In the Arts: Seattle Stage Needs $1-Million Infusion; $500,000 for Watts Landmark
February 14, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
Seattle’s Intiman Theatre faces closure unless it raises a $1-million in emergency funds over the next seven months, writes the Puget Sound Business Journal.
In a statement Friday, the head of the Intiman’s board said it “cannot continue” unless it secures $500,000 by the end of March, $250,000 by June, and $250,000 by September, over and above its planned 2011 fund-raising goal.
The statement attributed the organization’s precarious state to “financial and management missteps” under a previous managing director, who resigned in November.
In other arts news:
● The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has received a $500,000 grant from the James Irvine Foundation to support its new role as steward of the Watts Towers, the Los Angeles Times says.
The museum recently signed a deal with the city to take over conservation and promotion of the towers, a 100-foot-tall folk-art landmark built in the first half of the 20th century in Watts, a neighborhood now widely associated with urban blight.
● Technological advances are the next frontier of expansion for the Metropolitan Museum of Art under its director, Thomas P. Campbell, The New York Times writes.
In Mr. Campbell’s third year after replacing Philippe de Montebello, who became synonymous with the institution during his 31-year tenure, the museum is wiring its huge central building for Wi-Fi and created its first dedicated app to accompany a show on famous guitars.
● The Washington Post examines the art-world debate sparked by National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman’s comments at a forum last month that the country has “too many theaters” competing for a dwindling number of patrons.
