“That professionalization process had the effect of setting up boundaries between ‘scientists’ and anyone else who might be interested in science, so it led to the exclusion of a whole bunch of people from formal scientific activity. Arguably, popular science created its own demise by making science too popular and too successful.” – Smithsonian
A Project To Democratize The Publishing Of Art Books
Artist Publisher, a new online forum launched by the Chicago-based printing collective Temporary Services, aims to encourage online discussion of art books and to democratize knowledge of a precarious industry. – ARTnews
The Curious Story About The Musician Who Faked His Live Performances?
The Composer’s music moves people, and he is not characterized in the book as necessarily a bad person; he meets with every fan who stays after the concert to chat with him, and he knows his work provides comfort to people going through the hard years after September 11. And his CDs are his own compositions. It’s just that if you were to pay to see a performance by the Composer’s ensemble, it might not necessarily be a “live” rendition by the musicians on the stage in front of you. – New York Magazine
Canada’s National Gallery Gets A New Director
Alexandra Suda comes to the position from the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), where she is currently the curator of European art and the R. Fraser Elliott chair of prints and drawing. – CBC
Chicago Opera Theatre’s New Director: Chicago To Lead New Opera Revolution
Ashley Magnus: “Right now, we’re in a golden era of American opera. Significantly more operas have been written in the US between 1997 and the present than in the 100 years prior. I would love for people to take risks and support new opera the way that they support exciting new projects in other art forms.” – WFMT
Were The Arts Impacted By The American Government Shutdown?
Bob Lynch tries To Add it up: “A specific example of the chilling effect of the shutdown’s impact on arts organizations and local businesses comes again from the Smithsonian, which reportedly lost $1.5 million in revenue during the first 10 days of the shutdown. According to the Secretary of the Smithsonian David Skorton, the roughly $1 million a week that the institution lost is unrecoverable and will have long-term impact.” – Americans For The Arts
Amazon Pulls Out Of Plans For Queens – When Company Culture Doesn’t Need Local Grief
Amazon had a deal and could have simply gone ahead. But the company had no allegiance to Queens and no need to be where it wasn’t wanted. “Amazon’s retreat from Queens shows us the dynamics of a new local power game — one in which giant tech companies play on the same field with governments, as equals, with equal influence over our economies and communities.” – Axios
Arts Philanthropy Is Losing Out
Unfortunately, big-ticket philanthropy is in the middle of a protracted sea change that is already having a direct effect on the arts. Thirteen years ago, the Journal reported that younger new-money donors were increasingly choosing to give it not to fine-arts organizations but to humanitarian causes like AIDS research and education reform. In 2013, Bill Gates put his seal of moral approval on this new tendency by declaring in an interview with the Financial Times that donating money “to build a new wing for a museum rather than spend it on preventing illnesses that can lead to blindness” was, in his words, “slightly barbaric.” – The Wall Street Journal [paywall]
Study Suggests That Small Teams Of Scientists Are More Innovative Than Large Ones
In the largest analysis of the issue thus far, investigators have found that the smaller the research team working on a problem, the more likely it was to generate innovative solutions. Large consortiums are still important drivers of progress, but they are best suited to confirming or consolidating novel findings, rather than generating them. – The New York Times
Did Dan Mallory Also Plagiarize His Best-Selling Novel? (Along With His Other Problems)
The parallels are numerous, and detailed. Both novels feature anxiety-ridden, middle-aged female narrators who are afraid to leave their homes, and they witness something suspicious while spying on neighbors. The stories have nearly identical plot twists in the final act. “It is the EXACT same plot like down to the main characters’ back story,” one person wrote in an Amazon review comparing the two books. “Sorry but there’s no way the amount of stolen material is a coincidence.” – The New York Times
Falling Into The Rabbit Hole Of The Internet (Never To Be Seen Again)
Previously these communities were imposed on us, along with their mental weather. Now we chose them – or believed we did. A person might join a site to look at pictures of her nephew and five years later believe in a flat earth. – London Review of Books
Dean, Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts
Webster University seeks a talented and creative leader in the arts to serve as the dean of the Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts.
