stolen From Museum
CBS
Baltimore, 27 December 2011
CATONSVILLE,
MD – "Police are searching for an
important piece of African-American history stolen from a Baltimore County
museum. It’s also worth a lot of cash.
Derek
Valcourt explains what happened.
At
the Benjamin Banneker Museum in Catonsville, a smashed monitor is one of the
only visible signs of the burglary there on Dec. 19. What you can't see is the
valuable piece of art those burglars stole: a quilt on loan, hanging along
with an exhibit from the U.S. Capitol Historical Society."
Ojai City Council honors museum duo
Myrna
Cambianica, Ventura County Star, 27 December 2011
OJAI,
CA – "On Dec. 13, 2011, the Ojai
City Council, upon the recommendation of the Historic Preservation
Commission, awarded their first award for "Lifetime Achievement for Historic Preservation" to David Mason, and the "2011 Historic Preservation Award" to Judy Mercer—both volunteers at the
Ojai Valley Museum."
2010
Top Art Museums
Mark
Walhimer, Museum Planning, 26 December 2011
[GLOBAL]
– "2010 Top Art Museum
Attendance – Worldwide
Attendance
Museum, Location
1. 8,500,000 Louvre,
Paris
2. 5,842,138 British
Museum, London
3. 5,216,988
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
4. 5,061,172 Tate
Modern, London
5. 4,954,914 National
Gallery, London
6. 4,775,114 National
Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
7. 3,131,238 Museum of
Modern Art, New York
8. 3,130,000 Centre
Pompidou, Paris
9. 3,067,909 National
Museum of Korea, Seoul
10. 2,985,510 Musée
d’Orsay, Paris
[etc.]"
Historical museum gets a big stamp of approval
Michelle
Durand, The Daily Journal, 26 December 2011
SAN
MATEO COUNTY, CA – "The county's historical museum is getting a little
credit.
Actually,
the facility has gotten more than a little — the museum is one of 22 nationwide
reaccredited by the American Association of Museums. While the nod may
initially fly under the radar for the outside observer, local museum
officials say the highest national recognition achievable by an American
museum is nothing to dismiss. Of the nation's estimated 17,500
museums, only 776 — or less than 5 percent — are currently accredited,
according to AAM records."
Monitoring center established in Palace Museum to protect
cultural heritage
Xinhua, 26 December 2011
BEIJING,
CHINA – "The Palace Museum unveiled a monitoring center Monday that will
coordinate the management of cultural heritage and provide a systematic
database for the protection of the museum. [text omitted]
Shan
Jixiang, Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (DSACH),
said at the ceremony that the monitoring center was established under DSACH,
and "special fees" had also been set up for the protection of world
cultural heritage.
"China
is determined to improve the protection over cultural heritage and will set
up a warning system for world cultural heritage during the next five
years," Shan said."
A museum in Bantwal on India's first woman braveheart
M.
Raghuram, Daily News & Analysis, 26 December 2011
BANTWAL,
INDIA – "There are museums that have been erected by the government and
then there are museums that are built by royal families. In Bantwal, about
30km from Bangalore, it is a history teacher who has erected a museum. His
subject is Rani Abbakka of Ullal."
Free Museum Passes for Pierce County Residents
CBS
Seattle, 26
December 2011
WASHINGTON
STATE, UNITED STATES – "As part of a cooperative
project among Pierce County Library, Tacoma Public Library, Puyallup Public
Library and local museums, Pierce County Library customers have the
opportunity to use special passes for free admission to the partnering
museums, like the Museum of Glass, Tacoma Art Museum and Washington State
History Museum."
Florida Dali museum fails its patrons
Robyn
Blumner, Pocono Record, 26 December 2011
ST.
PETERSBURG, FL – "Why won't the Dali Museum
play nice? Maybe it's suffering from some of the late Spanish surrealist
Salvador Dali's famed narcissism? Maybe it's a little too insulated in that
hurricane-proof fortress? Whatever it is, the Dali should rethink its
decision to take its NARM ball and go home.
