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  • One More Bay Area Theater Company Closes Up Shop

    “Central Works, which has been making new plays in Berkeley for 36 years, plans to close at the end of its 2026 season with the retirement of co-directors Gary Graves and Jan Zvaifler.” They tried to find successors, but nobody wanted to work that hard for that little money. – San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)

  • San Diego Mayor’s Proposed Budget Cuts Arts Funding By 85%

    “The proposed budget (reduces arts spending) from $13.8 million to just about $2 million, eliminating all funds under the city’s two grant-making arms. … The remaining $2 million will essentially keep open the city’s Cultural Affairs Department, whose staff oversee the public art program and grant-making process.” – The San Diego Union-Tribune (MSN)

  • Former Manager Of Fresno Arts Council Confesses To Embezzling $1.8 Million

    Suliana Caldwell will plead guilty to one count of wire fraud and pay restitution. She admitted to making repeated unauthorized transfers of city taxpayer money intended for arts funding to her personal PayPal and bank accounts and to falsifying financial documents to hide her theft. – Fresnoland

  • BBC Announces Mass Layoffs

    “The BBC said Wednesday that it plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs to save 10% of its annual budget — £500 million ($677 million) — over the next two years. … The (broadcaster) said earlier this year that it faced ‘substantial financial pressures’ and wanted to cut about a tenth of its budget by 2029.” – AP

  • Entire Teams Are Being Eliminated In Disney’s Mass Layoffs

    Among those let go are 20 people from the company’s publicity departments, as well as the entire home entertainment and EPK teams. On the digital marketing side, positions at every level, including senior vice president, were eliminated. Layoffs have also occurred throughout the Marvel division due to a reduced production slate. – TheWrap (MSN)

  • The Met Museum Is In The Middle Of A $1.5 Billion Renovation

    One wing has already been renovated; another is being built; galleries will be renewed and rehung; new retail and dining areas are coming; infrastructure will be improved. And it’s all happening within the museum’s current footprint and while the visitors keep coming. – The New York Times

  • British Government Approves Purchase Of Telegraph Newspaper

    “Axel Springer’s planned £575 million takeover of Telegraph Media Group has been approved by the UK Government. It is still awaiting regulatory approval in Ireland and Austria (due to there being a lower threshold for competition concerns in those countries although there is no expectation of any impact there).” – Press Gazette (UK)

  • Born in the DSA*: “The American Dream” Evolved Into the Cruelest, Most Dangerous Con Ever Played
    What a grift. It only exists to make folks feel worthless, angry, and divisive. As such, it’s the perfect tactic to sow national unrest.
  • A Jury Just Called Ticketmaster What Everyone Else Already Did

    Good Morning

    Sometimes the moral arc of the universe does begin to bend in the right direction. A federal jury has ruled that Ticketmaster and Live Nation operate an illegal monopoly in the ticketing market — a finding that directly rebukes the DOJ settlement reportedly ordered by President Trump just last month (Variety). The question now isn’t whether they’re a monopoly. It’s what anyone is going to do about it.

    Meanwhile, the fight over who controls access keeps showing up everywhere. Theater owners are pushing back hard against the Paramount/Warner merger, warning it will concentrate too much power over what gets shown on American screens (Los Angeles Times). We hear that that letter signed by 1000 Hollywood industry people protesting the deal has now surged past 3000. And the V&A quietly deleted images from its own exhibition catalogues because its Chinese printer flagged them as violating Chinese censorship laws (The Guardian). A British museum, editing itself for Beijing.

    On the survival front: the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, three weeks from shutting down, has been acquired by the nonprofit behind The Baltimore Banner (Nieman Lab). Hampshire College wasn’t as lucky — the experimental liberal arts school is closing for good (WBUR).

    And Jackie Chan is directing Turandot. With martial arts. Each character gets a warrior incarnation. Puccini would have had questions.

    All of our stories below.