Webster University seeks a talented and creative leader in the arts to serve as the dean of the Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts. Applications and nominations are invited; the University will begin reviewing candidates immediately and hopes to have the new dean in place by the summer of 2019.
Webster University’s entrepreneurial spirit drives its mission to ensure high quality learning experiences that transform students for global citizenship and individual excellence. Founded in 1915, Webster is a private, nonprofit university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri (in the St. Louis metropolitan area), and a network of international campuses in Europe, Asia, and Africa; extended locations in metropolitan areas and on military bases; and robust online offerings. The University enrolls approximately 4,200 students at the main campus in five schools and colleges: The Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts, the College of Arts & Sciences, the School of Communications, the George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology, and the School of Education. More than 13,000 students are enrolled across the University’s network of locations and online. Webster University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
The nationally-recognized Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts is a key constituent of the thriving St. Louis arts community. The College houses four academic departments. The renowned Conservatory of Theatre Arts is a professional training program for acting, musical theatre, directing, theatre studies and dramaturgy, design, technical direction, and stage management with strong associations with local professional theatre companies, two of which are located on the Webster University campus – The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
Students in the Department of Music participate in classes, lessons, and ensembles, learning from faculty and guest artists who are outstanding professional practitioners: composers, teachers, performers, conductors, and historians. The Department of Dance educates students to become skilled, creative, and compassionate thinking artists for 21st century careers as performers, choreographers, educators, and scholars in a diverse and global community. The Department of Art, Design, and Art History offers a student-centered learning environment emphasizing personal expression, alternative approaches, and experimentation where students work with faculty who believe in intensive work, study, and involvement in art.
The College also houses the Community Music School, which offers outstanding music education and performance opportunities, including individual lessons, orchestras and ensembles, and special programs such as Kindermusik, to students of all ages and abilities.
The College of Fine Arts prizes hands-on learning, and its nearly 500 primarily undergraduate students actively engage in professional productions, concerts, performances, and exhibits, opportunities available through the many vibrant professional arts organizations in the St. Louis region and beyond. Graduates of the College cultivate a lasting dedication to their craft and go on to careers of distinction.
The dean reports to the Provost, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; as a member of the Academic Deans Council and the Provost’s Council, the dean will work closely with fellow deans and leaders of Webster’s U.S. and international campuses and the online division.
The next dean will:
- Expand the visibility and reputation of the College’s programs in theatre, art, music, and dance nationally and internationally
- Nurture the College’s invaluable partnerships in the arts while cultivating new connections regionally, nationally, and internationally
- Advocate for the College–articulate and demonstrate the relevance of the creative arts and of higher education arts instruction in the 21st Century
- Be a champion for the College’s students and graduates and expand opportunities and venues for them to tell their stories and exhibit their talents
- Be both present- and future-minded; work to preserve and promote the quality and well-deserved reputation of the College while creating a strategic vision for the future
- Build community and relationships with and among faculty and across disciplines
- Provide leadership in a context of shared mission, communicate openly and collaboratively, and support teaching, service, creative endeavor, and faculty and student development
The dean will possess the following professional and personal attributes:
- Proven success in the arts and arts leadership
- Experience in academia
- Demonstrated success in external relations, including developing donor-potential relationships with alumni, community, and/or corporate stakeholders
- Demonstrated ability to nurture and grow relationships with partners and to create new partnerships to expand opportunities for students, alumni, and faculty
- Passion to engage with and support a faculty of active artists in a community where students learn by doing
- Keen interest in student development and success; accessible to students and engaged in their activities and events
- Proven commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity
- A global mindset; supportive of programs that offer opportunities for students and faculty to study and teach through Webster’s global network of campuses and partnerships
- Demonstrated experience as an administrator with strong organizational, budget, and management skills
- An academic degree and a record of artistic accomplishments that would qualify the candidate for tenure or status as a professor in the College
Application Information
Additional information about Webster University and the Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts is available at http://apptrkr.com/1395485. To ensure full consideration, all materials should be received by March 25, 2019.
