Culture Flash!

• If you read this before lunchtime on Thursday, Oct. 27, you still have time to hear University of Minnesota economist Ann Markusen speak on The Artistic Dividend: How the Arts Contribute to Regional Development. This free community forum, co-sponsored by the city of Austin's Cultural Arts Division and UT's Community and Regional Planning Program, will explore the arts as a crucial factor in economic health and vitality. It runs 1-2:30pm in the Carver Library Auditorium, 1161 Angelina.

• It was 40 years ago today Lyndon started up The NEA … and in honor of the National Endowment for the Arts hitting the four-decade mark, the LBJ Library & Museum is hosting The NEA at 40: Cultural Policy and American Democracy, a public symposium featuring a keynote speech by NEA chairman Dana Gioia, a keynote performance by artist Sekou Sundiata, panels with NEA Four performance artist Holly Hughes and Rep. John Brademas, and more. The symposium, which is free, will be held in the library atrium Friday and Saturday, Oct. 28-29. For more information, visit www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/events.hom/nea_2005.shtm.

• Don't head to Bass Concert Hall on Saturday, Oct. 29, looking for Miami City Ballet. As of Monday, the UT Performing Arts Center announced that the Edward Villella-led dance troupe had canceled its second performance. But you can still catch its tribute to Balanchine, Tharp, and Sinatra on Friday, Oct. 28, at 8pm. For more information, call 477-6060 or visit www.utpac.org.

• Don't dust off your duds for the grand opening of the new Blanton Museum of Art just yet. The UT-Austin facility, originally scheduled for its big debut in February, will delay that until April 30, to give museum folks time to test the heating, venting, and air-conditioning systems that will protect the art on display and in storage in the new gallery building.