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IN THIS EDITION OF APe-mail News from the Nationals : by Catherine Rose Coming up in ArtsProfessional issue 25 Jobs...jobs...jobs...jobs. Tell your friends about us See a copy of ArtsProfessional NEWS FROM THE NATIONALS By Catherine Rose (aka The APe) Sound and fury I have got a major problem this week. I really, really do not want to write about Adrian Noble. Unfortunately, everyone else does. Acres of column-inches, literally pages, are given over to his decision to quit the RSC. Yet the most significant comments come not from the arts correspondents and theatre critics, wheeled out to pontificate on the state of the about-to-be-renamed OTCTMITWIS (the Only Theatre Company That Matters In The World In Space). "Why don't we just have the Globe instead?" suggests one letter-writer, impressed by the energy and commitment of the fledgling Southwark-based theatre. Why on earth did the RSC leave the Barbican? asks a columnist, pointing out that the company has erased itself at one fell swoop from the must-see list of the majority of tourists to London, who now don't know where to find it. Of course the RSC is important - though Richard Morrison of the Times makes quite a good argument for saying that it isn't. The reason it is important is not only to do with art but with the fact that Shakespeare is one of the few manifestations of Britishness, and especially of Englishness, that many of us can still bear to feel patriotic about. The emerging theory that sweet Will was a gay transvestite keen to please a series of royal patrons only reinforces how very English he is - a sort of 17th century Lily Savage at the London Palladium, only with more blood and politics. But we should take a step back here and examine all the artistic eggs crammed so hard into the one half-timbered basket of Stratford-upon Avon that they're in danger of cracking. The literary legacy that enables me to mix my metaphors with such impunity pours out quite readily elsewhere in the country. In a culture where the revered Little Angel puppet theatre may be about to close through lack of cash, we need to re-assess what we're spending our money on, and why. Give those eggs a bit of room, and they might even hatch into something both interesting and sustainable. http://www.telegraph.co.uk http://www.ft.com/home/uk http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/guardian/ http://www.independent.co.uk http://www.thetimes.co.uk This week's categories: PART 1 : SCANDALS AND ROWS (More shock horror taking up loads of space) - items 1-3 PART 2 : ARTS NEWS (Some actual art as an antidote to the above) - items 4-7 PART 3 : PUPPET THEATRE NEWS (Pulling the strings of fate) - items 8-9 PART 4 : INSTRUMENTAL NEWS (Music hardware feature) - items 10-14 PART 5 : LITERATURE NEWS (Books, Bookers and Bookpersons) - items 15-19 PART 6 : MARKETING NEWS (Youth, sex and money) - items 20-23 PART 7 : OBITUARIES Abbreviations : DT - Daily Telegraph; FT- Financial Times; G - Guardian; Ind - Independent; T - Times; Ed - Education; Rev - Review; W/e - Weekend PART 1 : SCANDALS AND ROWS 1. Eclipsing Black talent The Arts Council's report into combating racism (covered extensively in the most recent issue Arts Professional) is discussed at some length, illustrating the lack of representation of Black and Asian people on the staffs and on the stages of British theatre. The T focuses on the possibility of quotas for ethnic minority employees, while the Ind brings out their big guns: Alibhai-Brown at her most scathing. G p6 19.4.02 - Ind p5 19.4.02 & p13 22.4.02 - T p1 19.4.02 & p25 27.4.02 (letters). 