What
is NARM? It stands for the North American Reciprocal Museum program. Not to
exaggerate, but it's about the best invention for art and culture lovers
since pigmented oil paint was put into tubes. When you are a member of a
museum at the NARM level, which varies by institution but reflects a
contribution of at least $100 annually, you are granted access to about 400
museums in North America, including many in Canada, as if you are a member of
that museum."
Toy museum plays on Mexican industry’s past
Lauren
Villagran, Smartplanet.com, 26 December 2011
MEXICO
CITY, MEXICO – "If Santa's workshop had a storage attic, Roberto
Shimizu's Antique Toy Museum would be
it.
Puppets
with painted faces slouch on a shelf. Handcrafted toy trucks stand parked in
rows inside an old glass display case. Porcelain dolls, board games,
figurines of comic superheroes and lucha libre wrestlers, train sets,
kaleidoscopes and robots — and many, many other toys — make up the treasure
trove."
Mankato Children's Museum finding ways to spend $100K grant
Robb
Murray, The Free Press, 26 December 2011
MANKATO,
MN – "The Mankato Children's Museum has
received a grant of $100,000 and hopes to announce soon its newest temporary
location.
The
grant comes from the Legacy Amendment, and Director Peter Olson says the
funds will help the museum develop, plan, build a prototype for and test the
components that will go into the permanent museum."
Marshall is home to 11 museums
Sarah
Lambert, Battle Creek Enquirer, 26 December 2011
MARSHALL,
MI – "The tall pillars,
pagoda-style observation tower, raised veranda porch and elaborate trim of
the Honolulu House have overlooked traffic on the Fountain Circle in downtown
Marshall for generations.
What
is now known as the Honolulu House Museum has been a fixture in the city
since 1860, and is perhaps the most visible museum in Marshall. But it's just
the tip of the iceberg: the city boasts 11 museums, according to the Marshall
Historical Society."
Maine Maritime Museum to shore up oldest building with help
of grant
Christopher
Cousins, Bangor Daily News, 25 December 2011
BATH,
ME – "The century-old Paint and
Treenail Building at Maine Maritime Museum has been through a lot since it
was built 104 years ago.
It
survived a fire in 1913, a move across the former Percy and Small Shipyard
and being sold on a real estate market hungry for property on the shore of
the Kennebec River. If something isn't done
soon, though, it might succumb to the most basic and constant of forces:
gravity."
Ambition abounded among museums
Sebastian
Smee, The Boston Globe, 25 December 2011
NEW
ENGLAND, UNITED STATES – "2011 was an incredibly lively
year for art in New England. Across the board, the region's museums seemed to vault ahead in
confidence and maturity, displaying new levels of energy and ambition.
Things
have been heading in this direction for several years. But suddenly, and
thanks largely to new energies funneled into the field of contemporary art,
artistic offerings no longer seemed stolid in some departments, threadbare in
others."
Brown's family works to create museum
Latina
Emerson (The Associated Press), Foxreno.com, 23 December 2011
BEECH
ISLAND, SC – "James Brown told his children
he wanted his Beech Island home to one day become a museum. [text omitted]
It
has been five years since the Godfather of Soul died on Christmas Day, and
his dream has been delayed because of legal battles over his assets. However,
his children haven't given up hope of honoring their father's wishes, said
daughter Deanna Brown-Thomas."
Themuseum has become a cultural centre
David
Marskell, The Record, 23 December 2011
KITCHENER,
ON – This month marked my fifth anniversary as the chief executive officer of
Themuseum and being a part of this community. I look back with much pride and
thankfulness to a very supportive board of directors, staff and community
that trusted me and encouraged me to take risks. [text omitted]
The
arts sector employs as many people as the combined sectors of agriculture,
forestry, mining, fishing, oil, gas and utilities. In Toronto, its eight per
cent of the workforce generates $9 billion in gross domestic product. Over
600,000 people in the country belong to the sector. Canadians spend more than
twice as much on live performances as on sports events. It is that relevant,
it is that important."
Fayetteville Museum of Art board ready to dissolve
organization
Andrew
Barksdale, Fayetteville Observer, 20 December 2011
FAYETTEVILLE,
NC – "Board members for the
Fayetteville Museum of Art plan to quietly dissolve their 40-year-old
organization as early as this week, an official said Monday."
