Playing it straight
How much does our knowledge about an actor’s private life influence his or her stage or screen credibility?
The big picture
Articles
Museum attendance, and museum stress, up
A report from the American Association of Museum’s notes increases, particularly in Midwest.
Snow business like show business
Does the over-dramatization of weather conditions keep audiences away?
Looking back on 2009
Thought on the Regional Performing Arts Center, Michael Jackson, and more.
An attack on common percents
Don Pallotta, author of “Uncharitable,” pushed local leaders to think big and stop talking about overhead.
ArtPrize: Do you trust the public to judge art?
Call it the American Idol-ing of art. Starting Sept. 23, what’s being billed as the world’s largest art prize competition
begins in Grand Rapids…with you as judge.
Sept. 12 frenzy in Indy arts
I’m ready to officially declare Sept. 12 the most overloaded day of the Indy arts season.
For starters, there’s the Penrod Art Fair, occupying the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art from 9-5.
Then there’s Indianapolis Opera’s new Operapalooza…
A step forward for Carmel PAC
The announcement that Steven Libman, former managing director of the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, is taking on the same job for the Carmel Performing Arts Center is a strong indication of the aspirations of the powers that be…
Kaiser: Not time for arts cutbacks
Representatives from most of the area’s professional arts organizations — plus other interested parties — gathered yesterday at Butler for a Q&A session with Kennedy Center chief Michael Kaiser. It was the latest stop on his 50 state Arts in Crisis tour…
Bates out at Madame Walker
Christopher L. Barney, new board chairman of the Madame Walker Theatre Center, announced today that Cynthia Bates will be leaving her job as President of the arts organization.
It’s the third major transition for Indy’s arts presenters over the past season,…
NEA grants impact Indy arts groups
IBJ reporter Kathleen McLaughlin guest blogs today.
If our report last week about federal stimulus money for the arts piqued your interest, we have an update this morning from the Indiana Arts Commission. See the list below for details on who…
Can arts save their way to health?
"Arts organizations that consistently do good work and are aggressive about their marketing are the ones
which succeed, both programmatically and financially."…
NYC pt. 1: Road plays
For the next few posts, I’ll be logging in from New York City, where I’m on a multi-tasking trip that includes a trio (at least) of Broadway shows to review. I also will be reporting from BookExpo America, the publishers/booksellers…
500 celeb spotting
Celeb spotting is kind of a human catch-and-release game. Seeing a familiar TV or film face, grabbing a photo, maybe scoring an autograph–all are signs of…what? I’m not sure. It’s not like seeing talented…
Michelle Obama and the arts
Not content with just catching a show at the Kennedy Center, first lady Michelle Obama made a clear statement with this week’s trip to New York: She sees value in the arts and is interested in promoting them.
And not just mass appeal…
Too much contact?
Arts organizations are tweeting. Arts organizations are facebooking. Arts organizations are inviting you to post reviews on their sites. Arts organizations are asking you to participate in surveys. Arts organizations seem to be trying every way to reach out to…
Audiences behaving badly
It happened again on Sunday.
During an intensely delicate — and totally silent — moment in the Indiana Repertory Theatre’s production of “Rabbit Hole,” an audience member opted to unwrap a piece of candy. Not a get-it-over-with unwrapping, this process took…
Cultural road tripping
I spent a fair amount of yesterday at a meeting with representatives of tourism departments from around the state. Each touted his or her region’s attractions–from Lincoln Amphitheatre (back in action this year) to the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo,…
Arts rally on the Circle
Monday is/was (depending on when you are reading this) the Indy Culture Matters Rally on Monument Circle. Music starts/started at 11:30. Speakers at noon. I will be/was there. And I suspect many of you will/were be, too.
Enough of that. So share…