Top Wisconsin News for the Week of
November 15, 2009
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Aaron Bohrod mural in danger
Blog: flyover Art in the American Outback “At long last, Madison, Wis., is poised to get a new central library
branch. Although the current building dates only to 1965, it's a pretty
bleak, worn space. I'm glad to see the city move ahead with this,
especially in a tough economy. But there's one aspect of the planning that's
uncertain and quite troubling. A mural by the regionalist Aaron Bohrod, a
former WPA artist whose work was also featured in the pages of Life, Time
and Look magazines, is in danger. It's unclear if and how it will be
preserved when the existing library is demolished.”
Vision for art festivals generated downtown - Event planners balance
business atmosphere, creative spirit
Green Bay Press Gazette “Tina Quigley is a believer in the left brain-right brain theory. She is
executive director of Arts Events Inc., which puts on three major festivals
a year: Artstreet in August, Bayfest in June and Arti Gras in February. The
job is "absolutely a combination" of the logical and sequential left-brain
and the subjective and intuitive right-brain functions, she says. "Has to
be. And always changing. There obviously has to be both that kind of
creative side as well as the business side to this." Her work space is on
the ground level of the Architects Building on Pine Street in downtown Green
Bay.”
Arts and Creativity in Education
Sowing the seeds of reading - Bookworm Gardens a place for learning
Sheboygan Press “As the chill winds of winter settle in, the sounds of saws and hammers
busily building Sandy Livermore's decade-long dream — a special place where
the wonders of nature and children's literature intertwine — are bringing
warmth to her heart. "Every single bit of this is turning out better than I
could have ever hoped for," said Livermore, a former landscape designer and
founder of Bookworm Gardens, which is being constructed on a two-acre site
on the University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan campus. The gardens mix many paths,
shrubs, trees and environmentally friendly structures with a series of about
10 reading-themed areas based on 74 different children's books. Included are
titles such as "Goodnight Moon," "The Magic School Bus," and the currently
popular, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs."
Growth and change at the Cable Natural History Museum
Ashland Daily Press CABLE — “Since opening the doors to its brand new facility in August
2008, the Cable Natural History Museum (CNHM) has seen significant
development and growth in programming and visitation. In the last year
alone, the museum has: recorded its highest-ever annual attendance total,
offered more than 140 educational programs and events, and • taught more
than 9,600 elementary-aged children from 14 regional school districts
through its spring field trip series and MuseumMobile outreach program and
curriculum.”
Former Nickelodeon Chief Has iPhone Plans
New York Times “Can the iPhone begin a new children’s entertainment franchise? One of
Hollywood’s leading character architects is banking on it. Albie Hecht, the
former president of Nickelodeon Entertainment who helped develop such
stalwarts as “SpongeBob SquarePants,” will introduce an iPhone game app in
January built around his latest creation: Bigby, an 8-year-old
crime-fighting genius who believes his job is to stop dragons and pirates
from ruining the world.”
Colum McCann, T.J. Stiles Win National Book Awards
New York Times “Colum McCann won the National Book Award for fiction on Wednesday night
for “Let the Great World Spin,” a novel featuring a sprawling cast of
characters in 1970s New York City whose lives are ineluctably touched by the
mysterious tightrope walker who traverses a wire suspended between the Twin
Towers one morning. In accepting the award, the Irish-born Mr. McCann, now a
teacher of creative writing at Hunter College, said “as fiction writers and
people who believe in the word, we have to enter the anonymous corners of
human experience to make that little corner right.”
Also: What Jayne Anne Phillips Did on Her Summer Vacations
New York Times “Jayne Anne Phillips, a finalist for the National Book Award for
fiction, stood in a corner of the pre-ceremony cocktail party, a long black
emu-feather boa draped around her neck. “No emu died to make it,” she said.
“It’s emu feathers.” Ms. Phillips, whose novel “Lark and Termite” tells the
story of a brother and sister whose family is buffeted by the fallout from
the wars in Korea and Vietnam, said she had been thinking about the seeds
for the book for nearly 30 years.”
Need A Literary Award To Help Promote Your Book? Buy One Here
Salon “Prizes have now taken the place of reviews as "the means by which many
people now decide which books to buy, when they bother to buy books at all."
So supply meets demand: we have the National Best Book Awards (resemblance
intentional), which has "150 active categories" and for which every book
entered (fee $69 per category) becomes a finalist.”
Media Arts
Local actor lands role on top-rated show
La Crosse Tribune “La Crosse’s Corey Sorenson has another TV role, but this time it’s on
one of the most-viewed shows on television, “NCIS.” In this week’s segment,
Sorenson plays a man who is grieving for his murdered wife, a Navy
lieutenant, and he has three scenes with Mark Harmon, the CBS show’s star
and executive producer. The segment will air at 7 p.m. Tuesday on WKBT-TV.”
5 Easy Steps to Stay Safe (and Private!) on Facebook
New York Times “When the President of the United States warns schoolchildren to watch
what they say and do on Facebook, you know that we've got a problem...and
it's not one limited to the U.S.'s borders, either. People everywhere are
mindlessly over-sharing on the world's largest social network, without a
second thought as to who's reading their posts or what effect it could have
on them further down the road. For example, did you know that 30% of today's
employers are using Facebook to vet potential employees prior to hiring? In
today's tough economy, the question of whether to post those embarrassing
party pics could now cost you a paycheck in addition to a reputation. (Keep
that in mind when tagging your friends' photos, too, won't you?)”