[See
also The Final Chapter For Fayetteville Museum, By Judith H. Dobrzynski, Real
Clear Arts, 26 December 2011]
Looking at China as an innovator, not an imitator
China Daily, 29 December 2011
CHINA – "When China opened its door to the world almost 30
years ago, its capital Beijing was made up of mostly small lanes, except for
old-fashioned government buildings and uniform Russian style hotels. Israeli
journalist Dan Ben-Canaan recalled his first visit to China in the early
1980s.
Three decades
later, distinctive constructions like the Olympic Stadium, otherwise known as
the Bird's Nest, and the Dutch architect-designed China Central Television
Tower were listed into The 10 Best Architectural Marvels globally in 2007 by
Time Magazine, a world renowned US publication. Buildings like these are
rising up day and night in bustling metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai,
as China quickens its step to involve in the international community and make
itself home to numbers of international architects."
Building a 'Gay' Building
Kelly Chan, The
Atlantic Cities, 29 December 2011
NEW YORK, NY – "New York is getting a veritable facelift next year,
sprouting brand new gothic-inspired scaffolding umbrellas and calling over
Snøhetta to overhaul Times Square and introduce a touch of minimalism to the
LED-lit chaos. But over in Hell’s Kitchen, there's another new project on the
scene: The Out NYC, New York's first "gay urban resort," is slated
to open in the first quarter of the new year. With it will come an
electrifying facade and 70,000 square feet of gay urban paradise. To be more
specific, this will include an 11,000 square foot bar and nightclub, a
105-room boutique hotel, a "courtyard wet zone enclosed in a glass
atrium," lush courtyard gardens, a 24/7 eatery,
and, for those who mix work with pleasure, a business/conference center."
David Chipperfield officially appointed director of the
Venice Biennale 2012
Designboom, 28 December 2011
VENICE, ITALY – "As Designboom pre-announced in November as a result
of considerable professional speculation, London-based architect David
Chipperfield has just been officially appointed as curator of the Venice
architecture biennale 2012 in Italy. he is the first Brit to coordinate the
event, which is the world's largest architecture exhibition."
The City IKEA Built
Eric Jaffe, The
Atlantic Cities, 28 December 2011
STRATFORD,
LONDON – "Hold onto your instruction manuals: Ikea
is building an entire neighborhood in East London. The mixed-use community
will be developed on 26 acres of land in Stratford, just south of Olympic
Park. Strand East, as the neighborhood is being called, will be home to a
Courtyard by Marriott hotel, roughly 1,200 homes, and nearly half a million
square feet of commercial space (but no Ikea store, reports the Financial
Times) - all wedged between two waterways. It will be developed by LandProp,
a real estate subsidiary of the Inter Ikea Group that's built similar projects
in Poland and other parts of Europe."
North Korea's 7-Mile Fuschia Rainbow Hotel
Kelly Chan, The
Atlantic Cities, 28 December 2011
NORTH KOREA – "2011 will undoubtedly be marked by the death of
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Not only did the supreme ruler try to
convince his constituents of his "supernatural" origins and to
spend $850,000 annually on Hennessy's cognac, but under his regime, North
Korea saw the realization of farfetched mega-projects like the 105-story
Ryugyong Hotel. Myth and legend continue to aggressively shape the landscape
in North Korea, and this phenomenon is the heart of a project by Ben
Masterson-Smith, recipient of the inaugural RIBA Norman Foster Traveling
Scholarship in 2007. As seen on BLDGBLOG, Masterson-Smith, who visited North
Korea for a period of architectural and spatial research, has imagined a
farcical realization of a 7-mile rainbow, a vision reportedly seen on the
occasion of Kim Jong-il's birth."
BIG Architects: Kimball Art Center
Designboom, 28 December 2011
PARK
CITY, UT – "Internationally-recognized
architecture practice Bjarke Ingels group has completed a design proposal of
the new Kimball Art Center in Park City, Utah, USA. drawing from the recent
urban development of the city, the context of the site, and the area's mining
heritage, the project seeks to present through proportions and materiality
the history of park city."
