AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Private Money, Public Retreat
Good Morning:
A $116 million gift from a single billionaire will now indefinitely fund the National Gallery’s program for loaning art to museums across the country (Washington Post). Same week, Cape Cod’s 42-year-old Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater is suspending operations, citing an “increasingly challenging philanthropic environment” (TheaterMania). The top of the pyramid is getting reinforced; the middle is cracking.
The pattern repeats. Brazilian cinema development exists because one philanthropist, Olga Rabinovich, personally funds it (Variety). San Diego, meanwhile, is cutting its arts budget and calling it fiscal discipline (San Diego Magazine). The arts economy is reorganizing around a thinner spine of individual benefactors — and Nashville is about to break ground on a $1B+ Bjarke Ingels-designed performing arts complex that underlines the point (WPLN).
The political weather keeps tightening. Lee Bollinger is proposing a NATO-style defense pact for universities under federal pressure (InsideHigherEd), and the FCC has opened a new probe into gender identity content in children’s TV (Deadline).
LACMA’s new Geffen Galleries open, and the LA Times calls the result a “revisionist fever dream.” In a good way? (Los Angeles Times).
All of our stories below.
- Chief Philanthropy Officer
Reporting to the General Director & President, the Chief Philanthropy Officer (CDO) serves as a visionary partner, actively shaping and carrying out philanthropic strategies and programs of the Development department.
Goal oriented and revenue-focused, the CPO will actively build budgets informed by data for all areas of the department, set annual and long-term projections, and create strategies for sustainable fundraising growth of the Annual Fund and the organization’s comprehensive campaign, a $33 million effort designed to support innovation, community-focused programming, and financial resilience. A mature and sophisticated communicator, the CPO will engage with board members, donors, and external partners, building relationships that inspire transformative giving. As a key collaborator, the CPO will work closely with the Finance and Marketing teams to build cross-functional strategies and develop comprehensive plans that align operations with fundraising goals.
The position requires a combination of high-level strategy and hands-on leadership in frontline fundraising, with the ability to maintain a robust portfolio of major donors and prospects. A strong leader, the CPO will be an inspiring manager who shares a vision for what opera can and should be.
- He Wrote The Hit Torch Songs of The Elizabethan Age
“(John) Dowland was well regarded; (he) was also well-connected, cosmopolitan and at times unusually well-remunerated for his work. Yet his musical expression was dominated by melancholy. With that imbalance comes the sense that Dowland had an acute understanding of his place in the musical market of the time.” – The New York Times
- Competitive Chess Is Wearing Down Its Champions
Life in chess has always been a struggle, never more so than today. During the two-year battle for the 2024 world chess championship, I saw tantrums, I saw tears, I heard one top grandmaster muse about leaving the game for a career in fashion. – The Walrus
- The Best Thing About LACMA’s New Building
In a startling and largely gratifying way, LACMA has done what the poet Audre Lorde, alluding to a different but not unrelated aspect of patriarchal dominance, deemed impossible: used the master’s tools to dismantle the master’s house. The change goes far beyond a remodel. It’s a reinvention, a recalibration, a revisionist fever dream. – Los Angeles Times
ISSUES
- The Best Thing About LACMA’s New Building
In a startling and largely gratifying way, LACMA has done what the poet Audre Lorde, alluding to a different but not unrelated aspect of patriarchal dominance, deemed impossible: used the master’s tools to dismantle the master’s house. The change goes far beyond a remodel. It’s a reinvention, a recalibration, a revisionist fever dream. – Los Angeles Times
- What’s Really Wrong With Trump’s Arch: A Symbol Of Autocracy
What’s really wrong with Trump’s arch isn’t something that is always wrong with victory arches but, rather, something that is always wrong with all the architecture of autocracy. – The New Yorker
- National Gallery Of Art In Washington Gets $116 Million Gift For Loaning Works Nationwide
“(The donor is) Mitchell Rales, the 69-year-old billionaire art collector and co-founder of health care company Danaher. The contribution is the largest programming-related donation in the NGA’s history and will serve to indefinitely fund the museum’s Across the Nation program, which loans artwork to partner museums.” – The Washington Post (Yahoo!)
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Names New Director
Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, who begins her term after Labor Day and who is currently CEO of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, in fact began her career at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, where she spent two decades and eventually rose to become chief curator. – ARTnews
- Critics Press V&A Museum To Pay Its Workers A Living Wage
While the V&A complies with all legal minimum-wage requirements, with some workers paid a living wage or above, campaigners say some of the lowest-paid contractors in London are not in receipt of the living wage. The UK minimum wage is £12.71 an hour and the living wage in London is £14.80 an hour. – The Guardian
MEDIA
- Needed: A NATO Alliance For American Universities
“We need a NATO for universities,” said Lee Bollinger, president emeritus of Columbia University. “When one university is attacked, everyone commits to coming to their defense. We need less capacity of individual institutions to make decisions about where we should go in defending universities and more power in a system.” – InsideHigherEd
- What, Really, Will Result In The Ticketmaster/LiveNation Verdict?