Dr. Katherine Haley of Haley Associates Higher Education Executive Search LLC is supporting the search. To make inquiries or nominations, please contact her at: WebsterDean@haleyassociates.net or 603.748.4399. To formally apply, upload your vita and letter of application at haleyassociates.hiringthing.com. The letter of application should address the candidate’s match to the qualifications identified in this document.
Candidacy review begins immediately and continues until appointment is made.
Webster University is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to maintaining a culturally and academically diverse faculty and staff of the highest caliber. Accordingly, Webster University provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national origin, ethnicity, age, protected veteran or disabled status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
Why We Dance: Six Seattle Dancers Explain
Staying in love with dance takes grit. Choosing to pursue a lifelong relationship with dance involves the risk of physical injury, financial instability and the ups and downs inherent in a creative passion-driven career. – Crosscut
2019 Ford Musician Awards
Celebrating Orchestra Musicians’ Inspiring Community Work – The League of American Orchestras is now accepting applications for the 2019 Ford Musician Awards!
Nominations of–and applications from–outstanding musicians are now being accepted for the League of American Orchestras 2019 Ford Musician Awards for Excellence in Community Service! Now in its fourth year, the awards program, made possible through the generosity of Ford Motor Company Fund, celebrates and honors professional orchestra musicians who provide exemplary and meaningful service in their communities and make a significant impact through education and community engagement.
Application Deadline: Monday, March 4, 2019
About the Awards
- Five musicians will be selected through a competitive application process.
- Each winner will receive a cash award of $2,500, complimentary registration for the League’s National Conference, roundtrip airfare to Nashville, and hotel accommodations.
- The winning musician’s orchestra will receive a grant of $2,500 to support professional development for its roster of musicians.
- One staff member from the orchestra will receive complimentary registration for the League’s National Conference, round trip airfare to Nashville, and hotel accommodations.
To learn more about the awards, the application process, and eligibility requirements, please click here: http://www.americanorchestras.org/conducting-artistic-programs/the-ford-musician-awards.html
Leonard Pitts: On Writing About Race In America
“A simple thought experiment illustrates the point. If asked to define black literature, you would likely—and promptly—invoke Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison or some other dark-skinned giant of the written word. But what if you were asked to define “white” literature? The mind quails and resists, does it not?” – LitHub
We Need A Different Way Of Thinking About Digital Art
The art market is tied to the system of uniqueness. It is still hard to sell digital files on sticks. But uniqueness contradicts with the nature of digital work, as digital files are identical and can be copied endlessly. This cries out for a new attitude towards digital art and its value that does not lie in uniqueness. It is the opposite. It lies in the accessibility of the works for everyone, from every part of the world. – The Observer
The Viral Influencer Market – How Organizing Attention Works
Sociologists Jennifer Earl and Katrina Kimport have studied the ways that protest tactics and schemes have spread out of political culture and into other spaces, especially entertainment. They coined the phrase “ubiquitous movement practices” to describe how petitions, boycotts, and the like—once tactics used solely for political goals—are now deployed across all kinds of social and cultural concerns from trying to ensure Family Guy remains on the air to trying to get the Postal Service “to issue a Marx Brothers stamp.” – The Atlantic
Blow My Mind: How The Brain Constructs Timelines Of Memories
For us, time is a sequence of events, a measure of gradually changing content. That explains why we remember recent events better than ones from long ago, and why when a certain memory comes to mind, we tend to recall events that occurred around the same time. But how did that add up to an ordered temporal history, and what neural mechanism enabled it? – Quanta Magazine
Steven Soderbergh On How The Movies Have (Are) Changing
“What I don’t understand is why everyone in this business thinks there is one template that is gonna be the unified field theory of “windowing” [or how long a movie screens in theaters]. The minute that I knew, which is usually around Friday at noon, that Logan Lucky wasn’t going to work and that Unsane was definitely not gonna work—as soon as that happens, the studio should let me drop the movie on a platform the next week.” – The Atlantic
Star Singer/Songwriter Ryan Adams Accused Of Manipulation, Abuse
Adams has seven Grammys and 16 albums, and was seen as a champion of women artists’ careers. But some now say that Adams’s rock-star patronage masked a darker reality. In interviews, seven women and more than a dozen associates described a pattern of manipulative behavior in which Adams dangled career opportunities while simultaneously pursuing female artists for sex. – The New York Times
Fox News Rejects Ad For Oscar-Nominated Anti-Nazi Documentary, Calling It “Inappropriate”
The documentary focuses on a 1939 pro-Nazi rally in New York and warns that fascism could happen here. The movie – A Night At The Garden – is competing in the documentary category and the ad for it – a 30-second spot was called “It Can Happen Here.” Producers had wanted to buy a spot on the Sean Hannity Show. – The Hollywood Reporter
In The Get-A-Life Department: Instagram Users Lose Followers And Freak Out
So what happened? Instagram has now tweeted that the follower loss was not the result of a fake user account culling, but instead due to a glitch they are still looking in to. – Fast Company
After 112 Years, The Oregon College Of Arts And Crafts Is To Close And Be Sold. But Why?
