State of the Arts

State of the Arts: July 16, 2012 Archive

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Why museums often shy from taking donated works

Posted at 9:56 AM on July 16, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Museums

Private art collectors in the United States possess close to 100,000 ancient Greek, Roman and related Classical objects. And yet most American museums, if offered those items as gifts, would turn them down.

krater.jpg
This Athenian Red-figure Volute Krater was acquired by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in 1983, but later found likely to have been illegally excavated. The MIA has since returned the item to the Italian government, via Homeland Security.
Image courtesy the Minneapolis Institute of Arts

This conundrum was the subject of a recent piece in the New York Times, which included an interview with a Twin Cities collector.

In the three decades since David Dewey of Minneapolis began collecting Chinese antiquities he has donated dozens to favored museums, enriching the Institute of Arts in his hometown as well as Middlebury College in Vermont, where he studied Mandarin.

But his giving days are largely over, he said, pre-empted by guidelines that most museums now follow on what objects they can accept.

"They just won't take them -- can't take them," Mr. Dewey said.

...Mr. Dewey said in an interview that he contemplated giving the Minneapolis museum an eighth-century ceramic horse from the Tang dynasty that he had bought from a Hong Kong dealer 20 years ago. But he decided not to do it because even with the paperwork from the sale, he said, he knew he would run up against the museum directors' guidelines. "Everybody just got scared," he said of the museum world.

Here at MPR we've reported on the particular issues surrounding provenance, and how the Minneapolis Institute of Arts works to ensure it's not collecting items that were smuggled out of their original homes. And how sometimes it's been obliged to to return items that have been in its collection for years.

Interested in learning more? Check out these stories here and here.

SPCO contract negotiations continue... slowly

Posted at 3:55 PM on July 16, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Music

SPCO musician contract negotiations have been underway for seven months now, but opinions differ on what progress, is any, has been made.

spcoviolins.jpg
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra concertmaster Steven Copes, associate concertmaster Ruggero Allifranchini and principal cello Ronald Thomas.
Photo by Sarah Rubinstein

Dobson West, President and Chair of the SPCO Board of Directors, says the SPCO faces a challenging financial situation, and despite working aggressively to reduce expenses, the orchestra will have a $1 million deficit for 2012. According to a recent update by West, the board seeks to reduce the cost of the musicians' contract by $1.5 million but the latest round of talks, held on July 10 and 11, yielded little.

At the end of these meetings, it remained the Union's position that the size of the orchestra should remain at 34 musicians with pay, benefits and other compensation no less than they are today, and that the financial challenges faced by the SPCO should be solved through revenue increases. Clearly, this was not meaningful progress, although important issues received attention in our meetings.

In a phone conversation, West said he would not characterize the current situation as a stalemate. "There hasn't been any significant movement, but we have had a lot of good discussions, " he said.

Meanwhile Carole Mason Smith, Chair of the negotiating committee, says the musicians remain "hopeful and optimistic."

Progress is being made and we will continue to work with management to find meaningful solutions to maintaining the excellence of the SPCO. We have taken significant concessions over the past three years to help the organization, and we want to continue to explore new ways to generate sustainable revenue streams.

In the coming weeks board members will meet with major contributors to look at the potential for increased, sustainable revenue. Negotiations with musicians will continue on August 1 and 2. You can read the rest of West's update here.

The reviews are for ''The Sunshine Boys' at the Guthrie Theater

Posted at 3:35 PM on July 16, 2012 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Criticism, Theater

A play that draws its inspiration from Vaudeville is finding some new life at the Guthrie Theater.

Penned by the beloved Neil Simon, The Sunshine Boys premiered on Broadway in 1972, which is also the year in which the main characters - the one-time famous duo "Lewis and Clark" - are coerced to reunite for a TV comedy special.

The show stars two theatrical veterans, Peter Michael Goetz and Raye Birk; critics say while the jokes may be old, they still get the laughs.

SunshineBoys.jpg
Raye Birk (left) as Al Lewis and Peter Michael Goetz as Willie Clark in the Guthrie Theater's production of 'The Sunshine Boys' by Neil Simon.
Photo by Michael Brosilow

From Ellen Burkhardt at Minnesota Monthly:

Although I'll be the first to say the phrase "dream team" is cliché in most respects, it definitely applies to this acting duo. Birk's quiet humor forms the foundation upon which Goetz's showy, look-at-me antics thrive, and the men are able to read each other as if they've worked together every day of their 50-plus-year careers...

As a whole, every element of The Sunshine Boys is near perfect: the script is flawless, the casting is spot on, the set is beautiful. Give it time, and, like its lead actors, it will just keep getting better.

Sunshine2.jpg
Greta Oglesby (left) as Registered Nurse and Peter Michael Goetz as Willie Clark in the Guthrie Theater's production of 'The Sunshine Boys' by Neil Simon.
Photo by Michael Brosilow

From Dominic P. Papatola at the Pioneer Press:

Neil Simon's "The Sunshine Boys" premiered on Broadway 40 years ago, and its vaudeville-flavored humor -- telling the tale of two ancient, crotchety comedians thrust together for one last performance -- is even older than that. But the durable script still has plenty of life in it and, supported by the solid scaffolding of a strong production at the Guthrie Theater, its laughter endures...Despite its gray whiskers and old joints, the play moves along pretty well.

The Sunshine Boys runs through September 2 at the Guthrie Theater. Have you seen it? Share your review in the comments section.
Sunshineboys1.jpg
Raye Birk (left) as Al Lewis and Peter Michael Goetz as Willie Clark in the Guthrie Theater's production of 'The Sunshine Boys' by Neil Simon.
Photo by Michael Brosilow

From John Olive at HowWasTheShow.com:

Unfortunately, in my not-so-humble opinion, The Sunshine Boys is not a Simonian highpoint. It's extremely repetitive ("Uncle Willie, open up, it's Ben." "Is that you, Ben?" - ad nauseum). The play is often static and predictable; I found myself wearing a get-on-with-it scowl. And, most serious, I found myself unconvinced by the hostility of the two leads; it seemed a diminishment of the characters.

But maybe I'm wrong, and in any event, who cares: The Sunshine Boys provides a grand playground for Birk and Goetz and you are unlikely to encounter better actors anywhere.

The Sunshine Boys runs through September 2 at the Guthrie Theater. Have you seen it? Share your review in the comments section.

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