2. Tennant clings on to his lease Sir Anthony Tennant, chairman of the Royal Academy of Arts, is being urged to resign immediately after being charged by US courts with a civil offence in connection with an international auction house price-fixing scandal. Sir Anthony, who denies the charge but refuses to go to the US to face trial, has offered to step down when a successor is found, but the Royal Academicians (the artists who govern the RA) want him to go now. FT p2 26.4.02 - T p7 24.4.02 & p11 29.4.02 3. O! what a Noble mind is here o'erthrown! For a story to merit almost the entire page 3 spread in the DT, G, Ind and T, and even to appear in the leader column of the austere FT, it has to pretty big. Adrian Noble, following his success as director of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in the West End, and in the face of a barrage of discontent, criticism and downright hostility, has announced that he will leave the RSC next March. Attacks from the greatest thespians (Dame Judi) to the least (the Prince of Wales) have finally persuaded him that his "revolution" (his own word for the plans to demolish the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre and replace it with a theatre village) seems likely to be a damp squib. Comment ranges from the ill-informed (Adrian Hamilton in the Ind) to the accurate but vitriolic (Richard Morrison in the T) to the calmly and blessedly impersonal (the FT). The most interesting articles are the FT's leader on 26th, discussing the role of public subsidy in the arts, and Anthony Thorncroft's article on the same day fingering possible successors - Jude Kelly? Kenneth Branagh? No doubt the bookies will be revving up. Articles in chronological order, since there are so many: 25.4.02: DT p3 - FT p4 - G p3 - Ind p3 - T pp1 & 3 26.4.02: DT p27 (letters) - FT pp 5 & 18 (leader) - Ind p19 - T2 pp1-3 27.4.02: DT p23 (letters) - T p25 (letters) PART 2 : ARTS NEWS 4. 100% Proof On a lighter note, Gwyneth Paltrow and Matt Damon are the Hollywood hubba-hubba in the news. Ms P is to star in Proof in a fortnight's time at the Donmar, while Mr D has taken over the role of Dennis in the acclaimed 'This is Our Youth' at the Garrick, co-starring with Casey Affleck and Summer Phoenix. DT p7 26.4.02 5. More pix of Picasso's chest No photo archive would be complete without a semi-naked Pablo and the newly-opened Tate archive does not disappoint. Papers, books, sketch-books, photos and even Sickert's overalls are lovingly preserved for public view on Millbank. G p7 24.4.02 6. Proms reprise The 2002 Proms season has been announced, with an emphasis on the return of the traditional Last Night programme in the wake of last year's September 11th tribute. DT p6 26.4.02 - G p11 26.4.02 - Ind p6 26.4.02 - T p9 26.4.02 7. North-eastern promise A Regional Laureate is to be appointed for north-east England, proposed by the Campaign for a North East Assembly. It is a one-year post, open to any type of artist based in the north east, who would have to produce art-works in response to north-eastern events. FT p6 19.4.02 PART 3 : PUPPET THEATRE NEWS 8. Little Angel's wings are clipped The oldest puppet theatre in Britain, the Little Angel in Islington, will go dark next week and may close forever due to accumulating debts and removal of support from Islington Council. The world-famous theatre is less valued in its own country, though it has trained generations of puppeteers including alumni of Spitting Image and the Muppets. G p9 18.4.02 9. But it could be worse The three-week occupation of Ramallah by Israeli soldiers seeking Palestinian terrorists has resulted in the destruction of several organisations, including banks, schools and a puppet theatre. Puppeteer Nideal al-Khatib, who usually tours his work in schools, found his theatre occupied and scenery and puppets destroyed or stolen. G p13 26.4.02 PART 4 : INSTRUMENTAL NEWS 10. Gender bias can limit music study Researchers at Washington university have revealed a reversible bias towards certain instruments among schoolchildren - boys choosing the loud, macho, shiny things and girls going for delicacy and grace until someone points out that female trumpeters and male flautists are not an impossibility. DT p11 20.4.02 11. Ring Tone Cycle Composer Simon Turner and writer Michael Moore plan an interactive symphony at the Cheltenham Music Festival using the ring-tones from the mobile phones of 30 audience members. No doubt it will be very engaging. T p13 22.4.02 12. Impressive organs John Mander, chairman of the family organ-building firm, Mander Organs, has won a Queen's Award for Export. DT p24 22.4.02 13. Top brass Pulse reflectometry is not exactly an everyday activity, but it is set to improve the phrasing and indeed the tone of brass instruments being made by Smith-Watkins