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Happy new year, y'all!
Things are in full swing around these parts, as we're rolling toward opening two shows in repertory at work, Tennessee Williams' Glass Menagerie and Lisa Kron's Well, plus our spring semester begins next week at UNC--my course this time around is dyeing, surface design, and ageing/distressing, so there'll be i'm sure a bunch of posts on those topics for the next few months, as well as some exciting hats on the docket with our season closer, Pride & Prejudice.
A brief post then, as i take a breather in the rep production calendar, to highlight a petition on an issue close to my heart and livelihood.
Back in November, musician and record producer Quincy Jones announced his intention to call upon President-elect Obama to create a new post, the Secretary of the Arts, to nurture, support, and safeguard the position of the arts in the US. Musician Jaime Austria, who plays the bass for the New York City Opera and the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra, took Mr. Jones' call to heart and created a petition for registering your support.
As of right now, the petition has 46,082 signatures and counting (when i signed it yesterday, it was around 41,000). So, you know, if you are so inclined, I encourage you to sign it as well. Ask anyone who works in the arts--endowments may be down and crumbling, and donors have less and less wealth to share, but actual patronage of theatre, concerts, dance, poetry readings, cultural performances, and so forth is rising. In times of trouble, people turn to the arts for comfort, escapism, catharsis, for a rallying of spirits, an excuse to crumble and cry, and a reason to throw back their heads in laughter.
(Well, they also turn to other things, like family, or God, or booze and crack rocks, but i'm just sayin.)
Things are in full swing around these parts, as we're rolling toward opening two shows in repertory at work, Tennessee Williams' Glass Menagerie and Lisa Kron's Well, plus our spring semester begins next week at UNC--my course this time around is dyeing, surface design, and ageing/distressing, so there'll be i'm sure a bunch of posts on those topics for the next few months, as well as some exciting hats on the docket with our season closer, Pride & Prejudice.
A brief post then, as i take a breather in the rep production calendar, to highlight a petition on an issue close to my heart and livelihood.
Back in November, musician and record producer Quincy Jones announced his intention to call upon President-elect Obama to create a new post, the Secretary of the Arts, to nurture, support, and safeguard the position of the arts in the US. Musician Jaime Austria, who plays the bass for the New York City Opera and the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra, took Mr. Jones' call to heart and created a petition for registering your support.
As of right now, the petition has 46,082 signatures and counting (when i signed it yesterday, it was around 41,000). So, you know, if you are so inclined, I encourage you to sign it as well. Ask anyone who works in the arts--endowments may be down and crumbling, and donors have less and less wealth to share, but actual patronage of theatre, concerts, dance, poetry readings, cultural performances, and so forth is rising. In times of trouble, people turn to the arts for comfort, escapism, catharsis, for a rallying of spirits, an excuse to crumble and cry, and a reason to throw back their heads in laughter.
(Well, they also turn to other things, like family, or God, or booze and crack rocks, but i'm just sayin.)