Death Match: Crystal Bridges (private) vs Madrid Río (public)
edition
Nam
Henderson, Archinect, 27 December 2011
MADRID, SPAIN
& BENTONVILLE, AR – "The NYT features two interesting (when
compared side by side) reviews of architectural/urban design projects this
week. First, Michael Kimmelman visits Madrid Río, the almost completed
freeway to park conversion, designed by a group of local architects, led by
Ginés Garrido with help from the urban design and landscape firm, West 8.
Kimmelman uses the review as an opportunity to contrast the (typically
European) government led, public and relatively speedy approach taken in
Madrid, against the slower more incremental, and often not fully public (ie:
funded/developed using a public-private partnership [PPP] model) approach taken
in NYC and America more generally.
Then Roberta
Smith visits Bentonville Arkansas, where the Crystal Bridges Museum of
American Art designed by Moshe Safdie, opened last month. She writes that the
museum funded by private (Walmart heir) money, is "a work in
progress," yet it is also "off to a running start." Smith,
notes that the project went from concept to reality in "record
time" (just over 5 years) and she argues that it "is user friendly
in ways big and small. Admission is free, and it has an ambitious education
program."
Architecture and urban design forecast for 2012: Navy Pier
competition, Hadid at Michigan State, London Olympics, and more
Blair Kamin, Chicago
Tribune, 26 December 2011
CHICAGO,
IL – "After a slowdown
caused by the bursting of the housing bubble and the financial crisis of
2008, architecture and urban design activity should be picking up, if only
slightly, in 2012. Here are stories to watch for."
Palestinians
plan airport, port
Mohammed Mar's,
Arabnews.com, 26 December 2011
RAMALLAH, WEST
BANK, PALESTINE – "The Palestinian Minister of Transport
Sa'di Al-Krunz said Monday that the Palestinian Authority would build an
international airport near Jerusalem and a port in the Gaza Strip.
Al-Krunz said
that the airport would be built in the Al-Bqai'a area between Jerusalem and
the West Bank city of Bethlehem. He added that 70 percent of the land marked
for the airport project belongs to the Jerusalem area and the remainder to
the Bethlehem area. The project is estimated to cost $340 million."
Andrew Geller, Modernist Architect, Is Dead at 87
Fred
A. Bernstein, The New York Times, 26 December 2011
SPENCER,
NY – "Andrew Geller, an architect
who embodied postwar ingenuity and optimism in a series of inexpensive beach
houses in whimsical shapes, many of them in the Hamptons, and who helped
bring modernism to the masses with prefabricated cottages sold at Macy's, died on
Sunday in Syracuse. He was 87 and lived in Spencer, N.Y."
Slick Plans for a High-Speed Train Station in Spain
Kelly Chan, The
Atlantic Cities, 26 December 2011
GALICIA, SPAIN –
"Foster + Partners has recently released another set
of dreamy renderings for a transportation hub, this time in Galicia, Spain.
The London-based firm has received the commission for a high-speed train
station in Galicia called Ourense AVE Station, teaming up with Cabanelas
Castelo Architects and engineers at G.O.C. to once again attempt to redefine
the reach of public transportation in the city."
Gösta Serlachius Museum Extension in Finland / by Matteo
Cainer Architects
Architecture
List, 26 December 2011
MÄNTTÄ, FINLAND
– "The project for the expansion of the Serlachius
Museum Gösta, presents an opportunity to explore a creative relationship
between the existing museum and the surrounding landscape. Through a new and
distinctive poetic architectural language, where the interior unfolds as a
sequence of spaces, the project develops a harmonious ensemble that blurs the
boundaries between existing and new."
New Taipei City Museum of Art / DCPParquitectos
Evolo, 23 December 2011
TAIPEI CITY,
TAIWAN – "DCPParquitectos proposal for the New Taipei City Museum of Art
is an open and welcoming design that erases the barrier of exclusivity
normally surrounding the world of art, patrons, and experts."
Hume: Toronto’s skyline looking up: Architectural highlights
of 2011
Christopher
Hume, Toronto Star, 23 December 2011
TORONTO, ON –
"Up here in Construction City, architects have never been busier.
