Across the Pond

And then we have Europe, where the arts are funded by the government, bold risks are taken, everyone prances about in lederhosen and wellie boots, and priorites are just as confused as anywhere else.

Take these two wildly disparate stories for example:

The Telegraph reports, on a list of the top 100 most powerful people in British culture, seven are in theatre, including the amazing Nicholas Hytner of the National Theatre who comes in at #1. The man who pioneered the 10-Pound ticket and championed bizarro productions by Katie Mitchell and Melly Still gets the #1 spot. The list is full of brave, risk-taking artists and arts managers - Tom Stoppard, Michael Grandage of the Donmar Warehouse, Damon Albarn of Blur/Gorrilaz/etc., Nicholas Serota of the Tate Modern. Even dear old Kevin Spacey! I find it particularly heartwarming to have Hytner at the top of the list, as he consistently demonstrates that he is all about the work, all about access, and not at all about commercialism or ego. Makes me wonder who might get that honor in the US. Peter Gelb? Martin Scorsese? Robert Redford?

Ok, that's encouraging, but don't get too excited: apparently the UK isn't the only place in Europe experiencing an arts funding crisis. In language eerily similar to reports on this fall's UK arts funding crisis comes this report from Prague, which goes into excruciating detail on the pitfalls of public funding. From the first paragraph of the article:

The relationship between Prague’s nonprofit arts organizations and City Hall has long been strained by a series of culture policy changes and grant delays. But the latest funding flare-up brought the situation to a fever pitch, and this week arts groups started a petition calling for policy revisions and the resignation of involved city officials.

Yikes. You've got to love Europe - extolling the virtues of their arts community in one paragraph, snatching their money away in the next. Oh well.

Along these lines, if you're not maxed-out on the shrill discourse surrounding the UK funding crisis, here's an interview with the new head of the English Arts Council. That man has his work cut out for him.