ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

Today's Stories

NPR CEO Responds To Bias Charges

“All of this frankly is a bit of a distraction relative to the transformation our organization needs to undergo in order to best serve our mandate,” Maher said in an interview. - The Wall Street Journal

How A Star Of Ukraine’s National Ballet Washed Up In Miami Beach

Stanislav Olshanskyi fled Putin's invasion of Ukraine for the Netherlands, where he was discovered by choreographer Alexei Ratmansky; later that same year, he found himself joining Miami City Ballet. He's relieved, but the adjustment from his solid Slavic schooling to MCB's fleet Balanchine style hasn't been easy. - The New York Times

Why Disney Is Spending $60 Billion On Theme Park Expansion

Why the massive investment? At a time when Disney faces revenue challenges due to cord cutting, streaming wars and a slower film box office, its theme parks are a bright — and reliable — spot for its business. - Los Angeles Times

Embattled Director Of Nashville’s Arts Agency Placed On Administrative Leave

Daniel Singh, executive director of Metro Arts Commission, has been on medical leave for two months, claiming that racism he faces has affected his health. While he has some support in Nashville's arts community, Metro Arts staff evidently find him a very ineffective leader, and commissioners appear to agree. - WPLN (Nashville)

Prospects For Journalist: Low Pay, Few Jobs

Our findings show that the vast majority of “primary occupation” freelancers (those who spend more than 50% of their time on freelancing) earn less than the minimum wage in the UK – typically £17,500 per year.  - The Conversation

In Praise Of Pro Wrestling, America’s Proletarian Theater

"It was just after 3 AM on a Saturday night in South Philadelphia, and I was watching an angry inflatable chicken fight a Japanese otter mascot in the middle of a hastily assembled wrestling ring. Around me, several hundred other spectators chanted, 'Holy shit! Holy shit!'" - The Nation

How Breakdancing Got Into The Paris Olympics

Bizarrely, Paris 2024 may well be the only time we will see breaking in the Olympics in the foreseeable future, although the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) is determined to ensure it returns in Brisbane 2032. - The Conversation

A Changing Of The Guard At Smuin Contemporary Ballet

Celia Fushille is stepping down after 17 years as artistic director (the first after founder Michael Smuin), passing the reins to Amy Seiwert. "Seeing these artists I've worked with for so long, and what Amy is pulling out of them, it just brought tears to my eyes," says Fushille. - Bay Area Reporter

Why Did Oxford University Shutter Its Future Of Humanity Institute?

Nick Bostrom – who popularized the theory that humanity may be living in a simulation, one that Musk often repeats – spoke about the closure of the institute in a lengthy final report published on its website this week. - The Guardian

Renzo Piano Reveals His Design For Boca Raton’s Planned Arts Center

"The building's programming will take place across three stories, with one section of the building dedicated to a large multi-purpose event and performance space that will 'merge seamlessly' with an outdoor piazza. The remaining space will contain a public lobby, working spaces, creator residences, a startup incubator, food and social areas." - Dezeen

Murder Of Art Dealer Brent Sikkema: Lawyers For Defendant Up And Quit

"Attorneys Greg Andrade and Edna de Castro were representing Alejandro Triana Prevez, the Cuban man who has testified that he stabbed Sikkema to death (in Rio de Janeiro) as part of a murder-for-hire scheme allegedly orchestrated by Sikkema’s ex-husband, Daniel Carrera." They have resigned "for reasons of personal conscience." - Artnet

Joshua Kosman’s Farewell Essay As San Francisco Chronicle Classical Music Critic

"It’s a basic instinct, ... the urge to figure out what you thought of it and why. It’s an impulse I believe I share with just about anyone reading this. … Did you find the music exciting, boring, incomprehensible, familiar? Can you say why? Congratulations — you’re a music critic." - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

As Florida And Texas Ban Books From Schools And Libraries, Minnesota And Maryland Are Banning Book Bans

"Minnesota is one of several Democratic-leaning states where lawmakers are now pursuing bans on book bans. The Washington and Maryland legislatures have passed them this year; Illinois did so last year. It was a major flashpoint of Oregon’s short session, where legislation passed the Senate but died without a House vote." - AP

