Documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman died yesterday at 96 — forty-seven films in fifty-six years, most of them about institutions under stress. The New Yorker makes the case that no one in his generation comes close (The New Yorker). He would have had plenty of material today.
The Fresno Arts Council is under investigation for $1.5 million in alleged embezzlement, and the city has stripped it of its grant-making authority (The Fresno Bee). The UK’s National Gallery — 4 million visitors a year — is cutting staff, which one analysis says signals a structural funding crisis across British arts (The Conversation). And Grand Rapids Ballet has dismissed its executive director after less than two years (Crain’s Grand Rapids Business).
Judy Chicago has walked away from a Google commission in Chicago, calling the experience “a nightmare” (Chicago Sun-Times). Meanwhile the Irish Times announces that — for the first time in 167 years — subscriptions now fully fund the newsroom, no advertising required (Press Gazette). The Writers Guild of America’s own staff is striking against the union (The Hollywood Reporter).
All of our stories below.
