YOU COULD HAVE GUESSED THIS: American arts and culture institutions received 2.4 percent less in gifts in 2009 than they did in 2008, according to Bloomberg, which sites a report by the Giving USA Foundation. If you’re a glass-half-full kinda person, at least you can say that that’s a smaller drop than the 6.4 percent decrease from 2007 to 2008! Overall, $12.3 billion was donated to the arts last year. If this trend is going to turn around as the economy rebounds, a new argument for arts philanthropy will have to be made says The Art Newspaper.

MUSIC BITS: Fort Worth’s The Orbans have posted a video for “Like a Liar,” the lead track off their debut album, When We Were Wild. (DC9 at Night) … Mario Tarradell takes you back 20 years, to when Richard Marx was king of the airwaves, ahead of his appearance with the DSO (Richard’s, not Mario’s). (dallasnews.com)

THEATER BITS: Richard Kline, of Three’s Company fame, says theater is really his first love. He plays the Wizard in the touring production of Wicked that’s currently camped out at the Music Hall at Fair Park. (dfw.com) … Denton’s Sundown Collaborative Theatre has announced its 2010-11 season. The season kicks off in August with a new piece called Collaborative Moments on Love. (sundowntheatre.org) … Theater Jones says cross-dressing is still funny after seeing Theatre Arlington’s Leading Ladies. (theaterjones.com)