Denver Art Museum Is Refusing To Return Alaskan Native Artifacts To Alaskan Natives

"Delegates from the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska sought the return of five items, including a 170-year-old clan house partition. … One Tlingit and Haida cultural resource officer (said) that the Denver Art Museum was 'probably the worst museum' they had dealt with." - Alaska Public Media

US Senate Passes House’s TikTok Sell-Or-Get-Banned Law

"The U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to approve a bill that would ban TikTok nationwide unless Chinese parent company ByteDance sells its stake in the popular app. The development will likely result in a court battle between the U.S. and TikTok, which argues that the legislation violates the First Amendment." - Variety

KQED, Bay Area Public TV And Radio Station, Offers Buyouts And Warns Of Layoffs

“We’ve operated with a board-approved budget deficit for two years and we’re now projecting a higher-than-expected budget deficit (for) this fiscal year,” the station's CEO told the staff. “This is not sustainable long term and we need to take action and find savings to get us back on track.” - SFGATE

Venice Biennale Gets Its Groove Back

Somehow, this grand festival of creativity has vitality, often substance, and a sense of context wider than the usual web of art-world connections and hierarchies. - Washington Post

Houston’s Rothko Chapel Starts Big Expansion Project

Over the next two years, the site will see construction of an administration and archives building, a new program center, a guest bungalow for visiting speakers and fellows, a plaza for events, as well as a meditation garden. - ARTnews

First Prize In This Year’s Venice Biennale

The exhibition’s top prizes both went to Indigenous artists, with the Golden Lion for the main curated exhibition going to the Mataaho Collective, which consists of four Māori women artists. - ARTnews

Why Many Of Us Are Going Back To Pre-Digital Analog Tools

From vinyl records to film cameras, all manner of apparently written-off technologies have been making a comeback, including modular synthesizers – one of the earliest types of this now-ubiquitous electronic instrument. - The Conversation

By Topic

Why Did Oxford University Shutter Its Future Of Humanity Institute?

Nick Bostrom – who popularized the theory that humanity may be living in a simulation, one that Musk often repeats – spoke about the closure of the institute in a lengthy final report published on its website this week. - The Guardian

Why Many Of Us Are Going Back To Pre-Digital Analog Tools

From vinyl records to film cameras, all manner of apparently written-off technologies have been making a comeback, including modular synthesizers – one of the earliest types of this now-ubiquitous electronic instrument. - The Conversation

The Toll That Questioning Someone’s Authority Takes

Growing research shows regular exposure to even relatively subtle prejudice and discrimination degrades physical and mental health, leading to outcomes like high blood pressure, chronic stress and depression." - Phys

At The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, Winners Support Ousted USC Valedictorian

"Tananarive Due, who won ... for her novel The Reformatory, used her speech to add: ‘As we face the horrors in our cities, in Gaza and elsewhere, and witness true-life racism, homophobia, Islamophobia and antisemitism, let us honor the courage of young people.’" - Los Angeles Times

Call Salvador Dali On His Lobster Phone To Ask An AI Dali Your Burning Questions

Cool and deeply creepy at the same time: “The artist's AI voice was trained on voice samples taken from archival interviews Dalí did in English over his career. (He spoke four languages — Catalan, Spanish, French and English — sometimes interchangeably.)” We’re ready for the four-language answers. - NPR

The Virtual You Is Getting Closer

It would be a mistake to think that the algorithms in the room will remain mere observers. AI is more like an ambitious virtual worker seeking a promotion, or at least a more active role in the proceedings. One day an AI-powered service might actually run the meeting for you. And why not? - Wired

Why Disney Is Spending $60 Billion On Theme Park Expansion

Why the massive investment? At a time when Disney faces revenue challenges due to cord cutting, streaming wars and a slower film box office, its theme parks are a bright — and reliable — spot for its business. - Los Angeles Times