According to a report released last fall, more towers are underway in Toronto
than any other place in North America. We have 132; the next on the list,
Mexico City, 88.
In 2011, not for
the first time, many if not most of those highrises were clad almost entirely
in glass. Indeed, the triumph of transparency is the story of 21st-century
architecture, and not just in Toronto."
Today in Pictures - National Gallery of Art
Ken Johnson, DC
Mud (DCRealEstate.com), 21 December 2011
WASHINGTON, DC – "The National Gallery of Art
has a new exhibit: its exterior. The 33-year-old East Building is in the
midst of a major renovation that recently included the removal and
reinstallation of the marble veneer - 16,200 Tennessee pink marble panels
with new supports. Each five foot wide, two foot high, three-inch-thick panel
weighs about 450 pounds. The I.M. Pei design, completed in 1978, is not
holding up nearly as well as the John Russell Pope design of the West
Building."
E-books growing, but print still rules classics
"To Kill a
Mockingbird," "Gravity's Rainbow" stay old-form
Hillel Italie (Associated Press), Denver Post, 25 December 2011
DENVER, CO – "E-books have grown to around 20 percent of the market and the percentage should keep rising in 2012 as millions of ever-cheaper devices are purchased. The e-pull proved strong enough to persuade a famous holdout, J.K. Rowling, and a nearly as famous resister, Ray Bradbury, to go digital. The e-library of older works expanded greatly in 2011, with additions including Alice Walker's "The Color Purple," Joseph Heller's "Catch-22" and Jim Collins' business favorite "Good to Great." Expect digital versions of Tennessee Williams' plays in the near future.
But the e-revolution remains in its early stages and books can still sell big through
paper alone."
Your Paintings now has over half of UK paintings online
MuseumPublicity.com,
23 December 2011
UNITED KINGDOM –
"Your Paintings now has almost 104,000
paintings on the site, there are about another 100,000 to go before you can
see every oil painting in public ownership in the UK."
How Smartphones Are Changing Photography: The Numbers Are In
Christina
Bonnington, Wired, 22 December 2011
NORTH AMERICA – "Although global smartphone adoption is still just
below 30 percent, smartphone photography is growing in popularity, disrupting
traditional camera use in the process.
NPD made this
trend clear in its Imaging Confluence Study, which found that smartphones
accounted for 27 percent of photos shot this year — last year, the number was
17 percent. Accordingly, photos shot with dedicated cameras dropped from 52
to 44 percent."
Meet Trailblazers 2011 finalists
News-Press.com,
28 December 2011
FORT
MYERS, FL – "The finalists for The News-Press' "Trailblazers 2011"
have shown extraordinary leadership and innovation in culture and the arts,
business and alternative energy. They are thinkers and visionaries who seek
to enhance our cultural patrimony, enhance our students' knowledge and
skills, and make all Southwest Floridians more competitive in the global
workforce. The winners will be announced on Jan. 19, along with finalists in
categories of People of the Year of 2011, Heroes 2011, Public Officials 2011
and People to Watch in 2012."
Helen Frankenthaler dies at 83; abstract painter
Mike
Boehm, Los Angeles Times, 28 December 2011
DARIEN,
CT – "Helen Frankenthaler, a New
York artist whose bursts of color achieved by pouring thinned paint onto
canvas from coffee cans helped point art in fresh directions after the
initial post-World War II explosion of Abstract Expressionism, has died. She
was 83."
[See
also Helen Frankenthaler 1928-2011, Designboom, 27 December 2011]
NYT calls Gwangju Biennale show highlight of 2011
Claire
Lee, The Korea Herald, 28 December 2011
NEW
YORK, NY – "The New York Times
last week mentioned Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei-directed show "Unnamed" at Korea's Gwangju Design Biennale as
one of the outstanding contemporary shows held this year.
In
its article titled "From Apple to Occupy, the
Design Honors List for 2011," which was published on Dec.
25, Ai's show at Gwangju was
mentioned as exceptional along with the Museum of Modern Art in New York's communication design show called "Talk to Me."