“I can’t wait for the judge to get hit with a $45 ‘Verdict Convenience Fee,’ a $30 ‘Gavel Processing Fee,’ and an $80 ‘Digital Print-at-Home Ruling Surcharge,” a Reddit user cracked. (After the verdict, Live Nation said in a statement, “The jury’s verdict is not the last word on this matter.”) – The New Yorker
- San Diego Proposes To Cut Its Arts Budget. A Big Mistake
While this may be framed as fiscal discipline, cutting arts and culture is not a serious long-term economic strategy. It is a short-term fix that reduces foot traffic, weakens neighborhood business districts, and chips away at the culture that makes people want to live, work, visit, and invest here in the first place. – San Diego Magazine
- Nashville Reveals Plans For New Performing Arts Center
Construction on the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, in the redeveloping East Bank neighborhood, begins next year; opening is expected in 2030. The complex, with Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) as lead designer, will include a 2,600-seat hall for touring Broadway shows, a 650-seat dance/opera hall, a black-box theater and a cabaret space. – WPLN (Nashville)
- Japan’s 1,200-Year-Old Record Of Cherry Blossoms Has A New Keeper
Last summer, Prof. Aono, who had meticulously updated the record year after year, died after a battle with cancer. That prompted supporters of his work to start looking for a worthy successor. – The New York Times
MUSIC
- “A River Runs Through It” At 50
“In getting to its exalted place, the book had to navigate a tricky set of rapids. Though it sailed through them, a question lingers. … Would a book like this, with its regional setting and its male and outdoorsy focus, face different challenges in today’s publishing world?” – The New York Times
- Book Slop By Any Other Name (Or “Blake Whiting”)
Using AI tools and a pseudonym, unknown culprits are now profiting from my work and that of my colleagues. Worse, they are limiting what we can write about in the future. What publisher wants to publish a second book on an archaeological discovery, no matter how significant? – The American Scholar
- How Books Reinforced A Colonialist Mindset
The book became a dominant symbol of the age of development through the efforts of the new international institutions, and the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in particular. – The Conversation
- 120,000 Authors File Claims In Anthropic Copyright Settlement
Claims have been filed for 91% of the more than 480,000 works covered by the settlement, according to a court filing
, opens new tab in the case on Thursday. – Reuters - Lost Poem By García Lorca Discovered
“A previously unknown verse attributed to Federico García Lorca has been discovered 93 years after the celebrated Spanish poet and playwright is believed to have jotted it on the back of one of his manuscripts.” – The Guardian
PEOPLE
- Private Money, Public Retreat
Good Morning:
A $116 million gift from a single billionaire will now indefinitely fund the National Gallery’s program for loaning art to museums across the country (Washington Post). Same week, Cape Cod’s 42-year-old Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater is suspending operations, citing an “increasingly challenging philanthropic environment” (TheaterMania). The top of the pyramid is getting reinforced; the middle is cracking.
The pattern repeats. Brazilian cinema development exists because one philanthropist, Olga Rabinovich, personally funds it (Variety). San Diego, meanwhile, is cutting its arts budget and calling it fiscal discipline (San Diego Magazine). The arts economy is reorganizing around a thinner spine of individual benefactors — and Nashville is about to break ground on a $1B+ Bjarke Ingels-designed performing arts complex that underlines the point (WPLN).
The political weather keeps tightening. Lee Bollinger is proposing a NATO-style defense pact for universities under federal pressure (InsideHigherEd), and the FCC has opened a new probe into gender identity content in children’s TV (Deadline).
LACMA’s new Geffen Galleries open, and the LA Times calls the result a “revisionist fever dream.” In a good way? (Los Angeles Times).
All of our stories below.
- Chief Philanthropy Officer
Reporting to the General Director & President, the Chief Philanthropy Officer (CDO) serves as a visionary partner, actively shaping and carrying out philanthropic strategies and programs of the Development department.
Goal oriented and revenue-focused, the CPO will actively build budgets informed by data for all areas of the department, set annual and long-term projections, and create strategies for sustainable fundraising growth of the Annual Fund and the organization’s comprehensive campaign, a $33 million effort designed to support innovation, community-focused programming, and financial resilience. A mature and sophisticated communicator, the CPO will engage with board members, donors, and external partners, building relationships that inspire transformative giving. As a key collaborator, the CPO will work closely with the Finance and Marketing teams to build cross-functional strategies and develop comprehensive plans that align operations with fundraising goals.
The position requires a combination of high-level strategy and hands-on leadership in frontline fundraising, with the ability to maintain a robust portfolio of major donors and prospects. A strong leader, the CPO will be an inspiring manager who shares a vision for what opera can and should be.
