Timely Culture Reporting and Arts Industry News

Funds Sought to Continue Restoration at Ellis Island
The New York Times - April 6, 2010
By Robin Pogrebin

Save Ellis Island, a nonprofit charged with restoring that historic immigrant gateway to America, may not be able to save itself. The group has run out of money. "We're not able to keep it going a whole lot longer," its president, Judith R. McAlpin, said in an interview. She added that the group, which recently posted an "urgent appeal" for donations on its Web site (www.saveellisisland.org/site/PageServer), needs to raise about $500,000 in the next few weeks if it is to survive. If it does not, Save Ellis Island will have to return $512,000 in grants that it has already received to restore 30 buildings and repurpose them for public benefit, Ms. McAlpin said, and work on current projects will be suspended. For the full article, click here

Powerhouse Gallery Is Splitting Apart
The New York Times - April 1, 2010
By Carol Vogel

Seventeen years after a merger made it a powerhouse gallery, PaceWildenstein is splitting and returning to the original brands. "There was no logic in keeping it going," said Arne Glimcher, chairman of Pace, which was partnered with Wildenstein & Company. "We are not exchanging clients in the way we once were."But in 1993, when the venture began, it seemed like an ideal way to offer collectors one-stop shopping. Pace specializes in modern and contemporary art, representing an all-star cast that includes Robert Rauschenberg, David Hockney, Chuck Close and Agnes Martin. Wildenstein is an international gallery known for its inventory of old master, Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings: Michelangelo and Monet. For the full article, click here

Global Arts & Culture News

Iraqi Artists Denied Entry to Britain for Their Own Exhibition
The Independent - April 3, 2010
By Arifa Akbar

Visas refused on grounds that applicants could not provide bank statements

It was to be Britain's first comprehensive exhibition of contemporary art from Iraq since the first Gulf War, with a guest list including the Iraqi ambassador, the Foreign Secretary David Miliband MP and five of the war-torn country's most promising artists flown over for the occasion.

So it was dismaying for all parties to learn, less than a month before "Contemporary Art Iraq" was to open at Manchester's Cornerhouse Art Gallery, that the UK Border Agency had denied all five artists entry into the country. For the full article, click here