Currency of Culture

It may have taken a while to get Douglas Pomeroy to agree to clean up and digitize Bill Savory’s recordings, but it did not take a lot: Pomeroy needed to hear just one never-before-heard recording to know he had to take the job.

The audio engineer got his start in New York City at Columbia Records. And now he is all but retired.  The Savory Collection is no simple task, and he is still just a third into the project, sometimes spending hours each day on one single song.

Reporters Chika Moses and Chris Prentice got a rare treat: Pomeroy let them into his studio to see just how complicated the process of reclaiming old recordings can be, to better under the magic behind the process.

Check out the slideshow below to find out more about Pomeroy’s life’s work.

For more on the Savory Collection, listen to this week’s podcast, Wednesday, October 13 at 3 p.m.

The New York State Board of Regents shocked the art world when it decided that it would let its regulations on the sale of art by museums expire. The sale, called deaccessioning, is extremely controversial, especially when museums unload works of art just to pay the bills.

The debate surrounding deaccessioning is heated. Despite whatever laws are on the books, some museum groups find the process unethical, and grounds for mass shunning in the art world.

But in a tough economy, museums and galleries are looking for ways to cut costs and raise money any way they can. Several museums here in NYC have faced scrutiny for trying to sell art in their collection to keep their doors open. On The Currency of Culture, we’ll talk to people on both sides of the debate to see how the rules affect them.

To read some more about the issue check out these articles.

The New York Times

Art Info

The Deaccessioning Blog

Arts Journal

CHECK OUT OUR PODCAST ON BLOG TALK RADIO, OCTOBER 13 @ 3 P.M.