13 December 2007

U.S. Cities Reflect Cultural Diversity, Artistic Ingenuity

Regional differences add character to U.S. metropolitan centers

Many major cities in the United States have been influential in shaping the nation’s cultural life, and an ethnically diverse population has contributed immeasurably to U.S. achievements in literature, the performing arts, architecture and cuisine. Find out more about the vigor and variety of America’s artistic heritage.

SEATTLE

Seattle, nicknamed the Emerald City, is the largest city in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. In 2005, analysts rated Seattle as the most literate city in America, and survey data from 2002 indicated that Seattle had the most educated population in the United States.

The city, a significant regional center for the performing arts, is home to the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Opera and the Pacific Northwest Ballet. The Experience Music Project, housed in a building designed by famed architect Frank Gehry, bills itself as a “participatory museum of music.” Seattle is the birthplace of grunge music.

Seattle is also famous for its live theatre venues and has many important museums and art galleries, such as the Henry Art Gallery, the Seattle Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park and the Frye Art Museum. More specialized collections can be seen in other museums in Seattle, including the Nordic Heritage Museum, the Wing Luke Asian Museum and the Museum of Flight (which reflects the prominent position of Seattle’s aerospace industry). The city also hosts a variety of annual ethnic festivals and is the site of numerous American Indian powwows.

SAN FRANCISCO

San Francisco, part of the scenic San Francisco Bay area where 7.2 million people live, has a cosmopolitan, ethnically diverse population. Its neighborhoods reflect that diversity: Chinatown, established in 1906; the Mission District, which is home to many immigrants from Mexico and Central America; and Haight-Ashbury, associated with the 1960s hippie movement, which still retains some bohemian character despite extensive gentrification.

The influx of writers and artists in the 1950s helped spawn the rise of modern coffeehouse culture, and the social upheavals of the 1960s confirmed San Francisco’s reputation as an epicenter of liberal activism.

San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House is home to the highly regarded San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Ballet.  The San Francisco Symphony plays in nearby Davies Symphony Hall, and the Herbst Theatre is known for its eclectic music performances. A second incarnation of the renowned Fillmore Auditorium is still in use; the original venue was known as the place where rock music greats such as the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin and Jefferson Airplane got their start in the 1960s. The American Conservatory Theater is a leading force in the city’s performing arts scene, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art attracts 600,000 visitors a year.

LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles -- the largest city in the state of California and the second-largest city in the United States -- is a center of culture, technology and international trade. The city is the world’s leading producer of popular entertainment and has achieved international fame based on its motion picture, television and recording industries.

Los Angeles’ numerous museums and galleries include the J. Paul Getty Museum -- known for its extensive collection of Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities -- and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the largest encyclopedic museum west of Chicago. The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium allows visitors to explore the natural wonders of aquatic ecosystems, while the La Brea Tar Pits Museum invites visitors to watch fossil recovery, cleaning and analysis.

The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, which is part of the Los Angeles Music Center, is home to the Los Angeles Opera and also hosts the film industry’s annual Academy Awards (Oscars) presentations. The futuristic-looking Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by architect Frank Gehry, is home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO

Santa Fe, New Mexico's capital, was settled by Spanish colonists in the 1500s and formally founded in 1610. The city’s Spanish Territorial and Pueblo styles of architecture are tributes to its Spanish and American Indian roots.

Known as a multicultural city and arts center, Santa Fe is home to numerous artists, many of whom have captured the city’s beautiful landscape on canvas. One famous New Mexico artist, Georgia O’Keefe, lived for a time in Santa Fe, and the city’s Georgia O’Keefe Museum exhibits her work and that of artists with similar themes. Canyon Road has the city’s highest concentration of art galleries, showcasing contemporary Southwestern, American Indian and experimental art.

Writers traditionally have flocked to Santa Fe, including Cormac McCarthy and Walker Percy. Music and opera are well represented in the city. The Santa Fe Opera is one of the nation’s most esteemed regional opera companies, and its season overlaps with the performance schedule of the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Santa Fe also has many world-class museums, such as the New Mexico Museum of Art, the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, the History Museum and the Site Santa Fe (devoted to contemporary art).