Embattled Director Of Nashville’s Arts Agency Placed On Administrative Leave

Daniel Singh, executive director of Metro Arts Commission, has been on medical leave for two months, claiming that racism he faces has affected his health. While he has some support in Nashville's arts community, Metro Arts staff evidently find him a very ineffective leader, and commissioners appear to agree. - WPLN (Nashville)

Prospects For Journalist: Low Pay, Few Jobs

Our findings show that the vast majority of “primary occupation” freelancers (those who spend more than 50% of their time on freelancing) earn less than the minimum wage in the UK – typically £17,500 per year.  - The Conversation

Fatal Error: Universities Have Stopped Teaching HOW To Think

Modern education concentrates on teaching subjects, leaving the method of thinking, arguing, and expressing one’s conclusions to be picked up by the scholar as he goes along; mediæval education concentrated on first forging and learning to handle the tools of learning. - The Critic

Another Way AI May Completely Change (Or Even Ruin) The Web As We Know It

"The advent of AI threatens to destroy the complex online ecosystem that allows writers, artists, and other creators to reach human audiences. To understand why, you must understand publishing" — not mean "publishing" as in producing books and magazines, but any online mechanism for bringing content to users. - The Atlantic (MSN)

AI Copyright Wars: US Copyright Office Shifts On The Rules

he is considered the author of the “selection, coordination, and arrangement of text generated by artificial intelligence.” This means no one can copy the book without permission, but the actual sentences and paragraphs themselves are not copyrighted and could theoretically be rearranged and republished as a different book. - Wired

Joshua Kosman’s Farewell Essay As San Francisco Chronicle Classical Music Critic

"It’s a basic instinct, ... the urge to figure out what you thought of it and why. It’s an impulse I believe I share with just about anyone reading this. … Did you find the music exciting, boring, incomprehensible, familiar? Can you say why? Congratulations — you’re a music critic." - San Francisco Chronicle...

San Antonio’s Tobin Center Names A Resident Orchestra — And It’s Not The New San Antonio Philharmonic

The SA Phil is the fledgling orchestra founded by members of the San Antonio Symphony (which had been a Tobin resident) after that group's board shut it down. The other group is called The Orchestra San Antonio (TOSA), and only 10 of its 60 members live locally. - San Antonio Report

Things We Learned From The World’s Largest Music Company’s Annual Report

Much of the publication obviously focuses on UMG’s extraordinarily successful 2023: A year in which it posted USD $12 billion in total revenues, with annual adjusted EBITDA just north of USD $2.5 billion. But there’s a bundle of other interesting facts and figures revealed within the report. - Music Business Worldwide

How Studying Music Makes Better Employees

It is well known many musicians work simultaneously in arts and non-arts roles, often to create some income security. Less understood is just how well the extensive skillset developed in music transfers to a non-arts, professional workplace. - The Conversation

Opera Is Elitist? Er… Not So Much

We have entered a culturally risk-adverse period. Our present age of anxiety — which includes post-pandemic economic challenges to the arts, diminished attention spans and audiences seeking escape from all but virtual reality — has ushered in an atmosphere of caution in just about everything presented to the public. - Los Angeles Times

The Jazz Detective

To Zev Feldman, “solving a case means discovering a concert recording that has been gathering dust in an archive for decades, or studio sessions that were once thought to be lost and gone forever.” - El País English

Renzo Piano Reveals His Design For Boca Raton’s Planned Arts Center

"The building's programming will take place across three stories, with one section of the building dedicated to a large multi-purpose event and performance space that will 'merge seamlessly' with an outdoor piazza. The remaining space will contain a public lobby, working spaces, creator residences, a startup incubator, food and social areas." - Dezeen

Venice Biennale Gets Its Groove Back

Somehow, this grand festival of creativity has vitality, often substance, and a sense of context wider than the usual web of art-world connections and hierarchies. - Washington Post

Houston’s Rothko Chapel Starts Big Expansion Project

Over the next two years, the site will see construction of an administration and archives building, a new program center, a guest bungalow for visiting speakers and fellows, a plaza for events, as well as a meditation garden. - ARTnews

First Prize In This Year’s Venice Biennale

The exhibition’s top prizes both went to Indigenous artists, with the Golden Lion for the main curated exhibition going to the Mataaho Collective, which consists of four Māori women artists. - ARTnews