Also: Facebook friend turns into Big Brother
La Crosse Tribune University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student Adam Bauer has nearly 400
friends on Facebook. He got an offer for a new one about a month ago. “She
was a good-looking girl. I usually don’t accept friends I don’t know, but I
randomly accepted this one for some reason,” the 19-year-old said. He thinks
that led to his invitation to come down to the La Crosse police station,
where an officer laid out photos from Facebook of Bauer holding a beer — and
then ticketed him for underage drinking. The police report said Bauer
admitted drinking, which he denies. But he did plead no contest in municipal
court Wednesday and will pay a $227 fine.”
Thursday Puzzle: What’s Wrong (or Right) With This Picture?
New York Times “Does the picture above look natural to you? If you were standing in a
lodge at Glacier National Park, is this how a jigsaw puzzle and the scenery
would appear to your eye? The image looks pretty natural to me, but it’s
actually the result of a process that would be verboten for news
photographers at The New York Times and many other publications. It’s called
High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging, and is featured in a stunning new book by
Trey Ratcliff, “The World in HDR.” The best way to appreciate it is to
compare the photo above with the same scene recorded by conventional means,
as shown in the photo at the bottom of this post.”
Daniel
Day-Lewis says he avoided dancing in 'Nine'
Culture Monster/LA Times “The promotional juggernaut behind the movie "Nine" shifted into high
gear today when cast members of the film -- including Daniel Day-Lewis --
appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to discuss their work on the movie
musical. One can hardly hope for a moment of unscripted candor in such a
scenario. (Can you imagine the number of publicists working behind the
scenes in Oprah's green room?) Still, Day-Lewis -- always refreshingly
unpredictable -- was able to slip the fact that he managed to avoid dancing
in a movie directed by Rob Marshall, who happens to be an accomplished
Broadway choreographer. That's kind of like signing up for swimming lessons
and then not getting in the water.”
No ‘System,’ but Music Housewide
New York Times “Multiroom sound system? There’s an app for that.”That’s not Sonos’s
slogan for its new ZonePlayer S5 wireless speaker consoles, but it could be.
Now, in addition to tracking your weight, calculating recipes and
identifying bird calls, your iPhone or iPod Touch can serve as a
touch-screen remote control for the music playing in different rooms of your
home.”
Adding a Fee to the Shazam App Invites a Look at Competing Tools
New York Times “Been to the iTunes App Store lately? If so, you may have experienced a
little sticker shock. The iPhone app count now exceeds 100,000, and many
software developers have found that the only way to reliably make money is
not only to charge for an app, but to charge enough money to signal that it
is not just another $1 throwaway.”
Performing Arts
Theater
Scenic designer Jeff Entwistle's space at UWGB brims with 'silly stuff'
Green Bay Press Gazette “Jeff Entwistle is not a magician, but for more than 25 years in Green
Bay, he's practiced a vanishing form of artistry. He creates scenic designs
for theatrical productions at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. His
ideas are months in development, weeks in executing, on public view briefly
in sets and then disappear to make way for the next project. Entwistle
chuckles as he looks around his main work space on the lower level of
Theater Hall on campus. "I feel comfortable in here," he said. "It's
cramped, it's small, but you know what, I don't care." The room brims with
paintings, posters and pictures dealing with theater or art. Shelves are
crammed with books and scripts. Above the door is his now-grown daughter's
third-grade art project, a far-out creature.”
VIDEO OF THE DAY
Planck v.0 - Mental Breakdown
Vimeo This is a playthrough of our prototype, entitled Planck Version Zero (v.0).
It was recently submitted to the 2010 Independent Games Festival. Although it
plays like a familiar top-down scrolling shooter, every in-game action is
interpreted through a timing and beat-matching system, turning your play into
the song you hear as you traverse the level. The original track in this demo is
Mental Breakdown by Chad Bechard.
WEDNESDAY, 11/18
IN THE NEWS
Visual Arts/Museums
Overture debts could cost taxpayers $3 million in 2011
The Capital Times “Next month, the entity that runs Overture Center must start using its
last reserves to cover payments on $27 million in debt with no clear way to
stop the bleeding. The nearly $300,000 in monthly payments brings new
urgency to figuring out a new way to run Overture and handle its debt. Since
2008, debt payments have chewed through an extra $5 million given by
philanthropist W. Jerome Frautschi, who donated $205 million to build the
facility.”
Arts and Creativity in Education
Gender-based pilot
program inching toward success
Beaver Dam Daily Citizen “Students in gender-based classes at Beaver Dam Middle School think they
are doing better than students in classes with both girls and boys. And
those thoughts may help them to do better as they go on with their
education. “If they think they are doing better, then eventually they will
do better,” BDMS teacher Shelly Stelsel said. The students are part of a
pilot program with two classes of 23 students each, one of boys and one of
girls, that are in one of the sixth-grade “houses” and have four classes a
day together – science, social studies, math and language arts. The teachers
of that house have the two gender-based classes and two classes of mixed
gender students.”