- He Wrote The Hit Torch Songs of The Elizabethan Age
“(John) Dowland was well regarded; (he) was also well-connected, cosmopolitan and at times unusually well-remunerated for his work. Yet his musical expression was dominated by melancholy. With that imbalance comes the sense that Dowland had an acute understanding of his place in the musical market of the time.” – The New York Times
- Competitive Chess Is Wearing Down Its Champions
Life in chess has always been a struggle, never more so than today. During the two-year battle for the 2024 world chess championship, I saw tantrums, I saw tears, I heard one top grandmaster muse about leaving the game for a career in fashion. – The Walrus
- The Best Thing About LACMA’s New Building
In a startling and largely gratifying way, LACMA has done what the poet Audre Lorde, alluding to a different but not unrelated aspect of patriarchal dominance, deemed impossible: used the master’s tools to dismantle the master’s house. The change goes far beyond a remodel. It’s a reinvention, a recalibration, a revisionist fever dream. – Los Angeles Times
PEOPLE
- Private Money, Public Retreat
Good Morning:
A $116 million gift from a single billionaire will now indefinitely fund the National Gallery’s program for loaning art to museums across the country (Washington Post). Same week, Cape Cod’s 42-year-old Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater is suspending operations, citing an “increasingly challenging philanthropic environment” (TheaterMania). The top of the pyramid is getting reinforced; the middle is cracking.
The pattern repeats. Brazilian cinema development exists because one philanthropist, Olga Rabinovich, personally funds it (Variety). San Diego, meanwhile, is cutting its arts budget and calling it fiscal discipline (San Diego Magazine). The arts economy is reorganizing around a thinner spine of individual benefactors — and Nashville is about to break ground on a $1B+ Bjarke Ingels-designed performing arts complex that underlines the point (WPLN).
The political weather keeps tightening. Lee Bollinger is proposing a NATO-style defense pact for universities under federal pressure (InsideHigherEd), and the FCC has opened a new probe into gender identity content in children’s TV (Deadline).
LACMA’s new Geffen Galleries open, and the LA Times calls the result a “revisionist fever dream.” In a good way? (Los Angeles Times).
All of our stories below.
- Chief Philanthropy Officer
Reporting to the General Director & President, the Chief Philanthropy Officer (CDO) serves as a visionary partner, actively shaping and carrying out philanthropic strategies and programs of the Development department.
Goal oriented and revenue-focused, the CPO will actively build budgets informed by data for all areas of the department, set annual and long-term projections, and create strategies for sustainable fundraising growth of the Annual Fund and the organization’s comprehensive campaign, a $33 million effort designed to support innovation, community-focused programming, and financial resilience. A mature and sophisticated communicator, the CPO will engage with board members, donors, and external partners, building relationships that inspire transformative giving. As a key collaborator, the CPO will work closely with the Finance and Marketing teams to build cross-functional strategies and develop comprehensive plans that align operations with fundraising goals.
The position requires a combination of high-level strategy and hands-on leadership in frontline fundraising, with the ability to maintain a robust portfolio of major donors and prospects. A strong leader, the CPO will be an inspiring manager who shares a vision for what opera can and should be.
- He Wrote The Hit Torch Songs of The Elizabethan Age
“(John) Dowland was well regarded; (he) was also well-connected, cosmopolitan and at times unusually well-remunerated for his work. Yet his musical expression was dominated by melancholy. With that imbalance comes the sense that Dowland had an acute understanding of his place in the musical market of the time.” – The New York Times
- Competitive Chess Is Wearing Down Its Champions
Life in chess has always been a struggle, never more so than today. During the two-year battle for the 2024 world chess championship, I saw tantrums, I saw tears, I heard one top grandmaster muse about leaving the game for a career in fashion. – The Walrus
- The Best Thing About LACMA’s New Building
In a startling and largely gratifying way, LACMA has done what the poet Audre Lorde, alluding to a different but not unrelated aspect of patriarchal dominance, deemed impossible: used the master’s tools to dismantle the master’s house. The change goes far beyond a remodel. It’s a reinvention, a recalibration, a revisionist fever dream. – Los Angeles Times
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Grappling With What A Soul Is
This soul of yours has obviously come into existence with your body. Yet equally obviously it’s not made of bodily stuff. It lasts through the night when your body sleeps. It wanders off and leaves your body when you dream. – Aeon
- Rethinking How Our Brains Process The World Using Categories
“The stimulus, cognition, response model of the brain is wrong. The brain prepares for a response and then perceives a stimulus. A brain is not reactive. It’s predictive. Action planning comes first. Perception comes second, as a function of the action plan.” – Picower Institute
- Uncertainty Can Be Toxic. But Understanding it Creates Possibility
Research suggests uncertainty can be more distressing than negative certainty. In one study, people were calmer when they knew they would receive an electric shock than when there was only a 50% chance of one. – The Guardian
- How AI Will Accelerate Human Creativity
The most successful organizations of 2026 and beyond will not be those that simply use AI to do more things faster. Instead, they will be the ones that use AI as a creativity accelerator, freeing up human capacity for the work that only we can do: imagining, connecting, and creating meaning. – Fast Company
- The Board That Built Apple – And A Personal Computing Revolution – Is Turning Fifty
“The Apple I marked a great leap forward in convenience by coming already assembled, albeit without a monitor, a keyboard, or even a case; the purchase price of USD $666.66 (closer to $4,000 today) just got you the board. But what a board.” – Open Culture
