In the Arts: N.Y. Board Seats Still Big-Ticket Items; Theater Founder Dies

A seat on the board of New York’s most prestigious cultural institutions remains an expensive ticket, and the recession’s impact on arts organizations has increased pressure on trustees to give, reports The New York Times.

A price of a trusteeship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is $10-million, while the boards of the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Opera have a minimum threshold of $250,000, people involved in the process tell the newspaper. Those unable to give at that level are expected to raise significant funds or offer considerable artistic, legal, or other expertise.

In other arts, news, Craig Noel, the founding director of San Diego’s Old Globe theater, died on Saturday at age 94, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Mr. Noel joined the Old Globe in 1937 and established it as a pace-setting regional stage that won a Tony Award in 1984 and sent several dramatic productions to Broadway.

Also, The Plain Dealer details the financial struggles of the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, whose work is prominently featured in Martin Scorsese’s latest film, Shutter Island, but which has not performed live since last fall.

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