    • – Doug
  • A Dynastic Succession In The Kabuki Theater World Is A Dramatic Affair

    “Handing down a name over generations is a central part of the traditional Japanese artform, … and that ceremony gets celebrated at theaters and special events every few years. Now, the ritual is taking place with the eighth Kikugoro, who is having that honor passed down from his 83-year-old father, the seventh Kikugoro.” – AP

  • The Pressure To Go Viral: These Days You Can’t Be An Artist Without It

    All of a sudden, chefs, lawyers, podcasters, critics – all people with jobs once associated with an off-camera existence – are turning the lens on themselves. Even film director Werner Herzog, a once proud non-social media user, is now sizzling steaks and doing unboxing videos to camera. – The Guardian

  • France Passes Law To Expedite Return Of Looted Artworks

    “The bill aims to simplify the return of cultural property taken illegally from France’s former colonies, particularly focusing on items taken between 1815 and 1972 — the year UNESCO’s convention for the protection of cultural heritage came into force.” – Euronews

  • Man Wins $1.2M Picasso In Christie’s Raffle

    “How do I know this isn’t a prank?” the 58-year-old asked when he was told he was the new owner of the 1941 work by the Spanish master. Organisers said more than 120,000 tickets for the prize draw were sold at €100 (£87; $118) each, raising around €11m (£10m; $13m) for Alzheimer’s research. – BBC

  • Why Movie Theatre Owners Are Fighting The Paramount/Warner Deal

    “Further concentrating marketplace power in the hands of a smaller group of distributors that dictate the terms, windows, scheduling, screen-placement of movies, and access to historic film catalogs will have a real and lasting impact on Main Street and millions of movie fans around the world.” – Los Angeles Times

  • I Survived A Year Inside Stephen King’s Archives

    This book is Caroline Bicks’s account of what happened when King gave her permission to spend a year in his archive, poring over the drafts of five of his most popular novels, including Pet Sematary, The Shining and Carrie. Bicks’s particular aim is to spot what she calls King’s “biblio‑magic” in action. – The Guardian

  • At This Point, Alec Baldwin Just Wants To Retire

    The accidental shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust, the two (unsuccessful) prosecutions in New Mexico, finishing the film in another state — it all took a huge toll on Baldwin, financially as well as psychologically and physically. – The Hollywood Reporter

  • What 100 Years Of Data Shows Us About Who Gets Guggenheim Grants

    If 100 years of data are any indication, then an outsized share of the new recipients work at the most renowned universities in the US. Over time and across fellowships, the high prevalence of winners from well-resourced, high-status institutions can understandably bring to mind Percy Bysshe Shelley’s adage that “the rich have become richer.” – PublicBooks

  • Millions Of People Are Pretending To Be Chatbots, And Making… Art

    The site forces its human users to approximate the speed at which a machine would return a response; there’s a 75-second time limit. So drawings, created with a mouse or finger on a trackpad, have a necessarily slapdash look. – NPR

  • Action Star Jackie Chan To Direct… Puccini?

    Chan, known for films like Rush Hour and Rumble in the Bronx, will introduce martial arts into the storytelling as a means of emotional expression. Each character will be given a warrior incarnation to represent their inner strength and desires. – Theatre Mania

  • Move Over, Nollywood, Nigeria Has A Second Thriving Movie Industry

    Nigeria’s film ecosystem is known mostly for Nollywood, the industry headquartered in Lagos. In the largely Muslim north of the country, however, there’s Kannywood, based in Kano, where moviemakers with modest means churn out an amazing number of productions, all while dealing with strict censors. – The New York Times

  • Two Major Atlanta Museums Ponder Their Place In The City

    The two museums now share a similar challenge: to reach across racial, economic, educational and even geographic lines to feel vital and necessary to a vast cross-section of people who constitute Atlanta. And to do so at a time when it seems there is more competition for attention and resources than ever before. – The New York Times

  • The Decades-Old Little Box That Has Fans Raving About The Guitar Again

    The quest to achieve the “Mk.gee tone” spawned a series of “How Does He Make His Guitar Sound Like That?” YouTube videos; musicians compared notes on Discord servers and Reddit threads. – The Atlantic

  • Victoria & Albert Museum Deleted Images From Catalogues That Violated Chinese Censorship Laws

    The Victoria and Albert Museum has agreed to requests by the Chinese printing company to delete maps and images from at least two recent exhibition catalogues, according to documents released to the Guardian after freedom of information requests. – The Guardian

