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- New York’s Arts Ed Programs Are A Powerhouse For The City
Across the city, community-based arts education organizations employ thousands of music educators, teaching artists, arts therapists, accompanists and administrators — together, one of the city’s largest employers of working artists. New York’s real competitive advantage is the ability to attract and retain creative talent. But artists need reliable employment, benefits, professional networks and room to grow. – Crain’s New York
- The Ridiculous Claims For Trump’s Ballroom
The design is rapidly descending into parody—even as Sauer told the court it has been built so solidly that it cannot be demolished, should the court (correctly) so rule. Just like the “unsinkable” Titanic. The ridiculous grand stair from nowhere to nowhere has reappeared on the prominent elevation facing President’s Park. – Architecture and the City
- YouTube’s Growing TV Presence
Love it or hate it, with its viewing figures fast overtaking traditional broadcasters’, YouTube is now undeniably a part of the U.K.’s broadcasting ecosystem. – Variety
- NY Governor Cancels Law Requiring Licenses To Dance
“Dancing? Banned? In New York?! Not anymore,” Hochul said. “Thanks to my administration, you can now cut loose, footloose and kick off your Sunday shoes.” – New York Daily News (Yahoo)
- How Social Media Changed The Ways We Remember
There were ups and downs in the stories I saw people telling, but the trajectory I observed most frequently was an upward one. Growth, expansion, improvement, overcoming. Vacations as burnishments to the image. Illnesses as stress tests, ways of ultimately proving fitness. – The Walrus
- AI Paul Gigot Responds To WSJ Opinion Page Editor Paul Gigot
“I have been thinking about this for close to 20 minutes, and I have concluded that human writing is finished.” – The Atlantic
- The Problem That Can’t (Currently) Be Fixed At The Kennedy Center
Each new development and court filing in opposition makes the same structural problem clearer: A judge can restrain the board’s actions time and time again, but “if the problem is a governance problem, there is not much that a court can do.” – The Atlantic
- Why Dictators Fear “Common Knowledge”
The difference between private knowledge, even when widely shared, and common knowledge is not a mere logical nicety. It can unify knowers in coordinated action and sometimes explode a social status quo. – Persuasion
- Why We Love Trashy Movies
The movies in the good-because-bad canon are not forgettably bad, like cheesy Hallmark fare or the thousandth predictable sequel in a superhero franchise; they are not skillfully and expensively bad, like botched Oscar bait. – The New Yorker
- Why “Star Trek” Still Resonates 60 Years Later
From its very first broadcast episode on September 8 1966, Star Trek established that its true subject was the exploration of humanity itself. – The Conversation
- Kennedy Center Board Says It Will Delay Putting Trump’s Name Back On The Building
The announcement followed an emergency court hearing prompted by a Justice Department filing this week warning that the Kennedy Center could be demolished and potentially replaced with an outdoor amphitheater if the board is not allowed to close the building for two years for repairs. – ARTnews
- Leader Of Sydney’s Biggest Culture Project This Century, Resigns Ten Weeks Before Opening
Since her 2018 appointment, Havilah has been overseeing the $915 million build of Powerhouse Parramatta—the city’s most significant cultural infrastructure project since the Sydney Opera House, which opened in 1973 for an estimated cost of AU$102 million. – ARTnews
- How Dolly Parton Became An Empire
She starred in movies and invested in property and wrote children’s books, sold cake mix and jeans and doggy toys. Dollywood, the theme park she launched in 1986, was an economic engine that generated thousands of jobs in the Eastern part of Tennessee. – The Wall Street Journal
- Robert Indiana’s Home To Be Sold
After Indiana’s death, the Star of Hope Foundation began to transform the old lodge as a public art space. But now it plans to put the building and another one he owned on the market as the foundation shifts from focusing on managing the properties into directly supporting art and cultural initiatives on Vinalhaven. – The New York Times
- Making Books The Old Fashioned Way
Arion bills itself as the only printer in the country that makes books entirely by hand under one roof, from casting metal type to printing pages to binding them together into exquisite volumes prized by collectors. – The New York Times
- Critics Blast Met Museum For Honoring Disgraced Fashion Designer
John Galliano, who transformed Dior into a global powerhouse before his disgrace, is scheduled to be the subject of a nine-month exhibition sponsored by the Met’s Costume Institute. – The New York Times
- What Happened To Philadelphia’s Arts Funding?
“Philadelphia experienced the greatest contraction of all of the cities that we were looking at. It has gone from 7 percent of local government coverage of expenses in 2019 down to 1 percent in 2024.” – Philadelphia Citizen
- What We Learned About The Harms Of Social Media From The $17B Meta Settlement
Internal documents show Meta knew for years that its youngest users were the most likely to be targeted by bullies, extortionists and sexual predators. – Los Angeles Times
- Neil Barclay talks about preparing the next generation of C-Suite leaders in the arts
Neil Barclay, President & CEO of the Wright Museum, talks about the critical process of preparing the next generation of leaders for C-Suite roles.
