A Year In The Life Of An Art Critic
"In which one writer, ARTnews Executive Editor Andrew Russeth, attempts to narrate life in the New York art world over the course of one full season, from September 2017 to September 2018, with brief forays to Miami, New Orleans, Basel, Buffalo, San Francisco, and a few other places. Along the way, countless exhibitions are visited, performances are witnessed, museum protests are reported on, art fairs are tolerated, and celebrations of various kinds are attended. Meanwhile, all sorts of surprises come in over the transom." … Read More
US Senate Passes “Music Modernization Act”
ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews said: “Today’s unanimous passage of the Music Modernization Act in the Senate represents a Herculean industry-wide effort to promote and celebrate songwriters and ensure their right to a sustainable livelihood. We applaud Senators Hatch, Alexander, Grassley, Feinstein, Whitehouse, Coons and the entire Senate for recognizing the value music has in both society and our hearts.” … Read More
What’s Behind The Subgenre Of ‘Rock Star Romance’ Novels?
To figure it out, Rebecca Onion read a bunch of them: "Romance novels, as a genre, do a lot of thinking about the way power (wealth, intelligence, competence) drives attraction — for the women swooning over the male heroes, but also for the men themselves, who (in romance novels written recently, at least) often fall in love with heroines who can match their qualities of personal strength. Given that thematic interest, romance between civilians and stars is a natural fit. These rock stars are 'alphas' in the 'best at their jobs' sense; they need the women they meet to help them develop their private selves." … Read More
How Can Small-City Ballet Companies Develop Big Reputations? Here Are Answers From Three Who Did It
"Small- to medium-sized companies based in cities outside dance meccas ... are often written off as 'regional,' or somehow lesser than their big city counterparts. But in recent decades, a few have defied such categorization as they've gained traction on the national and international scene. So how does a company build an international profile without losing connection to its hometown? We asked the directors of Tulsa Ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and Sarasota Ballet to share their strategies." … Read More
Small Arts Groups Are Thriving In Salt Lake, And Local Gov’t Funding For Them May Change
"[Salt Lake County's] Zoo, Arts and Parks (ZAP) program will fund more groups than ever this year with $2.2 million split among 183 organizations ... [Program director Kristen] Darrington said the growing applicant pool for Tier II, up from 156 in 2016 and 171 last year, is a 'really good problem to have.' It reflects the increased sophistication of small arts programs and demand for cultural programming across the county." … Read More
Broadway Roulette: You Can Get Cheap Advance Tickets To A Show, But They Won’t Tell You Which One
Liz Durand Streisand's online platform — which is, in fact, called Broadway Roulette — is basically the Hotwire of theatre: producers, like airlines, may be willing to release discount tickets in order to sell seats, but they don't want the whole world to know that they're resorting to cutting prices. So the customer will specify a date and order tickets, but the actual show will be a surprise. … Read More
For The First Time, The Frick Collection Will Put New Artwork In Its Permanent Galleries
"The Frick Collection in New York will have its first-ever intervention by a contemporary artist in its permanent collection galleries next May, when the UK artist and writer Edmund de Waal will install site-specific porcelain works." … Read More
After Mysterious Backstage Episode, Former Florida Grand Opera Boss Withdraws From New San Diego Job And Stays In Miami
The La Jolla Music Society, which presents touring classical and dance artists in metro San Diego, announced in late July that Florida Grand Opera executive director Susan T. Danis would become the Society's CEO and lead its move into a new venue. Seven weeks later, following a "defamatory letter" about Danis that was sent to the La Jolla board, and later retracted, by a former FGO staffer, the vindicated Danis decided nevertheless to give up the job in La Jolla and remain at FGO. George Varga explains (as far as possible). … Read More
David DiChiera, Founder Of Michigan Opera Theatre And Key Figure In Revival Of Downtown Detroit, Dead At 83
"DiChiera was small of stature and surprisingly soft-spoken for a man who came to have such an enormous impact on Detroit's cultural landscape. Indeed, the word people used most often to describe him was 'kind,' followed quickly by more grandiose words like 'visionary,' 'groundbreaker' and 'risk-taker.' He was all that and more." … Read More
Boston Symphony Forced To Improvise Ending Of Its European Tour (Damn Airplanes!)
