AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Good Morning
After decades of hiding in plain sight, Banksy has apparently been unmasked. A Reuters investigation took reporters from Ukraine to London to Manhattan, and claims to have found more than just a name (Reuters).
Bodytraffic, one of LA’s finest contemporary dance companies, is closing after 20 years — its founder burned out on fundraising (Los Angeles Times). The Boston Philharmonic will shutter after next season when Benjamin Zander, now 87, finally retires (Boston Classical Review). Classical Music magazine, going since the late 1970s, is done (Slipped Disc). And Richard Grenell is out at the Kennedy Center, which he leaves “drastically changed, and in many ways diminished” (The New York Times).
Something that should have happened sooner: Harvard finally surrendered the oldest known photographs of enslaved people — 1850 daguerreotypes — to the International African-American Museum in Charleston, after a seven-year legal fight (AP).
All of our stories below.
- Richard Grenell Out At The Kennedy Center
He leaves behind an institution that is drastically changed, and in many ways diminished, from a year ago, when Mr. Trump installed himself as chairman and filled the board with loyalists as he moved to put his imprint on the center, including what appeared on its stages. – The New York Times
- The First-Ever Film About Robots Has Been Rediscovered. It Was Made In 1897.
“A copy of Gugusse and the Automaton, an 1897 short made by legendary film pioneer George Méliès, was discovered by a man in Grand Rapids, Mich., in a box of films that had been owned by his great-grandfather. The Library of Congress revealed the find on its blog (last month).” – San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
- Eight Projects By This Year’s Pritzker Prize Winning Architect
Following the news that Smiljan Radić has won this year’s delayed Pritzker Architecture Prize, we round up eight projects from the Chilean architect’s experimental career. – Dezeen
- World Café Live In Philadelphia Files For Bankruptcy, Changes Name
The venue, named after popular a public radio music show, has been in turmoil for a year, since a new management team led by CEO Joe Callahan took over from founder Hal Real. What’s now called World Stage still faces a pile of unpaid rent, tax and utility bills. – The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
ISSUES
- Eight Projects By This Year’s Pritzker Prize Winning Architect
Following the news that Smiljan Radić has won this year’s delayed Pritzker Architecture Prize, we round up eight projects from the Chilean architect’s experimental career. – Dezeen
- Why Aren’t Frank Lloyd Wright Houses Selling?
The architect’s passion for combining design and nature meant that many of his residences were built in rural areas. Because of their pedigree, they now tend to be among—if not the most—expensive property available in the communities in which they’re located. – Architectural Digest
- Oldest Surviving Photos Of Enslaved People Go To International African-American Museum
“The 1850 daguerreotypes, a precursor to modern-day photographs, are of an enslaved man named Renty, his daughter Delia and five others known as Jack, Drana, Alfred, Fassena and Jem. … Harvard University turned the photos over to the International African-American Museum in Charleston after a seven-year legal fight.” – AP
- What Happens When Art Experts And AI Disagree On Authentication?
Combining machine learning, deep neural networks and computer vision algorithms, Art Recognition’s approach can, in theory, be adapted to any painter with a big enough back catalog. To date, the company has produced models for more than 200 artists. – CNN
- The Art Market Grew In 2025. But…
The recovery, however, came with an asterisk. While auctions bounced back strongly, galleries barely budged, and much of the market’s growth came from a small number of very expensive works. – ARTnews
MEDIA
- Richard Grenell Out At The Kennedy Center
He leaves behind an institution that is drastically changed, and in many ways diminished, from a year ago, when Mr. Trump installed himself as chairman and filled the board with loyalists as he moved to put his imprint on the center, including what appeared on its stages. – The New York Times
- Calgary Is Making Enormous Investments In Arts And Culture. It Shows
“As we make our way to two million, there’s the 35,000-foot level where the role for artists to play is quite significant and very much needed. That’s more on the philosophical side: Why arts are a must-have, not a nice-to-have, in my opinion.” – Calgary Herald
- I Was A Recipient In Ireland’s Guaranteed Basic Income For Artists Scheme
Caelainn Hogan: “I am a freelance writer who, like most artists, has always had to work outside my creative focus to afford to live. … As such, the basic income was life-changing. Only months into the scheme, I found out I was pregnant.” – The Guardian
- Big Candy Makers Are Cutting Way Back On Cocoa In Their “Chocolates”
The climate crisis has caused devastated cacao farming in West Africa, causing huge price spikes and volatility in the cocoa commodity market — leading companies like Hershey’s and Cadbury, which manufacture inexpensive chocolate products for ordinary consumers, to start using other ingredients. – The Guardian
- What We Can Learn From Radical Access To The Arts
Access Fringe program at the Melbourne Fringe Festival is a 10-year partnership with Arts Access Victoria supporting d/Deaf and disabled artists through commissions, mentorships and specialised development programs. The initiative shows how embedding access into every space and conversation can lead to change across the entire cultural sector. – ArtsHub
MUSIC
- Why Competitive High School Scrabble Has Become A Mess
It’s not just because of the intensity of the competitors, though that counts for a lot. Stefan Fatsis recounts a contested play at last year’s North American championship and the confusion arising from — let’s call it a breakdown of lexical authority. – Unabridged
- There Are Fewer Than 10 Full Time Book Critics Left
By some measures, there are as many as 1 million books published annually in the US, and it’s a number that doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. The result is that there is intense competition for the small slice of the review landscape that remains. – Book Work
- Missing Page From Major Archimedes Manuscript Rediscovered In France
“A lost page from the Archimedes Palimpsest, among the oldest sources for the Greek mathematician in existence, has been discovered … at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Blois. The page in question contains geometric diagrams and a passage from Archimedes’s treatise on the sphere and the cylinder, hidden beneath a layer of later religious writings.” – Artnet
- The Global Elite Have Given Up On Spelling And Grammar
The literary breaches, while trivial, highlight a reality that has become all too clear: There’s an inverse correlation between power and proper punctuation. – The Wall Street Journal
- Simon & Schuster Hires Former Amazon Exec As New CEO
The choice of Greg Greeley marks the first time in memory that Simon & Schuster had hired a CEO from outside the company. The 62-year-old Greeley succeeds Jonathan Karp, who announced last year that he was stepping down to found his own imprint. – AP
PEOPLE
- Good Morning
After decades of hiding in plain sight, Banksy has apparently been unmasked. A Reuters investigation took reporters from Ukraine to London to Manhattan, and claims to have found more than just a name (Reuters).