Facebook in school
raises concerns
Beaver Dam Daily Citizen “The Beaver Dam Unified School District board of education heard
concerns about student use of technology during the district’s board meeting
on Monday. “My concern is with the use of Facebook in school, on school
property and with school computers,” board member Marge Jorgensen said. The
use of social networking cites for cyber bullying and theft of personal
identification topped Jorgensen’s concerns.”
Community Arts
Working
part-time jobs at home
WKOW-TV Madison MADISON (WKOW) – “The economic recession is pushing people to look for
other ways to supplement their income. Many are starting part-time jobs at
home. But they're finding out, it takes time, money, and dedication to make
it work. After another job just didn't work out, Megan Cain decided to use
her artistic talents to make extra money. "Eventually I just decided, well,
I know how to do mosaics, and I enjoy it, and I want to have a business, so
why don't I just have a mosaic business," she said.”
Folk Arts/Folklife
Utah rock art canyon up for historic designation
News from Indian Country Salt Lake City, Utah (AP) – “Parts of a remote central Utah canyon
decorated with ancient Indian art are being nominated for the National
Register of Historic Places. The Bureau of Land Management this week
nominated 63 sites along Nine Mile Canyon, which some call the world’s
longest art gallery. It contains more than 10,000 prehistoric rock carvings
and paintings of bighorn sheep, owls, a two-headed snake, spear-wielding
hunters and warriors engaged in hand-to-hand combat. In the coming years,
the BLM in Utah plans to nominate more than 800 sites in the canyon for the
national register, according to Megan Crandall, an agency spokeswoman in
Salt Lake City. She said it’s the largest such attempt for archaeological
sites in Utah.”
Literary
Little diversity progress among writers
Variety “The push to increase diversity among showbiz writers remains an uphill
battle, a new report concludes. The WGA West's 2009 Hollywood Writers Report
finds "little if any" improvement in employment and earnings for women and
minority writers. The report, authored by UCLA professor Darnell Hunt and
recently posted on the WGA Web site, found that women scribes remain stuck
at 28% of TV employment and 18% in features while the minority share has
been frozen at 6% since 1999.”
Google Books Decides To Stick To Anglophone World
New Media Age "Google has scaled back its digital book plans after submitting a
revised settlement with industry regulators following pressure from European
and Asian governments. The amended settlement proposes Google will only
digitise books copy-protected in the US or published in the UK, Canada and
Australia - a significant reduction on its original plans." (New Zealand is
ticked off.)”
Also:
Germans, Having Wanted Out, Want Back In On Google Books Deal
Monsters and Critics "German book publishers - angered at being included in the Google Books
Settlement without being consulted - voiced concern Sunday that they had now
been excluded."
Library in a Pocket
New York Times “With Amazon’s Kindle, readers can squeeze hundreds of books into a
device that is smaller than most hardcovers. For some, that’s not small
enough. Many people who want to read electronic books are discovering that
they can do so on the smartphones that are already in their pockets —
bringing a whole new meaning to “phone book.” And they like that they can
save the $250 to $350 that they would otherwise spend on yet another
gadget.”
Media Arts
Dells couple give
$30,000 for public radio station
Wisconsin Dells Events “A Wisconsin Dells couple wants Wisconsin Public Radio to expand and
gave a $30,000 gift to make that happen. Bill and Pat Wilde of Wisconsin
Dells "absolutely love WPR," Pat said, so they made the donation to support
building a new Wisconsin Public Radio station to serve central Wisconsin.
She said that since she and her husband arrived in the Dells 14 years ago,
they have been fans of Wisconsin Public Radio with its classical music,
unbiased reports, political discussions, pharmacy program and information on
a variety of subjects.”
The Sexiest Man Alive: Johnny Depp
People Magazine “Break out the Bordeaux, the whoopee cushions and the bangin' Keith
Richards guitar solos, because the 2009 Sexiest Man Alive party is
officially under way.”
Library in a Pocket
New York Times “With Amazon’s Kindle, readers can squeeze hundreds of books into a
device that is smaller than most hardcovers. For some, that’s not small
enough. Many people who want to read electronic books are discovering that
they can do so on the smartphones that are already in their pockets —
bringing a whole new meaning to “phone book.” And they like that they can
save the $250 to $350 that they would otherwise spend on yet another
gadget.”
The Authors’ Hearts Beat Faster. Publishing Was So Close Now. . .
New York Times “Got a romance novel in your desk drawer? Polish it up and get ready to
become a Harlequin author. Harlequin Enterprises, the queen of the romance
world, has signed a partnership agreement with Author Solutions, a company
that helps aspiring scribes self-publish their books. Harlequin has created
a new imprint, Harlequin Horizons, that will appear on all books published
under this partnership. According to Brent Lewis, vice president of digital
and Internet for Harlequin, editors at Harlequin will not vet the books.
Author Solutions will charge $599 or more to publish and distribute books,
mostly in digital form, and will split those revenues with Harlequin.”