  • Philadelphia Ballet Gives Its Long-Awaited New Home A Test Run

    “Dancers danced at the company’s new North Broad Street building for the first time. Even as construction workers continued their own choreography of spackling and power-driving screws, company dancers could be seen in a large, glassy, sunlight-filled studio working out movements for an upcoming run of Romeo and Juliet.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

  • Ex-COO Of Atlanta’s High Museum Of Art Pleads Not Guilty To Theft Charges

    “On Tuesday, during (Brady) Lum’s arraignment in federal court in Atlanta, the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia accused Lum of manipulating financial records and authorizing illegitimate purchases for his personal benefit, including high-end musical instruments, private lessons, and workshop equipment.” – ARTnews

  • This 95-Second Scene Change At The Met Opera Is An Astounding Feat Of Coordination

    In the company’s staging of Kaija Saariaho’s opera Innocence, seven stage managers, four prop masters, and a big flock of stagehands transform the set from a decorated wedding-banquet hall into a blood-spattered high-school classroom in a minute and a half — and they do it while the set is rotating. – The New York Times

  • Kennedy Center Boss: See? We Really Do Need To Renovate!

    “Matt Floca, the new executive director and COO, is leading tours this month that show water damage and intrusion to expansion joints, marble slabs and exterior pavers. Participants are guided through the building’s water and HVAC systems, as well as the parking garages and loading docks said to need repairs.” – AP

  • Hampshire College Will Shut Down At End Of Year

    “Founded in 1965, and opening its doors to students five years later as a campus determined to ‘radically reimagine liberal arts education,’ the small liberal arts college (in Amherst, Mass.) started facing significant financial headwinds seven years ago.” – WBUR (Boston)

  • Performing Arts Touring In England Is “In Crisis” And Needs “Radical Rethink”: Report

    “A report commissioned by Arts Council England finds that touring is ‘in crisis’, though ‘not entirely broken’, given some parts of the sector, such as large-scale commercial touring in major cities, are going ‘from strength to strength’. However, touring to smaller and mid-scale venues is ‘increasingly unsustainable’.” – Arts Professional (UK)

  • Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Is Saved, Three Weeks Before It Was To Close

    “The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, the nonprofit parent organization of The Baltimore Banner, reached an agreement with Block Communications to acquire the I, which was slated to shut down in May.” – Nieman Lab

  • Other Legacy U.S. Newspapers Which Have Gone Nonprofit

    So far, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is the fourth large one (not including The Philadelphia Inquirer, which remains for-profit itself though it is owned by a nonprofit organization). – AP

  • Jury Rules Ticketmaster and LiveNation Are Illegal Monopolies

    The ruling is essentially a rebuke to the Department of Justice’s settlement with Live Nation last month — reportedly ordered directly by President Donald Trump — in which the company agreed to a series of structural changes to its business, including changes to ticketing deals with venues, capping certain service fees, and paying a $280 million fine. – Variety

  • Director of Development

    Playwrights Horizons – Director of Development

    Organizational Summary:

    Playwrights Horizons is a writer’s theater committed to the advancement of bold and visionary contemporary playwrights, through the development and production of daring new work and the education of future theatermakers. In a city rich with cultural offerings, Playwrights Horizons’ 55-year-old mission is unique among theaters of its size; the organization has distinguished itself by a steadfast commitment to centering the voice of the playwright. It’s a mission that is always timely, and one that’s necessary in the ongoing evolution of theater in this country. By expanding the U.S. theater canon with a wider range of voices, Playwrights Horizons aims to be a home for the exploration of playwriting and an anti-racist center of curiosity, dialogue, and artistic risk.

    Reports to:
    Managing Director

    Position Summary:

    Playwrights Horizons, an award-winning Off-Broadway theater located in the heart of Manhattan, seeks a dynamic, strategic and collaborative Director of Development to lead a high-performing advancement team and help shape the organization’s next phase of growth.