Bodytraffic, one of LA’s finest contemporary dance companies, is closing after 20 years — its founder burned out on fundraising (Los Angeles Times). The Boston Philharmonic will shutter after next season when Benjamin Zander, now 87, finally retires (Boston Classical Review). Classical Music magazine, going since the late 1970s, is done (Slipped Disc). And Richard Grenell is out at the Kennedy Center, which he leaves “drastically changed, and in many ways diminished” (The New York Times).
Something that should have happened sooner: Harvard finally surrendered the oldest known photographs of enslaved people — 1850 daguerreotypes — to the International African-American Museum in Charleston, after a seven-year legal fight (AP).
All of our stories below.
- Richard Grenell Out At The Kennedy Center
He leaves behind an institution that is drastically changed, and in many ways diminished, from a year ago, when Mr. Trump installed himself as chairman and filled the board with loyalists as he moved to put his imprint on the center, including what appeared on its stages. – The New York Times
- The First-Ever Film About Robots Has Been Rediscovered. It Was Made In 1897.
“A copy of Gugusse and the Automaton, an 1897 short made by legendary film pioneer George Méliès, was discovered by a man in Grand Rapids, Mich., in a box of films that had been owned by his great-grandfather. The Library of Congress revealed the find on its blog (last month).” – San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
- Eight Projects By This Year’s Pritzker Prize Winning Architect
Following the news that Smiljan Radić has won this year’s delayed Pritzker Architecture Prize, we round up eight projects from the Chilean architect’s experimental career. – Dezeen
- World Café Live In Philadelphia Files For Bankruptcy, Changes Name
The venue, named after popular a public radio music show, has been in turmoil for a year, since a new management team led by CEO Joe Callahan took over from founder Hal Real. What’s now called World Stage still faces a pile of unpaid rent, tax and utility bills. – The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
PEOPLE
- Good Morning
After decades of hiding in plain sight, Banksy has apparently been unmasked. A Reuters investigation took reporters from Ukraine to London to Manhattan, and claims to have found more than just a name (Reuters).
Bodytraffic, one of LA’s finest contemporary dance companies, is closing after 20 years — its founder burned out on fundraising (Los Angeles Times). The Boston Philharmonic will shutter after next season when Benjamin Zander, now 87, finally retires (Boston Classical Review). Classical Music magazine, going since the late 1970s, is done (Slipped Disc). And Richard Grenell is out at the Kennedy Center, which he leaves “drastically changed, and in many ways diminished” (The New York Times).
Something that should have happened sooner: Harvard finally surrendered the oldest known photographs of enslaved people — 1850 daguerreotypes — to the International African-American Museum in Charleston, after a seven-year legal fight (AP).
All of our stories below.
- Richard Grenell Out At The Kennedy Center
He leaves behind an institution that is drastically changed, and in many ways diminished, from a year ago, when Mr. Trump installed himself as chairman and filled the board with loyalists as he moved to put his imprint on the center, including what appeared on its stages. – The New York Times
- The First-Ever Film About Robots Has Been Rediscovered. It Was Made In 1897.
“A copy of Gugusse and the Automaton, an 1897 short made by legendary film pioneer George Méliès, was discovered by a man in Grand Rapids, Mich., in a box of films that had been owned by his great-grandfather. The Library of Congress revealed the find on its blog (last month).” – San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
- Eight Projects By This Year’s Pritzker Prize Winning Architect
Following the news that Smiljan Radić has won this year’s delayed Pritzker Architecture Prize, we round up eight projects from the Chilean architect’s experimental career. – Dezeen
- World Café Live In Philadelphia Files For Bankruptcy, Changes Name
The venue, named after popular a public radio music show, has been in turmoil for a year, since a new management team led by CEO Joe Callahan took over from founder Hal Real. What’s now called World Stage still faces a pile of unpaid rent, tax and utility bills. – The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Those Who Resist Super-Popular Culture
I’ve come to call it “hype aversion”: an avoidance of the pop-culture products that seemingly everyone insists I would like. It’s not that I’m somehow above it all or too cool (I don’t consider myself cool at all). Some people are early adopters; others are late adopters. I’m simply a weirdly resistant one. – The Atlantic
- What If A “Day Job” Is The Foundation Of An Artistic Career?
Rather than sticking our heads in the sand—and hoping that belief, alone, will be the source of motivation we need to succeed—what if we focused on doing what it takes to play the game for as long as possible? – 3 Quarks Daily
- Why You Can’t Love A Clone
- Fighting Over Art And Politics Again (And Again)
Identity, even when mobilized as a force for visibility and justice, can shield art from critique—transforming dissent into offense and rendering criticism suspect. Questioning the work risks being seen as questioning the identity. – LA Review of Books
- Yearning For The Meaning Of Consciousness
“What I find moving in these discussions is the intense yearning for a world that is more alive than secular scientists might think it is, a kind of seeking for a god that one suspects these scientists do not, at the same time, believe to exist.” – The American Scholar