Get Ready For Graphics Transmitted Right Onto Your Contact Lenses
New Scientist "A contact lens that harvests radio waves to power an LED is paving the
way for a new kind of display" - graphics transmitted right onto the lens
and into its wearer's field of vision. Uses might "include subtitles when
conversing with a foreign-language speaker, directions in unfamiliar
territory and captioned photographs."
aThe screen is smaller; my focus is wider
New York Times “I once wrote that Milwaukee was as much a part of me as the Schlitz
that runs through my veins and the polkas that run through my head. Well,
Schlitz is back, and so am I. When I started writing about television and
radio at the Milwaukee Sentinel, I read Milwaukee Journal TV columnist Mike
Drew to figure out how it was done. Now I will revive that skill set in a
radically different media world. Today, audiences with an attention span as
long as a YouTube video access DVRs through the Internet. Appointment TV has
been replaced by video on demand, and fragmented audiences devour
all-you-can-eat media choices like teenagers on a pizza. Having covered both
the ABC movie "Dillinger" - filmed in Milwaukee and starring Mark Harmon in
1991 - and Michael Mann's "Public Enemies" - filmed in Wisconsin in 2008 and
starring Johnny Depp - I understand such change.”
After Protest, Greek State Film Awards Canceled
Variety "More than 200 directors, producers and screenwriters withdrew 52 films
from the [Thessaloniki Film Festival], undermining the state awards, which
selects winners from Greek films that unspool at the fest." Filmmakers were
protesting the nation's film funding laws.”
This War Is Hell - Call
of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 made me feel terrible about myself, and I loved
it.
The Slate “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 You may have heard that Call of Duty:
Modern Warfare 2 sold nearly 5 million copies in North America and Britain
on its first day of release last week—that's $310 million in sales, what
publisher Activision calls "the biggest launch in history across all forms
of entertainment."* Nevertheless, the game's more noteworthy achievement is
an artistic one: It's a first-person shooter that plays as a tragedy, not a
power fantasy. It's the most anti-war war game I've ever played, a murder
simulator that won't let you forget the nature of your actions.”
'Uncharted 2' leads Video Game Award nominations
GM Today/AP NEW YORK (AP) -- "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" has seized a leading eight
nominations for this year's Video Game Awards, Spike TV announced Wednesday.
The action-adventure "Uncharted 2" is bucking for Game of the Year, as is
"Batman: Arkham Asylum," which logged a total of seven nominations,
according to Spike TV, which presents the awards.”
Luxury Firms Move to Make Web Work for Them
New York Times BERLIN — “The luxury goods industry, struggling through a recession that
has threatened some well-known names with extinction, is trying to cast off
the kid gloves that have hampered its efforts to get a grip on technology.
Younger Buyers Challenge Luxury Retailers in Asia (November 18, 2009)
Because of continuing legal battles over online sales of counterfeit goods,
concerns about undermining carefully honed brand images and a history of
costly failures, many in the fashion business remain wary of the Internet.
But executives say that attitudes are softening as brands realize that the
Web provides one of the last untapped sources of potential growth.”
Performing Arts
Dance
What Does 'Postmodern' Mean?
Voice of Dance “Trisha Brown Reveals The Truth "Nothing. (laughter) No, it was a joke
in the dressing rooms at Judson. We were all naming categories of visual art
practitioners and someone said, 'We were doing postmodern dance at Judson.'
We all cracked up and no one countered us."
Museum of Wisconsin Art identifies site for new museum
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel “The Museum of Wisconsin Art has identified a riverfront site for its
new $12 million museum in West Bend, museum officials announced today. The
site, part of the Veteran's Avenue Redevelopment, sits snug along the
Milwaukee river near downtown West Bend. The announcement marks a change in
plans. The museum initially looked at renovating and adding onto its present
facility on S. 6th Ave. and scouted for other existing buildings in the
area. Most recently, the plan called for a new, white, two-story,
32,000-square foot building on the museum's present site.”
Modern photos linked with Rockwell paintings in upcoming exhibition at
Woodson Art Museum
Wausau Herald “It rankles photographer Kevin Rivoli that the work of Norman Rockwell
has been criticized as being too idealistic and unrealistic. Rockwell, of
course, became an iconic American painter and illustrator by portraying
quaint scenes of American life: the cop with the kid at the lunch counter,
the turkey being served at Thanksgiving, the lunch counter guy leaning in to
sniff the corsage on the dress of a prom-goer. They’re slices of life, and
they make us feel good. And it’s that “feel-good” part of Rockwell’s work
that drew the ire of some critics. It’s just too good to be true, they
said.”
A Gallery of Heroes, Up for Sale
New York Times “Joe Kubert, a comic book artist since 1938, has little interest in the
accumulated work of his last seven decades; his focus is on new projects, he
said recently. But comic book fans who feel differently about this
celebrated illustrator will have a chance to peruse and even own some of
that older work this week, when 18 covers and interior pages, published from
the 1940s to 1990, are put up for sale. Mr. Kubert, 83, has turned over a
large trove of his original work to Heritage Auctions in Dallas, which will
hold the first of several auctions, live and online, on Friday.”
Mona Lisa had eyebrows, art expert says
LA Times “Someone alert Dan Brown. The novelist's best-selling "The Da Vinci
Code" contained many conjectures about the history and provenance of the
"Mona Lisa" -- many of which have been dismissed as pure nonsense by
scholars and religious figures. Now comes word that at least one persistent
rumor concerning the masterpiece is true. Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa"
used to have eyebrows, according to a French art expert.”