- “Aura Farming” Has Become Young Latin Americans’ New Favorite Dance Sport
“The contests appear to be designed for virality, with young competitors often demonstrating exaggerated versions of popular TikTok dance moves for the audience. Outrageousness seems to be the point of these battles, which have no apparent criteria, judges, or rules. Instead, contestants compete for crowd reaction and are rewarded with attention.” – CNN (MSN)
- The Very Definition Of Kitsch
In one moment, you see children playing on the grass, and you are genuinely moved. In the second moment, you see the children playing, and you think how nice it would be to be moved. The latter is the substance of kitsch. – 3 Quarks Daily
- A Ukrainian “Odyssey” — Kyiv Theater Reimagines Homer Amid Today’s War
The play, titled Odysseus, Maeotis (an ancient name for the Sea of Azov), is performed by a mix of professional actors and active-duty soldiers. Says serviceman Daniil Mireshkin, who plays Odysseus. “This combination of myth and modernity allows us to … understand just how critical the question of return is.” – AP
- Group Chats: Our Own Little Neighborhoods
In one chat that I share with literary friends, we sometimes joke that after we’re all dead, if historians try to unearth our correspondence, they will find only this sprawling, years-long museum of absurdities. – The New Yorker
- Worries Over The Unrealities Of Social Media Echo Ancient Greek Fears Over Theatre
As research, including my own, into this breadth of ancient media production has developed over time, one theme has emerged again and again: as theatrical performance grew into a cultural staple, it was accompanied by the fear that just as art imitates life, so art could overcome reality itself. – The Conversation
- Lessons From The Edinburgh Fringe: How To Manage Controversy
At a time when mainstream media coverage of festivals such as Edinburgh has shrunk significantly, her debut inevitably pulled headlines towards the infamy of one performer and risked becoming the token fringe story – the celebrity whom everybody outside the festival bubble recognises. – The Stage
- “Terrifying Sleepwalking, Memory Loss” — “Reading Rainbow” Host Mychal Threets Really Wasn’t Okay
The beloved librarian and host of the kids’ TV show reboot, Threets made news earlier this week when he said on social media “I am not okay” and checked into a psychiatric hospital. Now he has revealed some details of how he’s been suffering and what his diagnoses are. – San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
- Hollywood Battles Over AI Voice Clones
Big, established names are using it to make more money. Non-stars say the number of jobs has plummeted and that they are being tricked into training their replacements. – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
- “Aesthetically Terrifying”? What US State Department’s Removal Of A Painting Is Really About
“It was very woke,” Dan Scavino explained. “It was by the gentleman who did Obama’s portrait. And it was aesthetically terrifying.” Strong words for a group portrait of four fully dressed, largely expressionless sitters in front of a background adorned with flowers. – The New York Times
- A Fight Over Frida Kahlo And Access
The fight about these priceless works — where they should remain and who can have access to them — is really a battle over cultural patrimony and national sovereignty, and it’s one the Mexican government seems to have forfeited. – The New York Times
- Soprano Anny Schlemm, Who Went From Operetta And Mozart To Wagner And Strauss, Has Died At 97
“One of the most distinctive features of Schlemm’s career” — which ran from the 1940s to the 1990s — “was the evolution of her voice and repertoire. Having begun with lyric soprano roles, she gradually moved into dramatic soprano and mezzo-soprano territory, while becoming particularly admired for her abilities as a singing actress.” – Moto Perpetuo
- Heist Of Spanish Museum’s Bronze Age Gold Took Four Minutes
The raid on Thursday morning of the 66 mostly gold objects in the Spanish town of Villena lasted just minutes, officials said. – The Guardian
- A Turning Point In The Battles Over AI Writing
“Many contributors, especially prominent politicians or CEOs, employ speechwriters or hire a Beltway writing shop,” he wrote. “How different is that from using AI to streamline an essay?” – The Atlantic
- Why Andy Warhol Couldn’t Get Dolly Right
Parton’s astuteness may have extended to art, if it’s true she was disappointed by her Warhol portrait. – The New York Times
- After All This, Emily Wilson Is Retranslating The Odyssey From Scratch
“She says her translation methods have become more sophisticated and that enough time has passed for her to see some flaws in her work. … The new edition will be longer, she says, and will better reflect the differing social worlds of Homer’s poem.” – AP
- Today In European Museum Robberies: 200-Carat Diamond Necklace Stolen In Vienna
The platinum necklace with 673 diamonds, originally made for Egypt’s royal family and reportedly worth more than $4 million, was taken in a smash-and-grab at Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts. But at least the thieves paid for their tickets. – AFP (Yahoo!)