Le ministère de la Culture accusé de piratage
Le
Figaro, 28
December 2011
FRANCE
– "Des internautes affirment, adresses IP à
l'appui, que la rue de Valois s'est adonnée aux joies du téléchargement
illégal au cours des dernières semaines. Délicat pour le ministère à
l'origine de la loi Hadopi."
Changing cultural landscape for city
Sophie
Wang, Shanghai Daily, 27 December 2011
SHANGHAI,
CHINA – "Shanghai's cultural scene
will see major changes next year after four key projects were launched
yesterday.
Groundbreaking
ceremonies for the China Art Palace, China Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai
Songze Historical Relics Museum and Guo Cui Yuan (National Treasures Center)
were held in the city."
No such thing as bad publicity for the city slickers
Business
plays a crucial role in arts funding. Emily Jupp talks to some major sponsors
Emily
Jupp, The Independent, 27 December 2011
BRITAIN
– "Art suffers the moment other people start paying for it," muses
the cartoonist and author Hugh MacLeod, in his book on keys to creativity.
This
month, in a move that put MacLeod's words into action, the poets Alice Oswald
and John Kinsella withdrew from the shortlist for the TS Eliot poetry award,
because the £15,000 prize is sponsored by an investment management company.
Oswald
said: "Aurum has an office in Bermuda, which happens to be a tax
haven," she wrote, adding, "it doesn't, according to its website,
have an ethical policy."
Sam
Chase, of campaign group Art Not Oil, offers an insight into concerns that
sponsors have become too hands-on. "People argue that patronage of the
arts has always existed, but the Sistine chapel doesn't have a Vatican logo.
The gap between what they are doing and what they want us to think about them
is widening."
C is for censorship
Formal
theatre censorship may have long since ended in Britain, but we should be
wary of assuming the battle for freedom of speech has been won
Michael
Billington, The Guardian, 27 December 2011
BRITAIN
– "For any British person under the age of
50, the idea of theatrical censorship is totally alien. It's something we
associate, if we think about it all, with past authoritarian regimes: with
the Soviet Union and its satellites, with South Africa under apartheid, with
Spain under Franco. But it's salutary to be reminded that, in Britain, it was
only the Theatres Act of 1968 that finally put paid to a system of censorship
that existed here for over 230 years. While we rejoice in our current
freedom, we should be wary of a creeping caution that exists in the UK and
other western democracies."
Une statue en bronze volée dans un village français
Artclair, 27 December 2011
FEUCHY,
PAS-DE-CALAIS, FRANCE – "Les voleurs de métaux
sévissent en France aussi. Quelques jours après la disparition d’une
sculpture de Barbara Hepworth dans un parc de Londres, la statue en bronze du
monument aux morts de Feuchy, dans le Pas-de-Calais, a été dérobée. Selon le
maire de la commune, cette statue de 400 kilos aurait été volée pour être
fondue."
San Francisco Arts Commission Names Tom DeCaigny New Director
of Cultural Affairs
MuseumPublicity.com,
27 December 2011
SAN
FRANCISO, CA – "The San Francisco Arts
Commission voted unanimously to appoint Tom DeCaigny as the agency's new
Director of Cultural Affairs. A local consultant and the former executive
director of the Performing Arts Workshop, DeCaigny will officially assume his
new role leading the $10 million agency responsible for championing the arts
in San Francisco on January 9, 2012."
A Library Without the Building
Bonnie
Tsui, The Atlantic Cities, 27 December 2011
NEW
HAVEN, CT & BROOKLYN, NY – "In 2007, Colin McMullan
started the Corner Library Project. The program title is actually quite
literal - McMullan installs small, weatherproof sheds on street corners in
cities like New Haven and Brooklyn. Inside are collections of books
accessible to members and curated by the community."
New Book by American Museum of Natural History Anthropologist
Explores Ancient City of Festivals
MuseumPublicity.com,
27 December 2011
HUÁNUCO
PAMPA, PERU – "More than 500 years ago, the
now-desolate Inka city of Huánuco Pampa, located high up in the Andes
Mountains in Peru, periodically bustled with tens of thousands of people. But
despite its large palace, temples, and public halls, the city was home to
only a few hundred year-round guards, administrators, and religious
specialists who prepared the massive complex for religious and political
festivals that attracted swells of visitors from the surrounding area. A
selection of findings from one of the most ambitious archaeological excavations
of this unique type of urban center are published in a book recently released
as a volume of the Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural
History."