Italy’s Government Blacklists Minneapolis Institute Of Art For Loans

"The Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) has become musea non grata to the Italian government after a yearslong dispute over a Pentelic marble copy of a lost bronze by the ancient Greek sculptor Polykleitos depicting the 'spear-bearer' Doryphoros." - ARTnews

A New Leader For The Musée D’Orsay In Paris

Variously titled president or chairman in different news reports, the new head of the Orsay and its sister institution, the Musée de l'Orangerie, is Sylvain Amic, most recently director of the museums in the city of Rouen. He has quite a job ahead of him. - Artforum

As Florida And Texas Ban Books From Schools And Libraries, Minnesota And Maryland Are Banning Book Bans

"Minnesota is one of several Democratic-leaning states where lawmakers are now pursuing bans on book bans. The Washington and Maryland legislatures have passed them this year; Illinois did so last year. It was a major flashpoint of Oregon’s short session, where legislation passed the Senate but died without a House vote." - AP

Denver Art Museum Is Refusing To Return Alaskan Native Artifacts To Alaskan Natives

"Delegates from the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska sought the return of five items, including a 170-year-old clan house partition. … One Tlingit and Haida cultural resource officer (said) that the Denver Art Museum was 'probably the worst museum' they had dealt with." - Alaska Public Media

On The Influence Of Small Magazines And Big Ideas

Another meaning of the word “magazine” is a store of munitions. My own addition to the arsenal of the free press, Standpoint, was founded in 2008. I was editor for just over a decade, during which we made the magazine essential reading across the political and cultural spectrum. - The Critic

Publishers Have Found An Interesting Way To Fight Children’s Book Bans

Publishers, writers, and progressive organizations across the children’s book industry aren’t letting the book bans hold them back. Instead, they’re turning the bans into a rallying cry to publish even more diverse characters and points of view. - Fast Company

PEN America Gives Up, Cancels Its 2024 Literary Awards

"Facing widespread unhappiness over its response to the Israel-Hamas war, the writers’ group PEN America has called off its annual awards ceremony. Dozens of nominees had dropped out of the event, which was to have taken place next week." - AP

Amazon Is Clogged With Fake Books. How Does This Happen?

Many of them gleefully share misinformation or repackage basic facts from WikiHow behind a title that’s been search-engine-optimized to hell and back again. Some of them even steal the names of well-established existing authors and masquerade as new releases from those writers. - Vox

NPR CEO Responds To Bias Charges

“All of this frankly is a bit of a distraction relative to the transformation our organization needs to undergo in order to best serve our mandate,” Maher said in an interview. - The Wall Street Journal

US Senate Passes House’s TikTok Sell-Or-Get-Banned Law

"The U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to approve a bill that would ban TikTok nationwide unless Chinese parent company ByteDance sells its stake in the popular app. The development will likely result in a court battle between the U.S. and TikTok, which argues that the legislation violates the First Amendment." - Variety

KQED, Bay Area Public TV And Radio Station, Offers Buyouts And Warns Of Layoffs

“We’ve operated with a board-approved budget deficit for two years and we’re now projecting a higher-than-expected budget deficit (for) this fiscal year,” the station's CEO told the staff. “This is not sustainable long term and we need to take action and find savings to get us back on track.” - SFGATE

St. Louis Public Radio Claims Immunity From Lawsuits For Defamation. You May Not Believe The Reason.

