MEXICO CITY — As the US economy has picked up steam in the last few years, falling oil prices and a stronger dollar have left the peso floundering.
arts funding
On Track to Privatize 400 Jobs, National Gallery Outsources Management of Museum Wing [UPDATED]
On Monday, the National Gallery of London transferred security services for its Sainsbury Wing over to the private security company CIS. The move is the latest in a bitter dispute over the privatization of a huge number of jobs at the museum: 400 of 600 positions, or two-thirds of the museum’s entire staff.
California Governor’s Proposed Budget Would Halve Arts Funding
After a landmark year in California’s state funding for the arts that saw support for the California Arts Council’s boosted by $5 million, Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed state budget for 2015–16 allocates just $1.1 million to the organization.
Deaccessioning Crisis Has UK Museums Group Contemplating Stricter Guidelines
The Museums Association, the largest professional membership organization for UK museums and their workers, is planning to revise its ethical guidelines in the hopes of dissuading institutions around the country from selling off works in their collections, the Independent reported.
Patrimony Acrimony: Italy Turns to Private Funding for Restoration
Here in the United States, our cultural heritage is something we care about, but funding it is another story. In Italy, it’s long been the case idea that the government mostly pays to maintain cultural heritage, but as the state continues to struggle financially, officials are turning more and more to private funding — “to some dismay,” the New York Times reports.
Artists Still Not Getting Paid (But at Least We’re Starting to Talk About It)
A campaign in the United Kingdom called Paying Artists released a report with a series of recommendations for getting artists paid, an urgency they claim based on their finding that “71% of artists exhibiting in publicly-funded galleries received no fee for their work.”
Australian Government Cuts Over $100M from Arts and Culture
Australia’s conservative government will nearly halve its budget deficit in the coming fiscal year, in the process eliminating more than AUS$100 million (US$93.6 million) in funding for arts and culture programs, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Major Arts Funding Organization Leaves LA for Chicago
CHICAGO — United States Artists (USA), the arts funding organization founded in 2005, made two announcements on April 2: the appointment of a new CEO, and the impending relocation of the headquarters from Los Angeles to Chicago.
National Endowment for the Arts Skirts Budget Slash in Appropriations Bill
The National Endowment for the Arts is slated to receive a budget of $146.02 million per the 2014 Omnibus Appropriations bill released by Congress late yesterday. The figure is down from the Obama administration’s proposed $154.47 million and roughly on par with 2013’s allocation of $146.26 million.
Where’s the Money? US Arts and Culture Economy By the Numbers
An unprecedented survey of the role of the arts in the larger economy, last week’s breakdown of the GDP contribution of America’s creative industries in 2011 is illuminating and depressing, if not entirely surprising in its conclusions.
House Committee Seeks to Gut the NEA
In April, President Obama proposed his 2014 fiscal year budget, which, happily for us culture lovers, includes increases of some $15 million each for the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities. But Obama’s proposal was just the first step in a long, winding budget process, and now the Republicans have spoken: they want to slash the NEA and NEH budgets in half.
Worker Strike Disrupts UK Museums
A widespread worker strike across the UK has delayed openings and shut down galleries at dozens of major museums across the country. The series of three daylong strikes happening yesterday, today, and Sunday are part of a larger action coordinated by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) against cuts to pay, pensions, and job conditions.