Category Archives: Arts policy

Dear Mr. Donenberg

Dear Mr. Donenberg: Thank you for using my blog to offer your critique of Rocco Landesman and his recent comments about supply and demand.  I am not going to defend Mr. Landesman here; he’s a big boy and can do … Continue reading

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Supply, Demand, and Rocco Landesman

Robin Pogrebin reported in the Arts Beat column today and online yesterday on NEA chairman Rocco Landesman’s remarks at Arena stage earlier in the week.  He “addressed the problem of struggling theaters. “You can either increase demand or decrease supply,” … Continue reading

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The Symbolic Capital of Arts Commissions

I learned late last week that Arizona governor Jan Brewer’s budget proposal zeroes out the general appropriations line for the Arizona Commission on the Arts, a cut of approximately $665,000, as part of her cost-cutting plan. The plan also includes … Continue reading

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Half Full or Half Empty

  NEA research director Suyin Iyengar posted an interesting report today.  It’s really a “report on a report” by the Arts Council England about online engagement with arts and culture.  The report indicates that 53% of people online “used the … Continue reading

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Bricks and Mortar

An article in yesterday’s NY Times about Arena Stage’s new “Cradle” for new play development and a tour I had this morning of the newly renovated Chandler Center for the Arts are reminders that sometimes infrastructure for the arts is … Continue reading

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“Peaceful Assembly”

President Obama delivered a tender, inspiring, and thoughtful speech last night in memory of the victims of the recent shooting in Tucson.  At first blush, one might wonder what the speech has to do with infrastructure for the arts. It … Continue reading

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Arts giving: Tax deductions or tax credits?

One of my concerns about our very decentralized arts funding structure is that so much depends on the tax deduction for charitable giving.   This concerns me less because of rumblings about repealing the deduction and more because the beneficiaries of … Continue reading

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On “Antiques Roadshow”

I caught a few minutes of “Antiques Roadshow” the other night. Whenever I land on “Antiques Roadshow,” I’m reminded of an old episode of Frasier in which Frasier and his dad are arguing over what to watch on TV, not … Continue reading

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What Paul Krugman and Arlene Goldbard have in Common

In his Op-Ed piece Monday in the New York Times, Paul Krugman wrote, “A rational political system would long since have created a 21st-century version of the Works Progress Administration — we’d be putting the unemployed to work doing what … Continue reading

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