Red Cross
sells pieces of history to cut deficit
WAOW-TV WASHINGTON (AP) – “Rose Percy has a long history with the American Red
Cross. Complete with an extensive wardrobe and her own Tiffany jewelry, this
23-inch wax doll was first sold for $1,200 back in 1864 to benefit the U.S.
Sanitary Commission - the precursor to one of best-known U.S. charities.
Now, Rose Percy, is on the auction block again. On Tuesday, Percy will be
sold in one of the first rounds of an extensive sale of treasures the
American Red Cross has amassed over the decades. The current bid online:
$5,000. The Red Cross also is selling a rare four-faced Cartier clock lamp,
nurse uniforms from World War I and what could be the last Civil War-era
flag of the forerunner U.S. Sanitary Commission.”
Arts and Creativity in Education
'Street' smarts
The Capital Times "Sesame Street," which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, is not just
a good show; it's good for you, according to University of Wisconsin-Madison
media experts. "When it comes to educational benefits, the results have been
overwhelmingly positive," says Karyn Riddle, an assistant professor of
journalism and mass communication. Riddle notes the PBS program is "the most
heavily researched show in the history of television."
Opinion: Why MPS is not just a Milwaukee debate
WisOpinion.com “Walters It's part Shakespeare-worthy drama, part Capitol reality show
and part soap opera. "As MPS Turns," maybe. The one thing it's not -- a
comedy. Milwaukee Public Schools has one of the worst achievement gaps
between white and minority students in the nation; President Barack Obama
himself said so in Madison on Nov. 4. MPS's dropout rate has improved but
still badly trails the statewide average. Widespread poverty clogs the gears
of learning. There are many reasons why MPS is critically important to
everyone in Wisconsin. MPS's 85,381 students make up about 23 percent of all
public-school students statewide, for example. And, state support for MPS
totaled $752 million last year -- an amount almost equal to 1 cent of the
5-cent state sales tax. Let's put that another way: Wisconsin sales tax
collections totaled $4.13 billion last year, and 18 percent of that went
directly to MPS.”
Opinion: Fred
Clark: All of our schools matter
Baraboo News Republic “Making Wisconsin eligible for a slice of $4.35 billion in federal "Race
to the Top" funds, Governor Doyle and our Legislature last week passed a
package of modest education reforms. This new funding is expected to flow
primarily to urban schools facing the greatest achievement challenges,
including the Milwaukee Public Schools. I supported this legislation because
I believe that everyone in Wisconsin benefits when we can improve the
quality of education — and the quality of life — in our largest cities. As
valuable as Race to the Top might be however, I do not believe it is a
substitute for the essential reform that remains needed for all our schools.
And it remains unclear how much Race to the Top will bring direct benefits
to school districts and students throughout rural Wisconsin. So we have more
fundamental work to do.”
Opinion: UW blind to the advantages of Kindle
Badger Herald “Blind people can’t see the screens of Amazon’s Kindle DX e-readers.
This is the rationale the university gave when explaining its refusal to
incorporate the device into classrooms. In making this decision, the
university has turned a blind eye toward inevitable technological progress,
to environmental well being and to students’ financial struggles.”
Viterbo students earn high marks at singing competition
La Crosse Tribune “Katherine Weber and Anna Koll were repeat winners, as Viterbo
University had 10 finalists at the state auditions of the National
Association of Teachers in Singing last week in Eau Claire. Weber, a Viterbo
senior from Holmen, took first place for the third consecutive year at the
auditions. Koll, a Viterbo senior, won for the second time, this time in the
continuing senior women division. Viterbo’s 10 finalists were the most of
any university in the state. Alaina Cole, a Viterbo freshman, won her
division, while Samantha Megan won the lower college music theater class as
Viterbo swept the first three places. Jeff Kroes, a member of the La Crosse
Chamber Chorale, won the adult division.”
Humanities Building due for destruction - The brutalist relic needs to
go, but the university needs to think this demolition through.
Daily Cardinal “Oh, the Humanities Building. You are a massive block of concrete that
houses the studies for which you are appropriately named. Since your
completed construction in 1969, you have been a cold, lonely home to the
studies of music, art, English, and history; all of which seem strangely out
of place beneath your sunken temple walls (perhaps with the exclusion of
history). Ever since the announcement of your imminent destruction, I have
been absolutely enthralled. The Humanities Building at one time may have
been a ground-breaking, conversational piece, but in today’s current
architectural climate it is a blotch upon our beautiful campus.”
Parents group stresses field trip importance - Funds being raised in
attempt to make up for cuts to school budget
Eau Claire Leader Telegram “Believing curriculum-based field trips need to be an educational
priority, a parents group is asking the Eau Claire school board to fund at
least elementary school trips beginning next year. Since launching a
fundraising campaign three months ago to restore field trips cut from the
school district's 2009-10 budget, Eau Claire United PTA/PTO has raised
$51,513. "It's been an overwhelming amount of work," parent Lesley Sauls
told the school board Tuesday, estimating she and others have put about
3,000 hours into the effort, which is ongoing. "We are trying to keep our
educational standards high," she said, "(and) every penny we have brought in
has gone to fund the field trips."
