| July 2006
Arts Management | Film &
Television | Literature | Performing
Arts |
Visual Arts |
G1 - Does America Have an Arts Policy?
Cowen, Tyler
Chronicle of Higher Education; 6/16/2006, v52, #41, pB13, 1p
The U.S. is often perceived as a “land of mass culture and backward taste” but in this comparison of the art policies of the U.S. and various European nations, the author maintains that the American emphasis on commerce, competition, decentralization, and technology is often more effective and that capitalism can be a boon for the creative spirit. In addition, the author describes government and institutional support of the arts, focusing on how the U.S. tax system indirect subsidizes art initiatives. Tyler Cowen is a professor of economics and director of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. This essay is adapted from his new book, Good and Plenty: The Creative Successes of American Arts Funding, published by Princeton University Press. Order Article
G2 - Speaking of Art
Lubow, Arthur
Smithsonian, July 2006, v37, #4, p48-55
"Most art museums seek to dazzle like Ali Baba's cave, but the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) and the National Portrait Gallery (NPG), which jointly reopened in the old Patent Office Building on July 1 after a six-year, $283 million renovation, greet visitors with a homey embrace. Touring the collections is like riffling through a family album or climbing into an attic rich with heirlooms.” The article focuses on the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) and the National Portrait Gallery (NPG), which jointly reopened in the old Patent Office Building on July 1, 2006 after a six-year, $283 million renovation. In interviews with the directors of the two museums are interviewed, they state their desire to make the museums accessible to visitors and to get them to see art as a way to tell a story about the history and culture of the United States. . "One of the key things for me was striking the right balance between knowledge and experience," says SAAM director Elizabeth Broun. "There are certain people who are right at home in an art museum and others who might be intimidated." Fulltext
Film & Television
G3 - Three Great Filmmakers: Haldeman, Ehrlichman & Chapin…or, Nixon's Home Movies
Frye, Brian L.
Cineaste, Summer 2006, v31, #3, pp36-37
President Richard Nixon's “obsession with documentation was his Achilles heel. But it was also a historian's dream. Everyone's familiar with the secret tapes that doomed Nixon's presidency. But they're only the beginning. Nixon recorded everything, and his aides collected whatever he missed. Three of the most dedicated -- Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs John D. Ehrlichman, Chief of Staff Harry Robbins Haldeman, and Deputy Assistant to the President Dwight L. Chapin -- moonlighted as amateur documentary filmmakers… But the movies weren't just memorabilia. Nixon's circle -- especially Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Chapin -- were devoted to a presidency they deeply believed was epochal. So documenting it wasn't entertainment, it was a duty. And each had his own peculiar way of recording impressions.” This article is an excerpt from Results You Can't Refuse: Celebrating 30 Years of BB Optics, edited by Andrew Lampert, to be published this summer by Anthology Film Archives. Fulltext
G4 - Copyright Conundrum: Documentaries and Rights Clearance
Dames, K. Matthew
Information Today, June 2006, v23, #6, pp24-27
“Eyes on the Prize, which was released in 1987, is widely considered to be one of the finest and most comprehensive documentaries ever produced about the American civil rights movement… But unless you visit a library, acquire or make a bootleg copy, or buy used tapes, you cannot get access to ‘Eyes on the Prize’ in the U.S. The documentary cannot he broadcast on PBS, the network that originally aired the series, and new copies are not being produced in DVD format. And libraries with the complete series risk losing access to the documentary due to wear and damage. Used copies don't come cheap: According to a January 2005 article in The Washington Post, full sets of the documentary are fetching prices near $1,500 on eBay. How can the broadcast standard on the American civil rights movement be so dangerously close to being unavailable forever? Copyright…. A tremendous amount of the material used in ‘Eyes on the Prize’ is protected by copyright law…. The problems facing ‘Eyes on the Prize’ are not unique, and there are some lessons information professionals can learn from them.” Matthew K. Dames is adjunct professor at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies. Fulltext
G5 - Return of the 3-D
Mone, Gregory
Popular Science, June 2006, v268, #6, pp62-90
The article focuses on the application of three dimensional display (3-D) in motion picture production in the U.S. Among movie directors who have plans to release 3-D films are Iames Cameron and George Lucas. Disney launched the 3-D version of its animated film titled "Chicken Little" in November 2005. Fulltext