On Monday, the orchestra was at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris, waiting to depart for that evening's concert in Amsterdam, the final performance of the tour — only to find out that their chartered aircraft had mechanical problems and could not fly. No trains or buses were available for all 110 musicians (not counting staff and patrons) to get to Amsterdam in time: the only option was a 76-seat propeller plane. 76 musicians are not enough to perform Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony, the main work on the program. Zoë Madonna reports on what happened next. … Read More
David Adjaye Will Design Princeton’s New Art Museum
"This is the latest major commission for the Ghanian-British architect who has completed a bunch of high profile projects for civic and cultural institutions over the years; most notably, the acclaimed Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. He is currently overseeing a number of museum designs including the new home for the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art in Riga." … Read More
Annette Michelson, 95, Pioneering Film And Art Critic
"It is difficult to overstate the many ways in which Michelson contributed to both the film and the art worlds. She was among the first to teach at New York University's Cinema Studies department, which was among the first of its kind in the United States. And, with Rosalind Krauss, in 1976, she cofounded the journal October, which spurred on a widespread interest in critical theory — in particular the writings of French post-structuralists like Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida — within the New York art world of the 1970s and '80s." … Read More
Toledo Symphony And Toledo Ballet To Merge
"The Toledo Symphony and Toledo Ballet Association will merge the two organizations to create the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts or TAPA ... The new partnership will create an umbrella organization under which the two will serve as equal partners in a three-prong relationship that will also include an education component for the community." … Read More
In Troubled Iran, Audiences Are Packing Movie Theatres, Looking For Comic Relief
"Iranians are flocking to the cinema in record numbers, attracted by relatively affordable ticket prices and a slew of mood-lifting new comedies." One director compares the current Iranian movie boom to the screwball comedies popular in the U.S during the Great Depression: "The reason why people are flocking to watch comedies is because they're so depressed." … Read More
Investigation: How TicketMaster Manipulates Ticket Prices
A CBC News and Toronto Star investigation reveals how box-office behemoth Ticketmaster uses its own bag of tricks — which includes partnering with scalpers — to boost its profits at the expense of music fans. Data journalists monitored Ticketmaster's website for seven months leading up to this weekend's show at Scotiabank Arena, closely tracking seats and prices to find out exactly how the box-office system works. … Read More
Premium Classifieds
Master’s in Arts Management in NYC – for Active Performing Artists
The New School's MA in Arts Management & Entrepreneurship is designed for active performing artists seeking the business skills, strategies & inspiration to drive new careers in arts … [Read More]
Publicity Manager, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center seeks a creative, high energy Public Relations Manager, with proven success achieving consistent high visibility for a classical arts or other … [Read More]
Webinar – Wed, Sept 26 – Take a Closer Look at LiveNote®
Join us for a special tour of LiveNote® - the interactive performance guide for delivering commentary, translations, program notes, and images to audiences in real-time via mobile devices. Earlier … [Read More]
Executive Director, Onassis Foundation USA
Onassis Foundation USA, dedicated to promoting cross-cultural relations through the lens of Greek tradition, seeks a sophisticated and intellectual arts and cultural impresario to serve as Executive … [Read More]
French Protest Prize’s Inclusion Of Amazon Self-Published Book
Among the 17 titles in contention for this year’s Prix Renaudot is Marco Koskas’ Bande de Français, which was self-published on Amazon’s CreateSpace platform. According to the Syndicat de la librairie française, which represents French booksellers, the jury have put them in an impossible position. … [Read More]
Florida’s Norton Museum Of Art Picks A New Director
Elliot Bostwick Davis has been chair of the department of Art of the Americas at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for the past 18 years. During her tenure there, she oversaw the 2010 opening of the museum’s widely acclaimed Art of the Americas wing, which brought forth expansive notions of connectivity by juxtaposing American colonial art, a strength of the museum, with art from throughout Latin America, indigenous art, and art from pre-Colombian civilizations. … [Read More]
20-Year-Old American Wins Rebooted Leeds International Piano Competition
Musical rethinks, such as the addition of a chamber music round and contemporary music among the programme requirements, helped ensure that a more rounded and versatile musician was on show; finalists’ communication skills were further tested with the submission of a short written piece about their choice of repertoire. … [Read More]
Seattle Remembers Deceased Homeless People By Placing Engraved Bronze Leaves On Sidewalks
In all, 281 bronze leaves are in 15 locations around the city. They serve as headstones for those who all too often can’t afford them. The leaves are paid for by donations, engraved with names and dates, and usually placed on sidewalks near where their namesakes lived. The only requirement is that the remembered person was homeless in Seattle and also died in Seattle. … [Read More]
How Language Shapes Our Perceptions
In some vague, indescribable way, we feel something when we see the first group of words that we may not with regards to the second. Is it just cultural, poetic, or linguistic prejudice that makes us like a some words, and not others? Or is there some other story behind why some words seem to alienate us? … [Read More]
‘Ubu Roi In Hungary’ – Viktor Orbán Wages War On Country’s Arts Establishment
"In the pursuit of cultural hegemony, Viktor Orbán's Fidesz government has carried out a full-scale assault on the Hungarian cultural establishment, taking over funding bodies, defaming critics and putting loyalists in positions of influence. The result today is almost total conformity to the Hungarian nationalism of Fidesz and the sidelining of independent culture." … [Read More]
What Brazil Lost In The National Museum Fire
Many foreign correspondents have reached for analogies to give readers a sense of the disaster, but it’s hard to convey the museum’s significance: in addition to containing one of the richest collections of natural-history artifacts in the world, it was one of Latin America’s leading centers for postgraduate studies. It’s as if, in New York, the American Museum of Natural History and the New School, or a part of the Columbia campus, had been built on the same spot, and then was reduced to ashes. … [Read More]
Hoaxer Alan Abel Gets His Second New York Times Obit (And This Time He’s Really Dead)
"A master psychologist, keen strategist and possessor of an enviable deadpan and a string of handy aliases, Mr. Abel had an almost unrivaled ability to divine exactly what a harried news media wanted to hear and then give it to them, irresistibly gift-wrapped. ... He was, the news media conceded with a kind of irritated admiration, an American original in the mold of P. T. Barnum, a role model whom Mr. Abel reverently acknowledged." … [Read More]
Researchers: There Are Four Basic Personality Types
In a report published Monday in the journal Nature Human Behavior, researchers at Northwestern University in Illinois identify four personality types: reserved, role models, average and self-centered. The new approach was nothing like the basis for widely used personality tests such as the Myers-Briggs, which spits out a personality type with acronyms like INTJ, for introversion-intuition-thinking-judgment, or ESFP (that’s extrovert-sensing-feeling-perceiving). … [Read More]
‘Quantum Blue’, A New High-Tech Azure Pigment, Is On Its Way To Market
"The new color uses nanotechnology to achieve an exceptionally pure hue of blue that is best seen under ultraviolet (UV) light, which gives it an otherworldly, radioactive glow. (Without UV lighting, it has an unremarkable off-white appearance.) The key components of the futuristic blue are quantum dots: tiny semiconductor particles usually measuring no more than one millionth of an inch in size." … [Read More]