Arts, Culture & Humanities

September 14, 2009 — The New York Philharmonic will receive a $10 million gift from Henry R. Kravis in honor of his wife, Marie-Josée Kravis, to endow its new Composer-in-Residence position, a major initiative of Alan Gilbert's tenure as Music Director, which begins this month. The Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg will be the first to hold the position of The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic, a two-year post that begins on September 16, 2009, with the world premiere of Mr. Lindberg's EXPO — the opening work on Alan Gilbert's inaugural Opening Night Concert as the Orchestra's Music Director.

September 5, 2009, The Washington Post — With the country beset by recession, layoffs and mortgage woes, officials at Washington public radio station WAMU-FM have been understandably nervous about their on-air fundraisers over the past year. As each pledge drive approached, the same question loomed: Would listeners continue to heed the station's plea for dollars?

September 4, 2009, The Wall Street Journal — Most people see the Tate Modern and the British Museum as bastions of fine art. Peter Tullin, however, thinks of them as powerful brands.

WASHINGTON, September 5, 2009, Associated Press — Wayne Clough pulls a thumb-sized computer flash drive from his pocket and marvels at how many of the Smithsonian Institution's millions of objects can be captured on it.

September 3, 2009, Washington, D.C. — Ronald J. Schiller, currently Vice President for Alumni Relations and Development for University of Chicago, will become NPR’s top fundraiser later this month. NPR’s CEO and President Vivian Schiller announced today that Ron Schiller (they are not related), has been appointed to the position of Senior Vice President for Development of NPR and President of the NPR Foundation. His appointment will begin on a full-time basis on October 15, and he will report directly to Ms. Schiller.  He will lead NPR’s fundraising programs – including major and planned giving, and foundation grants, which currently account for NPR’s third largest source of revenue. The NPR Foundation is a private, non-profit organization whose mission is to raise financial support for NPR, Inc. The Foundation holds the NPR Endowment, including the majority of the $230 million bequest made by Mrs. Joan B. Kroc in 2003.

LAWRENCE, Kan., The Associated Press, August 29, 2009 — Ben Ahlvers is a full-time arts education coordinator, but his passion is with the fanciful creatures, human figures and oversized hammers he fashions from clay.

August 31, 2009, The Los Angeles Times — Hoping to boost attendance after a year of production cuts and emergency fundraising appeals, the financially stretched Geffen Playhouse has worked in a new marketing wrinkle: using the Web-based ticket-discounter Goldstar to sell season subscriptions at half price.

August 25, 2009, The Philadelphia Inquirer — In place of its third free neighborhood concert of the outdoor season, the Philadelphia Orchestra will perform a fund-raiser to help replenish the Fraternal Order of Police Survivors' Fund.

August 20, 2009, Express-News — In the midst of a major downturn in the U.S. auto industry, the Ford Motor Company Fund announced Thursday that it will give $1.5 million over the next 15 months to San Antonio nonprofits, and $1 million of it to the new Henry Ford Academy: Alameda School for Art+Design.

August 17, 2009, The New York Times — The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the institution being built in Bentonville, Ark., by Alice L. Walton, the Wal-Mart heiress, said on Monday that it had hired the director of the Toledo Museum of Art to be its new director.