Sovereign immunity. St. Louis Public Radio claims immunity from lawsuits as an arm of the state of Missouri. - Riverfront Times (St. Louis)

Actors Unions Make Deal For “Ethical Use” Of AI Voices

The deal also sets a minimum rate for AI replication of session singers’ voices, in the amount of three “sides” per project. (A “side” is equivalent to the payment for one audio track lasting up to 4 minutes and 30 seconds.) - Variety

U.S. House Passes TikTok Sell-Or-Be-Banned Rule — In Way That May Force Senate To Pass It

"While lawmakers in the House advanced a similar bill last month, this effort is different for two reasons: It is attached to a sweeping foreign aid bill providing support for Ukraine and Israel. And it addresses concerns from some (Senators) by extending the deadline for TikTok to find a buyer." - NPR

How A Star Of Ukraine’s National Ballet Washed Up In Miami Beach

Stanislav Olshanskyi fled Putin's invasion of Ukraine for the Netherlands, where he was discovered by choreographer Alexei Ratmansky; later that same year, he found himself joining Miami City Ballet. He's relieved, but the adjustment from his solid Slavic schooling to MCB's fleet Balanchine style hasn't been easy. - The New York Times

How Breakdancing Got Into The Paris Olympics

Bizarrely, Paris 2024 may well be the only time we will see breaking in the Olympics in the foreseeable future, although the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) is determined to ensure it returns in Brisbane 2032. - The Conversation

A Changing Of The Guard At Smuin Contemporary Ballet

Celia Fushille is stepping down after 17 years as artistic director (the first after founder Michael Smuin), passing the reins to Amy Seiwert. "Seeing these artists I've worked with for so long, and what Amy is pulling out of them, it just brought tears to my eyes," says Fushille. - Bay Area Reporter

The Women Who’ve Founded Dance Companies In The US Since 1929

“Keeping track of these female-founded ballet companies is vital in understanding the pivotal and often unknown role of women in shaping the American ballet sector,” said DDP Research Consultant Aanika Khansaheb. - Dance Data Project

What’s The Logical Endpoint Of Pop Culture’s Insane-And-Dangerous-Ballerina Trope? A Ballerina Vampire, Of Course!

"Unlike Black Swan, the darkly funny Abigail — which follows a band of kidnappers as they discover that their prisoner, supposedly an adolescent ballet student, is actually a centuries-old vampire — doesn’t aim for profundity. But entertainment-world depictions of ballet, even in campy romps like Abigail, carry weight." - The New York Times

Tending To The Legacy Of Dance Theatre Of Harlem

“Moving the organization forward would depend not only on the art that the company produced, but also on the legacy through its alumni. And that is a huge thing.” In April, an alumni platform will go live, a place, he said, “where we could galvanize and connect and become a community.” - The New York Times Image

In Praise Of Pro Wrestling, America’s Proletarian Theater

"It was just after 3 AM on a Saturday night in South Philadelphia, and I was watching an angry inflatable chicken fight a Japanese otter mascot in the middle of a hastily assembled wrestling ring. Around me, several hundred other spectators chanted, 'Holy shit! Holy shit!'" - The Nation

All The Ways A New Play Changes In Previews

"'The key learning moments for a playwright,' says writer David Eldridge, 'are when you first hear actors read the script, and when the play meets an audience. We’re incredibly rigorous in the rehearsal process. But somehow, when you put it in front of an audience, it exposes unnecessary overwriting.'" - The Guardian

The War On Theatre

In the Educational Theater Association’s most recent survey, 85 percent of American theater teachers expressed concern about censorship. Even Shakespeare is at risk: In Florida, new laws led to the restriction of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to grades 10 through 12 and “Romeo and Juliet” could not be taught. - The New York Times

How Five Actors With Limited Musical Training Became A Band For Broadway’s Stereophonic

“'I was like, as long as someone is musical, any idiot can be in a band,’ Butler said. ‘I can write to whatever level.’ Later Butler realized that this was perhaps naïve.” - The New York Times

An Immersive Kit Kat Club — How Broadway’s Revival Of “Cabaret” Put Together A 75-Minute Prologue

The lobby became the Vault Bar, with an elevated stage and a rotating disco-ball eye. Upstairs is the Red Bar, with dancers behind beaded curtains. Then the Green Bar has sequined fruit on the walls. Dancers move between the spaces on a tightly choreographed schedule, accompanied by a trippy musical mix. - Variety

Climate-Protesting Theatre Vandals Convicted In London

"Five Just Stop Oil protesters have been (convicted) of aggravated trespass after they stormed a performance of Les Misérables in London's West End. Two of (them) were also found guilty of criminal damage after standing on the orchestra pit netting. … The estimated cost to the theatre of cancelling the performance was £60,000." -...