brass. A measuring technique pioneered in partnership with the Open and Edinburgh Universities will improve brass-instrument manufacture by ironing out defects in the inner profile of the metal tubes of which they are made. The APe, a horn-player, could get very boring about this, but considerately desists. FT p14 25.4.02 14. Boosey's Close to a deal? An update on the instruments business sale - Boosey and Hawkes is now considering an indicative bid from Close Brothers. Bids for the publishing arm are from David Hockman with HgCapital and Music Sales. FT p25 29.4.02 PART 5 : LITERATURE NEWS 15. Pictures of Childhood The North Wales School of Art and Design has opened the very first degree course for children's book illustrators, in response to publishers' worries about the overly-conceptual nature of current art training, which makes artists unsuitable for the needs of the book trade. G Education (Higher) p14 16.4.02 16. Retiring poet is based on Rock The 69-year-old poet Anne Stevenson has become the first winner of the 60,000 Northern Rock Foundation Writer Award. Based in Newcastle, might she be a contender for the Laureateship (see above)? Ind p5 18.4.02 17. Bibliophilia heals Bibliotherapy is helping to tackle health problems in libraries in Kirklees, West Yorkshire through guided reading groups intended to tackle depression, anxiety and stress. The Reading and You (RAY) scheme is receiving widespread praise for its results, working though one-to-one and group sessions. G Society p8 24.4.02 18. APe's indulgence A wonderful profile of the APe's favourite writer, Ursula K. Le Guin, cannot go un-mentioned. It's the APe's perk to recommend this insufficiently-known sci-fi writer/philosopher /children's novelist/marvel in human form, who wrote a series of books about a boy who goes to a School for Wizards when J K Rowling was at primary school. T2 p16 24.4.02 19. Booker expands The Booker prize, having gained a new sponsor in the shape of the Man Group (investment fund provider) soars in value to 50,000 (from 20,000) and may expand its brief to include American fiction by 2004. FT p2 26.4.02 - G p8 26.4.02 - Ind p6 26.4.02 - T p9 26.4.02 PART 6 : MARKETING NEWS 20. More young bums on seats Continuing the theme of the last two issues, the National Theatre's policy of trying to attract a younger audience receives more welcome and intelligent coverage. DT p17 23.4.02 & p21 24.4.02 21. Lady vultures identified Culture vultures are predominantly well-off, single or divorced, university-educated females from a range of ethnic backgrounds. This information is an unexpected spin-off from the Time Use survey, originally intended to assess how much housework gets done by whom. Ind p5 25.4.02 22. Camelot relaunches Of interest to those worried by a possible fall in arts funding due to the diminishing number of people gambling their hard-earned cash will be Camelot 's attempts to ginger up the draw. More next issue. FT p2 27.4.02 23. Wet T-shirt alert Sir Thomas Allen has spoken out against the babe-culture currently invading classical music with the likes of Bond (an all-women string quartet), Russell Watson and the Mediaeval Baebes gaining the column inches at the expense of more lasting talents. He also attacks "pathetic" orchestral programming, saying "how many times can you programme Beethoven's Fifth?". Stephen Pollard adds a thoughtful comment about the dubious marketing value of the easy-listening, easy-on-the-eye brigade. Ind p3 29.4.2 PART 7 : OBITUARIES John Buscema, illustrator: G p18 17.4.02 Rudolf Baumgartner, violinist and conductor: Ind p20 12.4.02 Alan Dale, singer: Ind p18 25.4.02 - T p40 27.4.02 Frank Edwards, folk musician: G p20 16.4.02 Mark Ermler, conductor: DT p21 22.4.02 - G p20 23.2.02 - T p49 18.4.02 Damon Knight, writer and editor: DT p25 20.4.02 - G p22 25.4.02 Cy Laurie, clarinettist: DT p21 23.4.02 - G p17 29.4.02 - Ind p18 23.4.02 - T p33 24.4.02 Francis Lemarque, singer: Ind p14 22.4.02 - T p40 27.4.02 Dorothy Love Coates, singer: Ind p18 16.4.02 Elyne Mitchell, writer: Ind p18 16.4.02 William Reed, composer: G p22 25.4.02 - Ind p14 18.4.02 - T p39 22.4.02 Jean-Paul Riopelle, painter: Ind p20 27.4.02 Barbara Robertson, Bath Music Festival organiser and