HCMC plans to preserve its old architectural buildings
Saigon-GPDaily, 26 December 2011
HO
CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM – "Ho Chi Minh City has plans to
implement a new project to restore and preserve the old heritage
architectural buildings located within the city.
According
to Nguyen Trong Hoa, Head of the Institute of Research and Development of
HCMC, while old heritage buildings are by law preservation sites, HCMC still
lacks proper regulations to protect those that are classified as culturally
more valuable."
Opera Boston to close down
Geoff
Edgers, The Boston Globe, 24 December 2011
BOSTON,
MA – "Opera Boston, the city's
second largest opera company, is closing its doors because of a $500,000
budget deficit its leaders say could not be overcome.
The
stunning announcement, occurring amid considerable conflict within the
organization, marks the end of a company that since its 2003 founding had
grown steadily. Earlier this year it celebrated a Pulitzer Prize for music,
won by composer Zhou Long, for the opera "Madame White Snake," which the company
commissioned and premiered."
An education in funding Arab arts
Jim
Quilty, The Daily Star, 23 December 2011
BEIRUT,
LEBANON – "Time was, artists and arts
administrators in this country wished that Lebanon were more European.
Standards vary from state to state but, historically, Western European
governments have demonstrated a degree of financial and institutional
commitment to art and cultural production that the managers of Lebanon's meager state had no means, and little
interest, to emulate.
With
no local support for cultural production, Lebanese artists without
independent means have had to rely on financial assistance from Europe,
whether from Mother France or the EU.
Perceived
as extensions of the social welfare state, Europe's art funding infrastructure has been
under threat since the end of last century, the ideological menace finding
populist political traction in the wake of the crisis in global finance
capitalism that coincided with the end of the second Bush administration.
While
the European model of arts infrastructure has come under siege, alternative
sources of funding have been evolving in the Middle East."
Stanford's Board of Trustees approves sites for two new arts
buildings
Recent
News, artdaily.org, 23 December 2011
STANFORD,
CA – "The Stanford University Board
of Trustees has approved sites for two new buildings: the McMurtry Building
and the museum building for the Anderson Collection at Stanford University.
These facilities will be critical to expanding and enhancing the role the
arts play throughout campus."
Another Collapse at Pompeii Renews Fears About Its Fate
Patricia
Cohen, The New York Times, 23 December 2011
POMPEII,
ITALY – "Mount Vesuvius preserved the
city of Pompeii in ash nearly 2,000 years ago, but current neglect of this
Unesco World Heritage site in southern Italy is taking its toll. A courtyard
column of a Roman house collapsed on Thursday, the latest in a series of
crumbling artifacts at the site, Reuters reported. Last year there were other
collapses, including part of what is known as the House of Gladiators. The
damage played a role in a no-confidence vote against Culture Minister Sandro
Bondi earlier this year. Although Mr. Bondi survived the vote, he ended up
resigning in March."
The U.S. Cities With the Most Leftover to Spend – After
Paying for Housing
Richard Florida,
The Atlantic Cities, 23 December 2011
UNITED STATES –
"The comments on my recent post on America's most economically
advantaged metros got me thinking.
A number of
folks brought up the issue of cost of living. "Does your index take into
account the high cost of living in some of the metro areas that top this
list," one commenter asked. "The amount of money people have to buy
presents is diminished when they're paying over a third of their income on
housing."
In many cases,
it is a quite a bit more than that. With the help of Charlotta Mellander, I
took a look at the amount of money people in different cities have left over
after they paid for housing. For comparison purposes, Mellander used the most
current (2010) average wage and salary figures from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics and compared them to the figures on average monthly expenditures
on housing from the American Community Survey (2009)."
Can
foreign tourists help US economy?
Cristina Silva
(Associated Press), Arabnews.com, 28 December 2011
LAS VEGAS, NV – "More than a decade after the federal government
strengthened travel requirements after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks,
foreign visitors say getting a temporary visa remains a daunting and
sometimes insurmountable hurdle.