Murder Of Art Dealer Brent Sikkema: Lawyers For Defendant Up And Quit

"Attorneys Greg Andrade and Edna de Castro were representing Alejandro Triana Prevez, the Cuban man who has testified that he stabbed Sikkema to death (in Rio de Janeiro) as part of a murder-for-hire scheme allegedly orchestrated by Sikkema’s ex-husband, Daniel Carrera." They have resigned "for reasons of personal conscience." - Artnet

Florentines Begged Me To Run For Mayor, Says Former Uffizi Gallery Director

"(Eike Schmidt) said he felt compelled to throw his hat into the ring ... after being encouraged to run for mayor by Florentines, who he said stopped him in the street to vent their frustrations over issues such as rising crime, a shortage of affordable housing, graffiti, ... overtourism — and fast-food stands." -...

The Last Small Town Movie Critic (Great Read)

"He fulfilled his dreams, save for being Spider-Man. He wanted to write and direct plays and movies. He wanted to do stand-up comedy. He wanted to be Roger Ebert. He just did it in one place." - Poynter

Lourdes Portillo, Director Of ‘The Devil Never Sleeps’ And A Visual Artist, Has Died At 80

The documentary filmmaker " ocused her work on writing, directing and producing film and videos that centered the emotions and circumstances of Latin American, Mexican and Chicano experiences,” including Las Madres: The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo. - Variety

Sir Andrew Davis, Conductor Who Brought Humor To The Last Night Of The BBC Proms, Has Died At 80

Davis was both chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the musical conductor of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in the 1990s. In 1997, just after Princess Diana was killed in a car crash, his final Proms speech helped the audience process their grief. - The Telegraph (UK) (MSN)

Actor Alfred Molina Has Fallen For New York

And New Yorkers love an actor who is moving to Broadway from Hollywood; though Molina has been nominated for three Tony Awards, it’s been 15 years since he was on a New York stage. But let him explain why he loves the city, including the secret to “the best breakfast in New York." -...

AJ Premium Classifieds

Executive Director – Voices of Ascension

The Executive Director will collaborate with the Artistic Director and program chairs to ensure successful program delivery and with the Board of Directors

Executive Director – Cantabile Youth Singers of Silicon Valley

Seeking an entrepreneurial, strategic and creative business leader to contribute to this award-winning youth choir's next chapter of growth.

CFO- Arena Stage

The CFO is a critical member of the Senior Management Team and important ally to Arena’s co-leaders providing operational leadership and oversight in all matters of ongoing financial management, accounting and strategic business development.

Executive Director – Ballet Idaho

The Executive Director will work in a shared leadership relationship with the Artistic Director with both positions reporting to and working collaboratively with the Board of Directors.

Executive Director – Opening Act

The Executive Director will steward the organization with a love for theater and arts education combined with a talent for strategic leadership.

AJClassifieds

Biggs Museum seeks their next Executive Director

The Biggs achieves its vision and goals within the standards and best practices as an American Alliance of Museums accredited institution, including championing the next phase of expansion.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival Seeks Director of Production

The Director of Production will oversee the management of...

Payroll/HR Administrator, Mark Morris Dance Group

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION: This position supports the entire organization, interacting regularly...

Chief Executive Officer, Motown Museum

The CEO will be a dynamic, high-energy leader with a minimum of 10 years of strategic leadership experience.

Executive Director, Institute for Contemporary Art

The ICA has become a focal point of Richmond’s energetic arts district, serving as a nexus for creativity and inclusion, where innovative thinking and transformational ideas are drawn from a spectrum of disciplines.

Assistant Teaching Professor of Dance

The Department of Theatre & Dance at UC San Diego invites exceptional dance educators and dance makers who emphasize interdisciplinary methodologies and whose research is rooted in African and Afro-Diasporic experiences and practices that are varyingly multiracial, trans-geographic and intersectional.

FringeArts seeks CEO & Producing Director

The Chief Executive Officer and Producing Director (CEO & PD) will drive the organization’s next level of growth through a strategic evolution that enhances FringeArts’ impact and reach.