Folk Arts/Folklife
'Poetica Grandma-tica' available
Chippewa Herald “Another year and Nancy Clark Scobie and Judy Bredeson have compiled,
edited and published their sixth book in six years. “Poetica Grandma-tica”
is a book, of, about and by grandmothers of the Chippewa Valley. It
demonstrates once again that we all have stories to tell — stories of strong
connections between land and families, the sustaining wisdom and hope
between the generations, and historical documentation of regional
character.”
Literary
Scientists nose out clue to preserving books: their smell - The complex
perfume of ageing books has been broken down into its component chemicals by
research that could assist conservators
The Guardian “The dusty smell of old books is one of the joys of visiting secondhand
bookshops, and now scientists, who have identified it as combining "grassy
notes with a tang of acids and a hint of vanilla over an underlying
mustiness", hope it can be used to help preserve valuable ageing titles.
Researcher Matija Strlic, from University College London's Centre for
Sustainable Heritage, decided to investigate the smell of old books after
spotting a book expert sniffing a title to assess its age. "I noticed a
conservator once who was smelling paper to assess its quality – and having
seen that and knowing that the analysis of food aroma is a routine
analytical problem, I decided to look for correlations between paper
composition and its smell. And it worked," he said.”
To Save Bookstore, French Townspeople Buy The Lease
Washington Post "Poligny residents' effort to preserve an old-fashioned Main Street
bookstore may seem eccentric in an age of electronics, instantaneous
communication and discount giants. But not in France, a country that is
unusually fixated on its centuries-old traditions and is determined to
safeguard its cultural heritage."
Media Arts
If
We Get First-Run Films At Home, Is Hollywood Doomed?
NPR "As DVD sales decline, Hollywood studios are looking for ways to get
movies straight to consumers' living rooms. This has some industry insiders
worried that Hollywood is jeopardizing its most valuable asset: the
theatrical release date. The movie industry is looking to change the way it
distributes content."
A
Market Segment ‘Glee’ Can Call Its Own: Theater Folk
New York Times “Eleven o’clock is late for teenagers to start a party on a weeknight,
but this was a special occasion. The high school-age cast of Broadway’s “Bye
Bye Birdie” had gathered to watch “Glee,” Fox’s hour-long musical comedy
series that has become a cult favorite among the theater community in New
York.”
A grand studio dream runs headlong into reality - For Plymouth Rock
team, money woes, questions crowding out hopes
Boston Globe “David P. Kirkpatrick seemed to relish the role of big-shot Hollywood
insider as he briefed state development officials about his bold plan to
challenge Tinseltown at its own game. And the former head of Paramount
Motion Pictures certainly sounded like the right man to build a huge movie
and TV studio in Massachusetts. He talked about how he helped bring “Forrest
Gump’’ to life. He casually referred to Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston as
“the kids.’’
Performing Arts
Music
Ezra Furman takes personal music to new level: A custom album for each fan
Chicago Tribune “Ezra Furman takes his music personally. He doesn’t want to just write
songs, he wants to change lives, and in the process have his life changed as
well. Which is why the 23-year-old Evanston native is doing something (take
your pick) outlandish, heroic, Quixotic, exhausting, ridiculous. He’s
writing a song for every fan who buys his latest album, Ezra Furman and the
Harpoons’ “Moon Face: Bootlegs and Road Recordings 2006-2009,” available at
ezrafurman.bigcartel.com. More than 100 albums have been ordered since it
became available a few weeks ago. Each consists of 10 tunes culled from
Furman’s voluminous archive plus a customized song written directly to and
for each paying customer. The tunes range from talking blues to more fleshed
out melodies that Furman bashes out into a computer microphone on the road
and then emails to his father back in Evanston to mail out on compact disc.’
A Key for Unlocking Memories Music Therapy Opens a Path to the Past for
Alzheimer's Patients; Creating a Personal Playlist
Wall Street Journal “With the help of some old familiar tunes, advanced-dementia patients at
Beth Abraham Family of Health Services in New York are reconnecting with
their memories and with each other in ways that may seem surprising for
those with degenerative brain diseases. But with stroke and dementia
patients, iPods and other MP3 players are having just the opposite effect.
Listening to rap and reggae on a borrowed iPod every day has helped Everett
Dixon, a 28-year-old stroke victim at Beth Abraham Health Services in Bronx,
N.Y., learn to walk and use his hands again. Trevor Gibbons, 52, who fell
out of a fourth-floor construction site and suffered a crushed larynx, has
become so entranced with music that he's written 400 songs and cut four
CDs.”
Theater
With Rep gone, local companies pile into the Playhouse
77 Square/Lindsay Christians “When the Madison Repertory Theatre closed last spring, many feared the
Overture Center’s basement Playhouse would go dark during 2009-10. After
all, in recent seasons the Rep had filled the 347-person space consistently
throughout the theater season, with gaps filled by Children’s Theater of
Madison (CTM). “It’s a beautiful space, too beautiful to sit empty most of
the year,” said Overture publicist Rob Chappell. “We’re never going to
replace the Rep, exactly, but ... from an artistic standpoint and from a
community standpoint we can’t leave it dark. “From a revenue standpoint we
can’t leave it dark, either.”
Other
Inventing a Better Patent System
New York Times “Inventions and PatentsGARY LOCKE, the secretary of commerce, has urged
Congress to overhaul the nation’s patent law by the end of the year.