The tourism
industry hopes to change that with a campaign to persuade Congress to
overhaul the State Department's tourist visa application process."
Uganda Tourism Minister opens new Heritage Museum
Dr.
Wolfgang H. Thome, eTurboNews, 27 December 2011
UGANDA
– "The Uganda Minister of Tourism, Prof.
Ephraim Kamuntu, lamented the lack of funding when opening a new
privately-owned heritage museum in Mbarara just before Christmas. He used the
opportunity to ask for equitable funding for his ministry and the tourism
sector, commensurate with the contribution of the sector to the national economy,
which he pegged at over 9 percent of GDP, and yet in his own estimate, his
ministry was receiving a paltry 0.13 percent from the national budget
allocation."
French war museum in vanguard of push for more foreign
tourists
Newly
opened museum already exceeding expected visitor numbers as France sees
opportunities in boom in war tourism
Angelique
Chrisafis, The Guardian, 26 December 2011
MEAUX,
FRANCE – "From US soldiers introducing
chewing gum to France in 1917 to a toothbrush from a trench and newfangled
machine guns and shells, the carnage of the first world war has been given a
revolutionary treatment in a new French war museum near Disneyland Paris.
It
hopes to draw tourists away from Mickey Mouse, and impress the realities of a
war that killed 22 million on a generation who only know conflict through
video games .
But
the Museum of the Great War in Meaux, inaugurated by the French president,
Nicolas Sarkozy, last month and already exceeding expected visitor numbers,
is also the first move in France's new campaign to develop itself as the
world capital of war tourism."
Chinese tourists chart a new European Grand Tour
Jessica
Marati, Gadling (a blog from the Huffington Post), 24 December 2011
EUROPE
– "According to BBC Travel and the China Daily, approximately 70 million
Chinese nationals traveled abroad in 2011, up from 10 million in 1999. A
chunk of this new crop of Chinese tourists is traveling to Europe, but their
itinerary veers a little off the trodden path.
BBC
Travel outlined some of the historical highlights of the "new"
European Grand Tour: cities like Trier, Germany, the birthplace of Karl Marx
and home to the Karl Marx Haus Museum, and Montargis, France, where a small
group of Chinese youth studied in the early 1900s and lay the foundation for
the Chinese Communist Party."
Social Innovation in China
Akhtar Badshah, Huffington
Post, 27 December 2011
SHANGHAI,
CHINA – "On my recent trip to China I visited the
Non Profit Incubator (NPI), which is a nonprofit that promotes social
innovation and cultivates social entrepreneurs in China by providing crucial
support to start-up and small- to medium-sized grassroots NGOs and social
enterprises. [text omitted]
The NPI isn't
slowing down; in fact, it is now embarking on its most ambitious effort: the
NEST Shanghai: A Nexus of Social Innovation and Community Development. This
is a multi-million-dollar effort on the site of the old Shanghai Municipal
Orphanage, which was started by Chinese philanthropist Mr. Lu Bo Hong as a
home for Shanghai's orphaned and destitute. Funded in part by the Shanghai
Ministry of Civil Affairs, this ambitious project includes restoration of
heritage buildings, such as the stone gateway, the terraced dormitories, and
the red art-deco building, which will house a museum celebrating the public
service achievements in China's history, to create a unique incubation and
social innovation center that will draw in people from all over Shanghai and
eventually become a globally important center for social innovation."
In Madrid’s Heart, Park Blooms Where a Freeway Once Blighted
Michael
Kimmelman, The New York Times, 26 December 2011
MADRID, SPAIN – "The park [text
omitted] called Madrid Río, has largely been finished. More than
six miles long, it transforms a formerly neglected area in the middle of
Spain’s capital. Its creation, in four years, atop a complex network of
tunnels dug to bury an intrusive highway, also rejuvenates a long-lost
stretch of the Manzanares River, and in so doing knits together neighborhoods
that the highway had cut off from the city center.
All around the
world, highways are being torn down and waterfronts reclaimed; decades of
thinking about cars and cities reversed; new public spaces created."
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LordCultural 
LordCultural