Literature
G6 - A Writer's Beginnings
Erdrich, Louise
Smithsonian, August 2006, v37, #5, pp20-22
A profile of author Louise Erdrich and the town of Wahpeton, North Dakota, where she grew up. The article describes both the city and the buildings that line its streets, including the Wahpeton Indian School where her mother was employed. Erdrich expresses her wish that every child could experience the pleasure of growing up where she grew up. Also mentioned is Erdrich's next book, which is titled "The Plague of Doves." Fulltext
Performing Arts
G7 - The Blind Man & the Elephant
Samuels,David
Harper's Magazine, Jun 2006, v312, #1873; pp53-63
This article profiles Stevie Wonder and his performance at the Super Bowl XL in Detroit, Michigan on Feb. 5, 2006. It focuses on both Wonder’s career which started in Detroit and the city’s signature music style – Motown. It also discusses the impact of major sports events, like the Super Bowl, on American culture. David Samuels writes for Harper's Magazine. Fulltext
G8 - Louis Armstrong in the Movies, 1931-1969
Meckna, Michael
Popular Music and Society, Jul 2006, v29, #3, pp359-375
"From the late 1930s on, Louis Armstrong (1901-71) was one of the very few African Americans to appear regularly in Hollywood films. He could always be counted on to enliven a movie, and he saved several from oblivion. He appeared in 28 full-length films plus several short features from 1931 to 1969, and the various roles he played contribute to the history of the African American in cinema. The Armstrong movies also stand as a history of the struggle to win respect for jazz, along with the corollary themes of classical music versus jazz, and new jazz versus old jazz. As a bonus, in many of these films Armstrong also plays a pivotal role in helping the white star overcome musical and/or personal difficulties." Michael Meckna is Professor of Music History and Musicology at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. Fulltext
G9 - New Orleans and the Creation of Early Jazz
Carney, Court
Popular Music and Society, Jul 2006, v29, #3, pp299-317
"In and around New Orleans in the early 20th century, black, white, and Creole musicians constructed a music based in improvisation that reflected the urban and rural anomalies present in a city still strongly sutured to the countryside. This article examines the complicated ways that race, ethnicity, and culture helped shape the creation of jazz music by focusing on two groups of musicians: Jelly Roll Morton, Jack Laine, and Buddy Bolden; and their musical ancestors, Sidney Bechet, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, and Joe Oliver. The differences between these two groups highlight the enormous impact New Orleans society had on early jazz." Court Carney teaches history at the University of Alabama. Fulltext
Visual Arts
G10 - Winslow Homer: His Melancholy Truth
Parks, John A.
American Artist; Jul/Aug2006, v 70, #767, pp44-53
“The paintings of Winslow Homer have long passed beyond mere fame to become an integral part of American cultural consciousness. The crinoline-clad girls enjoying the Jersey shore, the barefoot schoolchildren playing in Snap the Whip, the stalwart guides surveying the vastness of the Adirondack Mountains, the mighty ocean pounding the Maine coast, and dory fishermen pursuing their perilous trade--these images and many more epitomize a peculiarly American 19th-century world. Through Homer's eyes, it is a world in which people live in close contact with nature and natural forces, a world where landscape and ocean are viewed not as a paradise but as powers and presences that can be enjoyed and whose threats can sometimes be overcome. And, particularly in his later paintings, it is a world imbued with a stark and melancholy atmosphere.” John A. Parks is an artist and also a teacher at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.Fulltext
G11 - Our Man in Havana: Robert Mapplethorpe
Steven C Dubin
Art in America, Jun/Jul 2006, v94, #6, pp.127-131
"On Dec. 13,2005, the Fototeca de Cuba in Havana's imposing Plaza Vieja opened an unprecedented exhibition of work by American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe titled "Sagrado y Profano" (Sacred and Profane). The 48 black-and-white images encompassed nearly the entire range of his output, including celebrities, children, nude studies, flowers, homoerotic scenes and self-portraits... Ever since Mapplethorpe's photographs burst onto the scene in the 1970s, people have continuously weighed in on what they think of the man - his motivations, the quality and importance of his work and its impact on viewers, the art world, and the general culture." Steven C. Dubin is professor of arts administration at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York. Fulltext
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