Although a bill has been circulating since 2005, a fierce fight involving
the high-tech and drug industries on a technical issue — how to measure
damages when a company violates a patent applying to one component of a
larger product — has kept it from reaching a vote.”
VIDEO OF THE DAY
In our tenth Community
Choreography, we challenged our Twitter followers to send us "realish" dance
moves. In an homage to Merce Cunningham, we have taken away all audio and
encourage you to find your own source of sound (be it the radio, a Ginsburg
poem, a stapler being stapled every few seconds). Twitter Community Choreography
is an ongoing experiment from Dance Theater Workshop. Each week we ask our
Twitter followers to send us one movement (or nonmovement), then we put all the
responses together into one dance and film it.”
MONDAY, 11/16
IN THE NEWS
Visual Arts/Museums
Mistakes in Typography Grate the Purists
New York Times “Dirt. Noise. Crowds. Delays. Scary smells. Even scarier fluids swirling
on the floor. There are lots of reasons to loathe the New York City subway,
but one very good reason to love it — Helvetica, the typeface that’s used on
its signage.”
Quorum Architects & MPS
SOHI District Newsletter Quorum Architects with Milwaukee Public School students complete another
mural on State Street in the SOHI District, a Main Street Milwaukee program.
Off the wall: Second Chance Mosaics
Capital Times “Carrie Scherpelz's mosaics are more than the sum of their parts.
Whimsical, colorful and petite, these "mosaic sketches," as she calls them,
double as mirrors, just big enough to check your lipstick. The mirror adds
sparkle, she said, and a touch of utility.”
Arts and Creativity in Education
Lessons Learned
From the Ad Age/Creativity Idea Conference
What to Take Away From Some of the Top Creative Minds Out There Today
AdAge NEW YORK – “The fourth-annual Advertising Age/Creativity Idea
Conference, held at concert venue Terminal 5 in Manhattan on Nov. 12, drew
nearly 275 attendees listening to a colorful lineup of speakers ranging from
a rap star to successful restaurateur to senior curator at the world-famous
Museum of Modern Art. Here are 10 practical takeaways from their inspiring
journeys into the business of creativity.“
Honing talent in classrooms of color - The School of the Arts Singapore
(SOTA), has shown how the country is moving toward a point where arts are
placed on the same footing as other disciplines.
The Jakarta Post “To dedicate one’s life to art is often seen to dedicate one’s life to
disappointment and suffering. Public recognition is a rarity, so a true
artist is often not without a sense of burden. Perhaps, that’s why we can
still find many parents shaking their heads in disagreement when their
children express a desire to study arts. Most of them – if not all – tend to
want their children to study more “serious” subjects such as science and
mathematics, something that seems to offer a brighter future. But in finding
out why Singapore opened its first national pre-tertiary arts school more
than a year ago, we glean some insights into how arts can actually
contribute to a multicultural society in the modern world.”
Community Arts
Woman starts making jewelry while in pain, confined to bed
Racine Journal Times STURTEVANT – “Twelve months ago, Kate Harms was bedridden, with searing
sciatic nerve pain up and down one leg. Two months later, she was in the
same situation but beginning to string beads together to make earrings,
bracelets, necklaces and other jewelry.”
Boggs'
artwork encompassed war and peace - He was a combat artist, muralist and
professor
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel “Franklin Boggs went to war armed with more than a rifle. One of a small
group of combat artists, Boggs sketched and painted scenes of Army medical
corps personnel at work in the South Pacific during World War II. He went on
to earn an international reputation as a muralist, in part for his
innovations in large-scale concrete projects. Boggs became
artist-in-residence at Beloit College in 1945, working to develop the
college's art department and as an art professor for more than 30 years.”
Literary
Are Women Better Writers Than Men?
Fast Company “George Eliot. Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell (Charlotte, Emily and Anne
Bronte). It has been more than a century since the likes of Mary Ann Evans
and the Bronte sisters have had to disguise their gender in order to be
considered worthy of a place in the literary firmament. But are they worthy?
Apparently not. A little more than a decade ago, an unknown author decided
with her publisher that in order for her novel about a young wizard to sell
to middle-school boys, she’d go by the more ambiguous J.K. Rowling. Just
this week, the debate reached a boiling point when Publisher’s Weekly (PW)
announced their top 100 picks for 2009 -- and not one of the top 10 was
penned by a woman.”
Spotlight: Battle of
the Bulge vet publishes book
Baraboo News Republic “William Wenzel was eating at the Rathskeller at Memorial Union the day
the world — and the course of his life — changed forever. The University of
Wisconsin-Madison freshman was enjoying breakfast Dec. 7, 1941 when an
announcement interrupted the morning music and his meal: Japan had attacked
Pearl Harbor.”
Media Arts
About Half in U.S. Would Pay for Online News, Study Finds
New York Times “Americans, it turns out, are less willing than people in many other
Western countries to pay for their online news, according to a new study by
the Boston Consulting Group. Among regular Internet users in the United
States, 48 percent said in the survey, conducted in October, that they would
pay to read news online, including on mobile devices. That result tied with
Britain for the lowest figure among nine countries where Boston Consulting
commissioned surveys. In several Western European countries, more than 60
percent said they would pay.”
