Monster Mash: Breaking arts news and headlines
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• ArtReview’s annual ranking of the art world elite has placed Damien Hirst’s company, Science, at the top of its list, making this the second time the British provocateur has won the coveted spot.
• Ten arts organizations -- including L.A.’s Center Theatre Group -- have received grants from a new project established to help cultural groups explore new business and funding methods. The $15.1-million initiative is a five-year pilot program created by Nonprofit Finance Fund and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
• Corporate art collections are likely to find their way to the auction block, as large financial institutions facing solvency problems look for ways to raise cash in a hurry. Lehman Bros. owns a 3,500-piece art collection, with works by artists like Jasper Johns and Andreas Gurky.
• The Pasadena Symphony has canceled two upcoming concerts while cutting its 2008-09 budget by $1 million in response to the global financial crisis. In recent weeks, the symphony’s investment portfolio has seen a drop from $8 million to $6.3 million.
• The defunct Theatre de la Jeune Lune in Minneapolis has reached an agreement to sell its building for an undisclosed amount that would cover its current debt of $1.2 million.
• Amsterdam-based architecture firm UN Studio is reportedly designing the $439.6-million Museum of Middle Eastern Modern Art in Dubai. The construction of the museum is scheduled to begin in eight months, with a completion date set for 2011.
• A stage adaptation of Melvin Van Peebles’ 1971 movie “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song” is currently in the works at New York’s Classical Theater of Harlem. A workshop of the play is scheduled for April 2009.
— David Ng
