Art in the News
Read the latest arts news
Earlier this month, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray announced that the city’s first Civic Poet will be Claudia Castro Luna. The new Civic Poet position will serve as “an ambassador for Seattle’s rich literary landscape and represents the city’s diverse cultural community.” The Civic Poet program will be administered by the city’s Office of Arts & Culture.
Anyone in the art market who was not already paying attention to the social media platform Instagram had to sit up and take notice in April after the actor Pierce Brosnan visited the showroom of Phillips auction house in London. Mr. Brosnan snapped a selfie in front of a work he admired: the “Lockheed Lounge,” a space-age aluminum chaise longue by the industrial designer Marc Newson.
Each year, Americans for the Arts honors the best businesses partnering with the arts in America through the BCA10 awards. This summer, two of our previous honorees, Golden Artist Colors, Inc. (BCA 10 2012) and Scholastic Inc. (BCA 10 2013) have partnered to provide an unprecedented opportunity for art educators. Teachers of students who received recognition in the 2015 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards were invited to submit painted art-pieces for a chance to participate in a weeklong artist residency through the Sam & Adele Golden Foundation.
On Wednesday, August 12, the Des Moines Register published an op-ed by John Pappajohn titled "The Arts Mean Business in Iowa." The op-ed comes several days ahead of the Iowa Arts Advocacy Caucus, held on August 14 and co-hosted with the Iowa Arts Council, Iowa Alliance for Arts Education, BRAVO Greater Des Moines, NAMM, and the United States Conference of Mayors.
When it opens in the fall of 2016, Sacramento’s new downtown arena Golden Center 1 will be home to five public art installations worth $9.3 million. While Sacramento City Council initially received praise for integrating public art in the new arena, they received much backlash in March 2015 when they first selected New York City artist Jeff Koons’s Coloring Book sculpture—with a price tag of $8 million.
Illinois is entering its second month without a passed budget after Governor Rauner vetoed the Legislature’s proposed Fiscal Year 2016 budget—the Legislature did not support the governor’s reforms and surpassed state revenues by $3 billion. To cut down on government expenses due to the budget stalemate, Gov. Rauner ordered the closure of state facilities which include five state museums.
Stephen Colbert announced that he would fund every single request made by South Carolina public school teachers on the website DonorsChoose.org. The total donation clocked in at $800,000 and covered almost 1,000 projects at more than 375 schools.
A newly released half-hour documentary tells the story of The Science and Technology High School in Springfield, Massachusetts, where dropout rates are so high and standard test scores so low that the state rates it Level 4. At Level 5 the state has the right to take over the school and possibly send its 1500 students out into the city’s struggling public school system.
Poet Laureate of San Antonio Laurie Ann Guerrero has added another title to her name: Literary Arts Director/Writer-in-Residence at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. The Center cultivates, promotes, and preserves traditional and contemporary Chicano, Latino, and Native American arts and culture through multidisciplinary programming, and is one of the largest community-based organizations in the US.
On Friday, July 31, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced that the city will further develop its three designated arts and entertainment districts—Station North, Highlandtown, and Bromo Seltzer Tower.