The screen is smaller; my focus is wider
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel “I once wrote that Milwaukee was as much a part of me as the Schlitz
that runs through my veins and the polkas that run through my head. Well,
Schlitz is back, and so am I. When I started writing about television and
radio at the Milwaukee Sentinel, I read Milwaukee Journal TV columnist Mike
Drew to figure out how it was done. Now I will revive that skill set in a
radically different media world.”
Hollywood Gets Honest at Governors Awards
New York Times “The first annual Governors Awards banquet, created to bestow
career-oriented Oscars on the worthy without taking up time on the annual
awards broadcast, was loving, lustrous and long. Held in a giant banquet
room near the Kodak Theater, where the regular Oscars will be handed out in
March, honorary and career awards on Saturday night went to Lauren Bacall,
Roger Corman, Gordon Willis and John Calley in a ceremony that clocked in at
3 hours and 18 minutes.”
Performing Arts
Dance
Lord of the danceSimon Callow on the great impresario Sergey Diaghilev of
the Ballets Russes
The Guardian “In the theatre, there is a distinction to be made between an impresario
and a producer. Sergey Diaghilev was both. He produced the work – that is to
say, he raised the money, hired the artists and the craftsmen and ensured
that the show opened on time – and he did all this superbly. But what has
made him legendary is that he also created the conditions in which the work
was initiated, he prepared the public for it, and he made sure that when it
was done, it was the cynosure of the artistic world. This is the work of the
impresario, who must be part huckster, part rallier of the troops, part goad
and tormentor of his artists, part keeper of their artistic conscience, part
networker. He needs to be absolutely in tune with the public and always
ahead of it, and to create a perpetual excitement around the work. He must
be a huge personality, but he is never the creator of the work itself.”
Music
Sir James Galway goes for laughs with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra
The Isthmus “For its 50th anniversary concert, Saturday night in Overture Center's
Capitol Theater, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra presented three works of
the twentieth century, and one not. Aaron Copland's rarely heard "Three
Latin American Sketches" (1959) are rather less coherent than his well-known
"El salón Mexico" (1932-36), but they show the composer again assimilating
Latin dance rhythms while still sounding quintessentially like himself.
Music director Andrew Sewell's band was rhythmically precise, though just a
tad rough at moments.”
Copyright Time Bomb Set to Disrupt Music, Publishing Industries
Wired “The late ’70s, when punk exploded and disco imploded, were tumultuous
years for the music industry. A time bomb embedded in legislation from that
era, the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, could bring another round of tumult to
the business, due to provisions that allow authors or their heirs to
terminate copyright grants — or at the very least renegotiate much sweeter
deals by threatening to do so. At a time when record labels and, to a lesser
extent, music publishers, find themselves in the midst of an unprecedented
contraction, the last thing they need is to start losing valuable copyrights
to ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s music, much of which still sells as well or
better than more recently released fare. Nonetheless, the wheels are already
in motion.”
Frozen in their tracks - When a live show copies the album song-for-song,
why not stay home?
Washington Post “With fans clutching their ticket dollars ever more tightly, touring
artists have resorted to bringing the people what they want. Exactly what
they want. In order. They're hitting the road, playing their most beloved
albums from start to finish, track by beloved track. (Doors open at 8, band
goes on at 10, your favorite song arrives at 10:27. Plan accordingly.) Bruce
Springsteen, Public Enemy and Van Morrison are just a few of the acts who've
recently embraced the idea -- one that's penetrated both indie rock enclaves
and vast swaths of the boomerverse with a quickness that rivals swine flu.
Now, with the likes of Devo, Steely Dan and the Pixies playing their
classics on various Washington stages this month, buying a concert ticket
feels more like pressing "play." But can we please press "stop"?”
Theater
Darker days ahead for ‘Peanuts’ gang - Production from Bartell Theatre
explores high school lives of comic strip characters
Badger Herald “A disclaimer to Peanuts fans young and old: This is not your cute and
innocent comic strip come to life. Rather, it’s a hilariously demented story
of tragic youth and all that it entails. Be prepared to see Charlie Brown
and his motley crew in a whole new light and living in a world marked by
hormones, confusion and substance abuse: high school.”
Other
New Web Services Turn Ticket Buying Into a Social Occasion
New York Times “Nothing in the concert industry has evolved more significantly than how
people buy tickets, from the days of walk-up box offices to Ticketmaster’s
network of call centers to the almost entirely Internet-based technology of
today, in which seats by the thousands can disappear in an instant.”
VIDEO OF THE DAY
Pop-up artists' galleries fill empty storefronts in Brooklyn
In the midst of the recession, a streetscape dotted with empty storefronts has
become a common sight, but in New York, some retail landlords are filling their
vacant storefronts with artists' galleries. These "pop-up galleries" are a
win-win, and they are cropping up all over Brooklyn, MSNBC reported. Artists
like Rinaldo, who is using a former Hallmark store space at 395 Flatbush Avenue
to display his colorful portraits, get a unique opportunity to showcase their
work in high-traffic retail areas. At the same time, landlords might earn some
income, and a storefront that would otherwise be an eyesore becomes a cool new
spot for community members.
WAB Wisconsin Arts News is a free service of the Wisconsin Arts Board, the state agency responsible for the support and development of the arts in Wisconsin. These articles are from a variety of
sources and, therefore, do not necessarily reflect the views of the Arts Board.
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