DENVER

The sprawling metropolis at the foot of the rugged Colorado Rockies is an important cultural center that draws artists and performers from around the nation and the world.

The area’s diverse population supports culture through the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD), a special tax district within the state of Colorado that provides funding for art, music, theater, dance, zoology, botany, natural history, or cultural history organizations in the Denver metropolitan area. The SCFD, created by voters in 1988, gives millions of dollars in tax funds each year to local organizations.

Today, Denver’s main art and cultural hub is the Golden Triangle Museum District that includes the Denver Art Museum, the Denver Public Library, the Colorado History Museum, the Colorado Ballet and scores of other theaters, galleries and artists’ studios.

The Denver Art Museum, with a gravity-defying new wing designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, exhibits its magnificent collections of pre-Columbian, American Indian, American Western and Buddhist art. The Denver Performing Arts Complex, or simply “the Plex,” is said to be the second-largest performing arts center in the world, after New York’s Lincoln Center. 

Each June and August, Denver hosts the Aspen Music Festival and School, one of the largest classical music events in the United States.

AUSTIN, TEXAS

Austin, Texas, calls itself “the live music capital of the world” because it is home to many musicians and music venues. The eclectic and progressive lifestyles of its residents have prompted them to adopt the slogan “Keep Austin Weird.” As the slogan suggests, Austin’s residents take pride in their eccentricity and diversity.

The city has an impressive live music scene and boasts more music venues per capita than any other U.S. city. Austin City Limits, the longest-running concert music program on American television, is videotaped on the University of Texas at Austin campus. The Austin City Limits Music Festival is held annually at Zilker Park in Austin, and the city’s Urban Music Festival is held every year in April, as is the Austin Reggae Festival. Austin also hosts the annual Austin Film Festival and stages an annual film/music/multimedia festival called South by Southwest.

Ballet Austin is the fourth-largest ballet company in the United States. The Austin Lyric Opera is widely admired, and the city also has a strong theater culture.

NEW ORLEANS

New Orleans -- nicknamed the “Big Easy” -- is a major U.S. port city and the largest city in Louisiana. One of the oldest cities in the United States, New Orleans is known for its multicultural heritage, its music and its cuisine.

New Orleans has a number of distinctive neighborhoods. The French Quarter features Creole townhouses with lush courtyards and intricate iron scrollwork, and other areas boast 19th-century mansions in the Greek Revival, Colonial and Victorian styles, among other types of residential architecture. The city’s elegant and ornate Catholic cemeteries are another draw for visitors.

Major attractions include New Orleans’ famous Bourbon Street, in the French Quarter, known for its vibrant nightlife; St. Charles Avenue (home of Tulane and Loyola universities); Jackson Square; St. Louis Cathedral; the French Market; and jazz performances at Preservation Hall. The city’s art museums include the Contemporary Arts Center, the New Orleans Museum of Art in City Park and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. New Orleans also has a number of significant public gardens, such as the Longue Vue House and Gardens and the New Orleans Botanical Garden. (See related article.)

ST. LOUIS

St. Louis first came to prominence by hosting the 1904 World’s Fair and the 1904 Olympic Games. The Missouri city is known for its French and German heritage and its Victorian past.

The city has numerous museums: most notably the St. Louis Art Museum, whose collection ranges from ancient artifacts to modern art, including paintings by Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Pissarro and Picasso; the City Museum, which offers innovative exhibits, mock caves and a huge outdoor playground; and the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, housed in a building designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando. Other architectural attractions are the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, a Catholic cathedral designed in the Byzantine and Romanesque styles, and the Gateway Arch, the city’s best-known landmark.

St. Louis is home to the world-renowned St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1880. The city also hosts annually the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and the St. Louis International Film Festival, one of the top regional film festivals in the United States. The city has a long association with great ragtime, jazz and blues music. Its theater district includes the Fox Theatre, one of the largest live professional theaters in the country.

CHICAGO

Chicago -- nicknamed the “Windy City” -- is the largest city in the state of Illinois and the third-largest in the United States. It is the business, financial and cultural capital of the Midwest and, since the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, has been among the most influential cities in the world.

