25 Fellows Chosen for the Third NEA Arts Journalism Institute
in Classical Music and Opera at
Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism By Andras Szanto

The Da Vinci Coda As The Da Vinci Code movies falls off movie screens, a blockbuster that failed to meet expectations, and the book on which it's based also ends a long run on the bset-seller lists, Jack Miles has some reflections on a cultural phenomenon and what it says about our times... By Jack Miles

Marketplace of Ideas: But First, The Bill
Do we get the culture we deserve? William Osborne takes a look at the way America and Europe promote their cultures. There is, he reports an obvious reason why Europe has more orchestras, operas, and dance companies and why the citizenry seem more culturally literate. By William Osborne

ArtsJournal As An Idea Addictions can be good or bad, writes John Rockwell. But "certainly the presence of a Web site called ArtsJournal.com has added something important to cultural discourse..." The New York Times 07/09/03 By John Rockwell

Why Classical Music Has Fallen Off The Cultural Literacy Menu What do you need to know to be considered culturally literate these days? Certainly a knowledge of current movies, an idea of what books are hot this season, maybe a passing interest in what’s wowing Broadway and an awareness of the latest blockbuster show to hit the local museum. But where once classical music was a core art, it is now no longer essential, one of those things educated people believe they ought to know something about in order to be considered educated. By Douglas McLennan

Why Invest In Arts? Because Of "We The People" California legislators are deciding whether to eliminate the California Arts Council. The state has a huge budget deficit, but doesn't the state have a compelling interest in investing in culture, too? "Not as a matter of deciding what pictures get painted, not as a matter of supporting this or that artist, but as a matter of promoting excellence, the 'common wealth.' We certainly pay enough lip service to these ideals..." By Douglas McLennan

Why Government Is Bailing Out Of The Arts In America state governments are getting out of the arts business. State after state is slashing arts funding. Why now? ArtsJournal editor Douglas McLennan suggests that in trying to recover from the culture wars of the early 1990s, arts leaders may have unintentionally pursued an endgame strategy. "As the current arts-funding crisis suggests—the survival strategy might have topped itself out and ultimately killed public arts funding." By Douglas McLennan

The Top Five Arts Stories Of 2002 It was a year of money concerns, safe art, and battles over control of creativity. Here are the themes that ran through many of 2002's arts stories... By Douglas McLennan

Better Living Through Art: Russia's economy is in shambles, and its social system is controlled by criminals; some are proclaiming that Russia is finished as a force in the world. Russian art, on the other hand, after a difficult decade, seems to be doing better and better. Can Russia-the-country learn some lessons from Russia-the-art? By Jack Miles and Douglas McLennan

Part II - In-Country, The Battle for National Cultures Canadian support for their own culture may seem impressive from the outside, but take away the loaded deck and what's left? Are cultural subsidies the only way to preserve national cultures? By Jack Miles & Douglas McLennan

Global Crossing, Part One: The Movies Countries around the world struggle to shore up their local cultures in the face of pervasive and seductive American popular culture. Are Americans the bad guys? By Jack Miles & Douglas McLennan

Digital Goes Critical Some critics say there's no such thing as digital art. Some museums and curators say different. Now that digital has hit the Whitney and SFMOMA, can artworld credibility be far behind? By Jack Miles & Douglas McLennan

Hollywood In The Balance What if TV and movie writers go out on strike and no one notices? Fact is - no one will. If last summer's Screen Actors Guild strike was any indication, viewers aren't likely to care - or even notice - if movie writers go out on strike next month. Nothing against writers, but movies are about a lot more than the script. By Jack Miles & Douglas McLennan

The Dance Problem
Archaeologists suggest that dance may be the oldest art form. But of all the major arts, dance seems to struggle the most to survive. Is it somehow a lesser art? By Jack Miles & Douglas McLennan

The Politics Of Saving Art The urge to conserve works of art is powerful (witness worldwide outcries over the Taliban's destruction of art). But increasingly the question has to be asked: Conserve what? And for what? Conservation often has more to do with the present than the past. By Jack Miles & Douglas McLennan

Thankless Jobs Who wants to head up an arts organization these days? Really. Do it poorly and the world dissects your mistakes. Do it well and it can be even worse. By Jack Miles & Douglas McLennan

Silencing The Great Violins Violins aren't just musical instruments, they're also - unfortunately for musicians - art. Increasingly, only banks and investors can afford to own them. Are musicians just out of luck? By Jack Miles & Douglas McLennan

The Thundering Herd The fiberglass art animals are taking over. From a humble exhibit on the streets of Zurich in 1999, the artist-decorated Animals-on-Parade concept has swept the US. Why? Some say it's because the public has fallen in love with them. Others contend it's for the money (Chicago raised $3 million selling its cows) But maybe someone should take a hard look at the Swiss. They may appear harmless, but... By Jack Miles & Douglas McLennan

The Most Dangerous Religion (Hint: It's Not Islam) The world has watched in horror as Afghani fundamentalists willfully destroyed cultural treasures. But destruction of art is only a piece of a larger cultural battle going on here. Is international cultural conflict replacing political Cold War conflict?
By Jack Miles & Douglas McLennan

Biting Back At Toothless Critics Why the thumbs up/down review has damaged critics' power to set agendas. By Jack Miles & Douglas McLennan

Why E-publishing is a Revolution in Slow Motion For some time now e-publishing has been the hype and hope of the publishing industry. But lately the revolution has seemed to sputter. Is it because the technology isn't there yet or is it the way publishing's power structure is set up? By Jack Miles & Douglas McLennan

The Essential Napster Wondering about the fuss over Napster? Check out ArtsJournal's annotated primer on the subject. It should surprise no one that the issue is neither about the sacred principle of intellectual property rights nor about the need for fair compensation to artists. It’s about who gets to keep the profits of a lucrative worldwide multi-billion-dollar business. By Jack Miles & Douglas McLennan

A Cure for Blockbusteritis? If museums get tangled up in themselves chasing the next blockbuster show, maybe a New World Order for museums is called for. Maybe something French perhaps? By Name Withheld By Request

Is Classical Music Dying? For some time now, the classical music press has been holding a virtual deathwatch. But what does the evidence really say? By Jack Miles & Douglas McLennan

Taste or Money? Museums seem more and more obsessed by the blockbuster show, the need to program "event" exhibitions designed to pull in the crowds to prove their success. It's long been a question whether such shows serve art. But do they even serve the institutions themselves? By Jack Miles & Douglas McLennan