Arts Threatened With "Plan C"
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Artswatch
Arts Threatened With "Plan C"
Peter Dobrin, Inquirer Classical Music Critic
City Funding to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Atwater Kent and African American Museum will be cut off if the City of Philadelphia adopts its so-called Plan C in response to the budget-process delay in Harrisburg. Funding would end Oct. 2, arts czar Gary Steuer wrote in a letter released by his office yesterday.
His own agency, the Office of Art, Culture and the Creative economy, would close altogether at the end of the day Oct. 2, presumably until funding is restored.
The Philadelphia Culture Fund, Mural Arts Program and Public Art Office would also be shuttered.
Art in City Hall would cease, which, to judge by passersby responses to the large sculptures pictured here, would be a loss. Everytime I've passed through City Hall courtyard in the past week or so I've seen giggling groups taking their photos in front of Jun Kaneko's Heads. With the arrival of bold new inhabitants, the vibrancy of this space has grown ten-fold. That's one thing art can do.
Thanks for the positive note about Art In City Hall, however, Kaneko's pieces were a joint effort between the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (which includes AICH) and the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the PMA, the Kimmel Center and Locks Gallery. Gary Steuer should be credited for having two of the "Dangos" in the courtyard, with logistical assistance from Margot Berg, the Public Art Director. We are all supportive of one another. Also, even though Plan C will be incredibly devastating to the Mural Arts Program, MAP is only partly funded by the city and will not likely shut its doors, thank goodness. Still, the reality of the situation paints a very grim picture for all our programs, and arts organizations large and small throughout our beloved city. Tu Huynh - Art In City Hall www.phila.gov/artincityhall— kaleotu
Peter Dobrin is a classical music critic and culture writer for The Inquirer. Since 1989, he has written music reviews, features, news and commentary for the paper, covering such topics as the Philadelphia Museum of Art at the Venice Biennale, expansion of the Curtis Institute of Music, the Philadelphia Orchestra's bankruptcy declaration in 2011, Philadelphia's evolving performing arts center and the general health of arts and culture.
Dobrin was a French horn player. He earned an undergraduate degree in performance from the University of Miami, and received a master's degree in music criticism from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where he studied with Elliott Galkin. He has no time to practice today.