    This is a role for a creative and strategic fundraising leader who wants to build and shape an ambitious, forward-looking development program. The Director will drive strategy across individual and institutional giving, events, board engagement, and campaign planning efforts, playing a central role in shaping and leading Playwrights Horizons’ next major campaign, currently in its quiet phase and anticipated to launch publicly in the next year. There is meaningful opportunity here to expand the organization’s philanthropic reach, bring new ideas to life, and translate vision into tangible results.

    The Director will lead a team of five, including three direct reports, and serve as a key member of the senior leadership team. In close partnership with colleagues and the Board, they will help strengthen a culture of philanthropy that is deeply relational, future-focused, and positioned for sustained growth.

    Strategy/Leadership

    • Partner with the Managing Director, Artistic Director, Board of Trustees, and senior staff to develop and execute a comprehensive contributed revenue strategy aligned with the strategic plan and with a priority on long-term financial sustainability.
    • Advance a culture of philanthropy across the organization, helping staff and trustees engage meaningfully in fundraising activity.
    • Serve as an active member of the senior management team, contributing to organizational planning, strategic initiatives, and institutional decision-making.
    • Identify and develop new philanthropic and mission-aligned revenue streams that support artistic ambition and organizational resilience.
    • Build strong cross-departmental relationships to ensure alignment between fundraising strategy, institutional messaging, and programmatic priorities.
    • Provide insight and recommendations related to institutional advancement, including board development, audience engagement, institutional visibility, and partnerships.
    • Ensure that development strategies reflect current best practices and respond to evolving trends in philanthropy and arts funding.

    Fundraising and Campaign Leadership

    • Provide strategic leadership for the Campaign for Playwrights Horizons, working in close partnership with campaign leadership and the Board to achieve campaign goals and advance institutional priorities.
    • Oversee annual contributed revenue efforts across individuals, foundations, corporations, government agencies, and special events.
    • Design and build a Major Gifts program leveraging campaign success into long-term philanthropic support
    • Collaborate with Marketing and Communications to ensure strong alignment of messaging and donor-facing materials.
    • Identify opportunities to expand philanthropic support through new initiatives, partnerships, and engagement strategies.
    • Ensure thoughtful stewardship practices that deepen long-term donor relationships and position Playwrights Horizons as a philanthropic priority.

    Board Relations

    • Partner with the Managing Director and Board leadership to activate a highly engaged, 34-member Board of Trustees as a powerful driver of philanthropic growth.
    • Leverage the Board’s deep commitment and networks to expand fundraising reach, strengthen relationships, and advance campaign and annual giving goals.
    • Support the ongoing evolution of the Board by identifying, recruiting, and onboarding trustees whose experience, networks, and commitment align with the organization’s ambitions.
    • Work closely with the Campaign Committee, Development Committee, and Nominating & Governance Committee to shape strategy, set ambitious goals, and drive coordinated donor and prospect engagement, in partnership with the Board Liaison.
    • Serve as a trusted advisor to trustees, equipping them with the strategy, tools, and confidence to actively engage in cultivation and solicitation efforts.

    Management/Operations

    • Lead and mentor a team of five development professionals, including three direct reports, fostering a collaborative, supportive, and high-performing work environment.
    • Establish clear performance goals for team members and provide coaching, feedback, and professional development support.
    • Develop short- and long-range plans to meet and exceed contributed revenue goals (currently $5M annually) as defined in the organization’s strategic plan
    • Ensure strong data management practices that support strategic decision-making, donor research, and relationship management.
    • Oversee the effective use of Tessitura and related systems to support prospect tracking, reporting, stewardship, and campaign activity, with support from our Senior Tessitura Data and Operations Manager.
    • Strengthen systems and processes to support data integrity, transparency, and cross-departmental collaboration.
    • Prepare and manage departmental budget and contributed revenue projections in partnership with the Finance team.
    • Ensure strong internal coordination and clear timelines to support successful execution of fundraising initiatives.