Reflecting its immigrant roots, Chicago has restaurant districts known as Greektown, Chinatown, Little Italy and Little Seoul. The city also is known for its spectacular architecture: its skyline is among the world’s tallest, with skyscrapers that include the Sears Tower (the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere).

Chicago’s cultural heritage includes its distinctive style of live music, known as Chicago blues. The city has an influential hip-hop scene, and its theater community gave rise to modern improvisational comedy. Classical music is represented by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, both with world-class reputations. The Joffrey Ballet, the Chicago Festival Ballet and several modern and jazz dance troupes all call Chicago home. The Art Institute of Chicago has a collection that encompasses more than 5,000 years of world culture, and the River North area of Chicago features the city’s largest concentration of contemporary art galleries.

GRACELAND (IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE)

Graceland is the 5.6-hectare estate and white-columned mansion that once belonged to singer Elvis Presley (a seminal figure in popular music). The estate is located at 3734 Elvis Presley Boulevard in Memphis, Tennessee.

Since Graceland opened to the public as a museum in 1982, it has been a magnet for visitors. Parts of the mansion are off-limits, but visitors are allowed to tour certain rooms, including the so-called Jungle Room (named for its jungle-themed décor). Many of the singer’s personal belongings, awards and stage costumes are on display, as are his collection of cars and his two airplanes. A tour of Graceland usually concludes with a visit to Presley’s burial site, which is on the estate.

Graceland is now the second most-visited private residence in the United States (behind the White House). It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1991, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2006. (See related article.)

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Nashville, the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee, is a major hub for the country music industry.

The Grand Ole Opry, a weekly country music radio program featuring live concerts, was established in Nashville in 1925. The Opry, combined with Nashville’s thriving publishing industry, helped the city position itself as “Music City USA.” Strongly identified with country music, Nashville is a major music recording and production center and is home to the Country Music Hall of Fame. In recognition of the city’s small but growing film industry, the Nashville Film Festival is one of the largest film festivals in the southern United States.

Among Nashville’s popular tourist destinations is The Parthenon, a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens, Greece. The city’s other attractions include the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (home of the Tennessee Repertory Theatre, the Nashville Children’s Theatre, the Nashville Opera and the Nashville Ballet) and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, which houses the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. The city also has several arts centers and galleries, such as the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, the Tennessee State Museum and Vanderbilt University’s Fine Art Gallery and Sarratt Gallery.

WASHINGTON

The capital city of the United States, named for the first U.S. president, is a popular tourist destination because of its monuments, historic sites and cultural attractions.

Washington is home to the world-renowned Smithsonian Institution complex of museums and the National Gallery of Art, which houses the only Leonardo da Vinci painting in the Western Hemisphere. Other museums under the Smithsonian umbrella are the National Air and Space Museum, the Freer Gallery of Art, the National Museum of African Art, the Museum of American History, the Hirshhorn Museum, the National Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of the American Indian. Unlike most museums and galleries in other cities, the Smithsonian museums and the National Gallery are open to the public free of charge.

The city is a showcase for live music and theater. Three venues are particularly outstanding: the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which is home to the Washington National Opera, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington Ballet; the Folger Theater, an intimate setting for Shakespearean and contemporary plays; and Arena Stage, a theater company that excels at fostering new works and producing intriguing revivals of classic repertory.

NEW YORK

New York City, the largest U.S. city, is a world center of commerce and finance and a global influence in media, entertainment and fashion.

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is among the world’s largest and finest art museums, with collections spanning 5,000 years of world culture. The city has more than 2,000 arts and cultural organizations, and more than 500 independent art galleries. Its architecture is dominated by skyscrapers, including the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building, both masterpieces of Art Deco design.

The city’s 39 largest theaters are known collectively as “Broadway.” Its Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts hosts the world-famous Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, the New York Philharmonic, the New York City Ballet, the Juilliard School and other distinguished entities.  Many major American cultural movements, such as the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, began in New York. The city was the epicenter of jazz in the 1940s, abstract expressionism in the 1950s and hip-hop music in the 1970s. New York also has a diverse food culture, shaped by its large immigrant population.  Many of the best “haute cuisine” restaurants in the United States can be found in New York.  (See related article.)