fryer of dormice: DT p25 20.4.02 Henry Slesar, novelist and scriptwriter: Ind p18 24.4.02 Herbert Wernicke, opera designer and director: DT p 25 18.4.02 - G p24 20.4.02 - T p38 19.4.02 COMING UP IN ARTSPROFESSIONAL ISSUE 25 ArtsProfessional celebrates its first year of publication this issue. A big thank you to all readers and advertisers who have supported the publication, which we hope to continue to develop through our second year and beyond. SPECIAL FEATURE (held over from the last issue) : WHAT COMPANIES CAN LEARN FROM ARTS ORGANISATIONS Cranfield University's Professor J Hugh Davidson (author of the best-selling marketing text, 'Offensive Marketing'), has recently completed a two-year research study on how to make vision and values really work in organisations. He concludes that companies can learn a lot from arts organisations about creating strong commitment, motivating people, and giving substance to brand promises; but nonprofits still have much to learn from companies about professional management. CORPORATE ART COLLECTIONS Many artists have shied away from the corporate market in the past but for many it has represented an excellent opportunity to sell and develop their work. Peter Harris, Chairman of Art for Offices, outlines some recent research findings on corporate art collections in the UK and describes the role of the art collection held by GlaxoSmithKline. Plus case studies by Miriam Lea about Dundee Contemporary Arts' advice on corporate art collecting, given as part of its corporate membership scheme; and Sue Cullen of Nottinghamshire County Council about the development of Experian's collection. EVALUATION In commercial organisations and even in other not-for-profit sectors, evaluation tends to be seen as part of a dynamic, on-going process; something that guides, influences, and even inspires. Why then is it seen as such a chore for the arts? The Cultural Policy and Management Group at De Montfort University consider why evaluation is misunderstood and how it can be an effective management tool for arts and cultural organisations. Plus case studies about the evaluation of education work by Jane Woddis of Big Brum Theatre in Education; and about the role of qualitative research in the formative evaluation of museum projects. Plus extensive coverage of the industry's news and job vacancies .. and as always CHANGING FACES : a round-up of the latest job moves and new appointments - if you are changing jobs or you've just appointed someone new - please tell us about it by sending an email to editors@artsprofessional.co.uk - send us a photo if you have one! To subscribe for your copy of ArtsProfessional - visit our website at http://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/ JOBS..JOBS..JOBS..JOBS..JOBS..JOBS..JOBS..JOBS.. Choose from around 50 posts currently advertised at http://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/ and listed below. More jobs are added to the site on a daily basis - usually within 30 minutes of confirmation from the advertiser. Arts Council of Wales - Advisers for the Arts in Wales - Closing date 3 May 2002 Artswork - Magazine Editor - Closing date 15 May 2002 Bedford Creative Arts - Director / Programme & Operations Manager / Media Arts Co-ordinator - Closing date 27 May 2002 Borough of Poole Cultural Services - Arts in the Community Officer / Arts Education Co-ordinator - Closing date 20 May 2002 Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal - Finance Manager / Administration Manager - Closing date 6 May 2002 Brodsky Quartet - Animateurs - No closing date given City of London Sinfonia - Marketing Manager / Education / Marketing Officer - Closing date 15 May 2002 Community, Heritage, Arts & Media Project (CHAMP), Barton on Humber - Co-ordinator - Closing date 17 May 2002 Corn Exchange Newbury - Community Partnership Manager - Closing date 3 May 2002 Dartington College of Arts - Creative Enterprise Fellow / Creative Business Account Manager - Closing date 7 May 2002 East England Arts Lifelong Learning, Regeneration and the Creative Economy - Consultancy - Closing date 3 May 2002 Eastern Orchestral Board - Researcher / Project Manager - Closing date 16 May 2002 East Midlands Arts - Arts Officers (Collaborative Arts) - Closing date 23 May 2002 Eden Arts Trust, Penrith - Director - Closing date 10 May 2002 Emergency Exit Arts, Greenwich - Marketing Manager - Closing date 22 May 2002 Fabric, Bradford - Director - Closing date 16 May 2002 Fillum Screen Agency, Guildford - Project Co-ordinator / Consultant - Closing date 27 May 2002 Helenswood School, East Sussex - Arts Administrator - Closing date 3 May 2002 Highland Festival - Invitation to Tender - Closing date 6 May 2002 Hull & East Riding Community Health - Invitation to Tender - Closing date 17 May 2002 Kadam Asian Dance & Music, Bedford - Marketing Manager (Maternity Cover) - Closing date 10 May 2002 Leicester Haymarket Theatre - Communications Director / Associate Director - Closing date 3 May 2002 The Lemon Tree - Consultants - Closing date 7 May 2002 Live and Local - Administrator / Fieldworker - Closing date 27 May 2002 London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, Department of Education, Arts & Libraries - Freelance Project / Training Co-ordinator - Closing date 22 May 2002 London Borough of Camden Leisure & Community Services - Arts & Heritage Officer - Closing date 24 May 2002 Mac - Finance & Administration Director / Operations Director - Closing date 9 May 2002 Margate Theatre Royal Trust - Administrator - Closing date 24 May 2002 MAX, Oxfordshire - Project Manager - No closing date given Millfield Theatre & Arts Centre, London - Finance & Administration Manager / Marketing & Development Manager / Press & Publicity Officer / Operations Manager / Administrator / Box Office Supervisor - Closing date 13 May 2002 National Network for Arts In Health - Administrator - Closing date 21 May 2002 National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain - Projects Officer - Closing date 3 May 2002 Pop-Up, London - Administrator - Closing date 17 May 2002 Rage Ensemble, Birmingham - Course Leader - No closing date given Sampad, Birmingham - Operations Manager / Programme Manager - Closing date 31 May 2002 Scottish Ballet - Head of Fundraising & Sponsorship - Closing date 27 May 2002 Solihull MBC Education, Libraries & Arts Department - Libraries & Arts Marketing Officer - Closing date 17 May 2002 South West Arts Board - Evaluator - Closing date 27 May 2002 Theatre-rites, London - Development Manager - Closing date 17 May 2002 Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds - Development Manager / Admin Support Officer - Closing dates 22 / 15 May 2002 Trinity Theatre and Arts Centre, Tunbridge Wells - Artistic Director / Development Manager - Closing date 17 May 2002 Don't forget that you can also visit the ArtsProfessional website at http://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/ and click on the job of your choice, or search the site. TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT US If you think any of your friends or colleagues would be interested in getting their own copy of APe-mail then forward this email to them. If this email has been forwarded to you by a kind and considerate friend or colleague, then to carry on receiving it regularly you will have to register, which is completely FREE OF CHARGE. Simply send an email to APe-mail@artsprofessional.co.uk with the words "register me" in the subject line. If you have any questions or comments then email us and we'll get back to you. If you wish to be removed from the APe-mail distribution list, simply email APe-mail@artsprofessional.co.uk with the words "delete me" in the subject line. SEE A COPY OF ArtsProfessional If you currently receive APe-mail, but don't get to see a copy of ArtsProfessional, then if you email us with your name / organisation (if any) / postal address / telephone / email details, with the words 'inspection copy' in the subject line, we'll arrange for you to be sent an inspection copy. e: editors@artsprofessional.co.uk APe-mail is a fortnightly email newsletter published by Arts Intelligence Ltd as an adjunct to ArtsProfessional magazine. It is written by Catherine Rose and co-edited by Liz Hill and Brian Whitehead. Copyright 2002 Arts Intelligence Ltd. |
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Tuesday, April 30, 2002 |
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