    Ideal Skills and Experience:

    • Minimum of 10 years of progressive fundraising experience, including experience managing and developing high-performing teams.
    • Demonstrated success cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major donors and institutional funders, with a relational and values-driven approach.
    • Experience leading or contributing significantly to a capital or comprehensive campaign.
    • Track record of developing innovative revenue strategies and identifying new philanthropic opportunities including sponsorship.
    • Strong strategic thinking skills, with the ability to translate institutional priorities into clear, actionable fundraising plans that drive results
    • Commitment to collaborative leadership, with a high degree of adaptability, curiosity, and comfort navigating complexity across teams and stakeholders.
    • Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, including the ability to build trust, inspire others, and bring a sense of humor and humanity to the work
    • Experience working with or knowledge of the New York City philanthropic community and arts funding landscape preferred.
    • Strong organizational and analytical skills, including experience using donor databases to support strategic decision-making.
    • Experience with Tessitura or similar CRM systems strongly preferred.
    • Proficiency in Google Workspace or comparable tools.
    • Willingness to work occasional evenings and weekends in support of events and donor engagement.
    • Alignment with Playwrights Horizons’ core values, including a demonstrated commitment to anti-racism, equity, and inclusive fundraising practices.

    Compensation, Benefits and Travel:

    Benefits:

    • Playwrights Horizons is committed to supporting the well-being of its staff and offers a comprehensive benefits package including 15 days (three weeks) of vacation, four personal days, 10 sick days, and many paid Holiday office closures. Employees have access to individual medical, dental, and vision coverage, with various plan options available through Oxford Health Plans. Playwrights Horizons partially subsidizes health and dental insurance and provides vision insurance at no charge to employees. Our benefits package further includes life insurance policy, a 403b retirement plan, and flexible spending accounts for medical, dental, and dependent care expenses. Other perks include an employee assistance provider (EAP), health reimbursement account, pre-tax transit benefits for transportation expenses, and complimentary and staff-rate tickets to our productions.

    Travel:

    Playwrights Horizons currently operates on a hybrid-work schedule, requiring a minimum of three (3) days per week on site. Additionally, this role includes occasional evening and weekend work, as well as travel in support of events, donor engagement, and the organization’s broader community.

    Salary:

    The salary range for this position is between $95,000-$150,000 per year, commensurate with experience.

    Values Statement:

    Playwrights Horizons is committed to building a more just future for everyone—particularly those from historically oppressed communities, by employing a broad spectrum of voices that will enrich the quality and vitality of our work. Playwrights Horizons is an equal opportunity employer that has a strong institutional commitment to uprooting all systems of oppression by demonstrative equitable and inclusive practices.

    The organization is interested in receiving applications from people of all races, sexual orientations, gender identities, ages, classes, religions, and people with disabilities. The facilities at Playwrights Horizons are fully accessible and ADA compliant.

    To Apply:

    Please submit your application materials to our portal HERE. No phone calls please.

    Full link to application; https://form.asana.com/?k=J0i34-F2M5IhmJI5J1IGrA&d=17022989146991

    Priority Consideration Deadline: Friday, April 28th, 2026 (applications received by this date will be reviewed first and guaranteed equal consideration). After April 28th applications will be accepted but considered only on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

    We expect first round interviews to occur in Mid-May. Semi-finalists will meet with Casey York, Managing Director and another team member, approximately late May or early June with a final round aiming to be in mid to late June with members of the senior staff, development department, and Board. An offer is expected to be made by the end of June with an ideal start date of August 3, 2026.

    Our outgoing Development Director, Ben Weisman, is transitioning into a newly created position Director of Strategic Partnerships to focus on a portfolio of Earned Revenue initiatives, and will be available to meet with semi-finalists during the process and to help onboard the new Director of Development.

    MORE

  • The Trump-As-Jesus Image Conveyed More Than He Realized: Philip Kennicott

    “Among those messages: a palpable sense of desperation. In the rapid and angry response to the meme, one sensed a coalition beginning to crack, and in the message itself — unfiltered, offensive and unhinged — one sensed the instability of the man who disseminated it.” – The Washington Post (MSN)

  • New Contemporary Art Museum In Indianapolis Aims To Reinvent The Form

    The $13 million campus, which spans five acres, includes a Vegas-style, chicken-themed wedding chapel, a radio station, a contemporary art gallery with a coffee shop, an amphitheater, a sculpture park and 18 colorful, affordable houses for resident artists and their families. – The New York Times