Chief Programming and Engagement Officer

Pittsburgh Cultural Trust (PCT or the Trust), one of the nation’s premier arts presenters and a major catalytic influence in the city of Pittsburgh, seeks a chief programming and engagement officer (CPEO).

What’s The Logical Endpoint Of Pop Culture’s Insane-And-Dangerous-Ballerina Trope? A Ballerina Vampire, Of Course!

"Unlike Black Swan, the darkly funny Abigail — which follows a band of kidnappers as they discover that their prisoner, supposedly an adolescent ballet student, is actually a centuries-old vampire — doesn’t aim for profundity. But entertainment-world depictions of ballet, even in campy romps like Abigail, carry weight." - The New York Times

St. Louis Public Radio Claims Immunity From Lawsuits For Defamation. You May Not Believe The Reason.

Sovereign immunity. St. Louis Public Radio claims immunity from lawsuits as an arm of the state of Missouri. - Riverfront Times (St. Louis)

Call Salvador Dali On His Lobster Phone To Ask An AI Dali Your Burning Questions

Cool and deeply creepy at the same time: “The artist's AI voice was trained on voice samples taken from archival interviews Dalí did in English over his career. (He spoke four languages — Catalan, Spanish, French and English — sometimes interchangeably.)” We’re ready for the four-language answers. - NPR

Indigenous Artists Win Top Prizes At Venice Biennale

“The exhibition’s top prizes both went to Indigenous artists, with the Golden Lion for the main curated exhibition going to the Mataaho Collective, which consists of four Māori women artists. ... The Golden Lion for the National Pavilion was given to Archie Moore (Kamilaroi/Bigambul), who was Australia’s representative." - ARTnews

When Inigo Philbrick And I Tried To Cut A Banksy Out Of The Wall It Was Painted On

Orlando Whitfield (as recounted in his new book): “I mean, this is great, but it’s on a fucking wall. A door was one thing, but this is different.” Philbrick: “I know. But it has to be doable, right? Has to be. Think of all those frescoes they move in Italy.” - The Guardian

How Harlem Stage Has Helped Create Choreography Careers

The series E-Moves is 25 years old now, and one of its "intended effects has been to take choreographers who work mainly ‘downtown,’ in white-dominated dance institutions, and bring them ‘uptown’ to Harlem." - The New York Times

Disastrous Decisions In The UK As Birmingham Council Slashes All Arts Funding

Birmingham is a bellwether for the UK. Nothing “could be more emblematic of the way that Britain currently devalues life: when we only focus on our most basic needs, dismissing leisure, art, literature and culture as something decadent and middle-class, we do ourselves an injustice.” - The Observer (UK)

Artist Faith Ringgold, Who Wove Black History Into Quilts And Books, Has Died At 93

“For more than a half-century, Ms. Ringgold explored themes of race, gender, class, family and community through a vast array of media, among them painting, sculpture, mask- and doll-making, textiles and performance art.” - The New York Times

The Long-Hidden Sexual Assault Scandal At The New York Phil

Even now, "some employees, particularly female employees, continue to feel unsafe. A current member of the orchestra told me about an incident this past February in which her male colleagues spoke negatively about Asian women performing with the orchestra." - Vulture (MSN)

Roberta Smith On 38 Years Of Art Criticism For The New York Times

"Critics need to be more flexible than artists. You have to be open to being changed and pushed into new directions. ... My main goal has always been to point out art that people would enjoy seeing, and to show them how I saw it and enjoyed it." - The New York Times

Fraud Fail: Musicians Are Seeing Their Music Being Taken Down From Streaming Services

Although distributors and streaming services frequently use language that places the blame on the artist for fraudulent activity detected on their accounts, it has become clear that artists are often caught in the middle of a crossfire between streaming services, distributors and fraudsters attempting to game the system for their own financial gain. - Variety

Librarians Under Threat Of Jail, Lawsuits In Trump 2nd-Term Agenda

In the foreword to Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for a possible second Donald Trump administration, it says “people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders.” - AP
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