Every great city has a vibrant arts and craft culture, and schools and colleges are a critical. In Portland, our art and craft worlds have suffered an ongoing erosion. Go to a public school and see how few wood shops are left. The loss of the Museum of Contemporary Craft was a major hit. If we let the college close, the many donors inscribed on the wall in the college’s Vollum building — and thousands of additional donors — will completely lose their investment in this nationally recognized school. – The Oregonian
Movie Industry Weighs In On Oscars’ Decision To X Televising Cinematography Awards
Russell Crowe, not nominated for anything this year, chimed. “The Academy is removing cinematography, editing and make up from the televised show? This is just such a fundamentally stupid decision, I’m not even going to be bothered trying to be a smart arse about it,” the actor, who won an Oscar for Gladiator, said. “It’s just too fucking dumb for words.” – New York Magazine
Human Debate Champion Finally Beats IBM’s Artificial Intelligence Machine
A human has finally notched up a win against our future robot overlords. Champion debater Harish Natarajan triumphed in a live showdown against IBM’s Miss Debater AI at the company’s Think Conference in San Francisco on Monday. – Engadget
Russia Is Cutting Itself Off From The Rest Of The Internet (Temporarily). But Is This Prelude To Something Bigger?
Ostensibly the goal of the legislation is to protect the Russian internet from the US, which has an offensive cybersecurity strategy and lists Russia as one of the major sources of hacking attacks. However, many observers think the creation of a Russian intranet is a further step towards a goal of duplicating the Great Firewall of China to restrict the access of the country’s internet users to content deemed harmful by the authorities. – The Guardian
Oscars Cut Televising Some Categories In Pursuit Of Ratings. What’s Next?
Michael Philips: “If ABC and the Oscars keep this up, by 2028 we may be watching a 90-minute infomercial with no host, no technical or design awards, no sense of craft or history, and a whole helluva lot of ‘Avengers’ cast members, whoever they are by then.” – Chicago Tribune
James Turrell’s Roden Crater Set To Open After 45 Years And New Funding (Including $10M From Kanye West)
Roden Crater is located in the Painted Desert region of Northern Arizona, and has been under construction for 45 years. In the early 1970s, Turrell spent the night in the bowl of the extinct volcano in Arizona. Since then, he has set about buying and turning the crater into a celestial observatory connected to a series of spaces and installations. – ArchDaily
The Atlas Of Endangered Alphabets
The founders are quick to point out that the word alphabet is used as a shorthand for many different writing systems. Abjads, abugidas, syllabaries, and pictographic systems are also included. Through the Atlas, it’s possible to take a world tour and understand more about how these systems developed. – MyModernMet
Decade-Long Study: Students Who Study The Arts Get Better Overall Grades
“It found students who took an elective arts class in sixth, seventh, or eighth grade had significantly higher grade point averages (GPAs), and better scores on standardized reading and math tests, than their peers who were not exposed to the arts. This held true after the researchers took into account “all the ways that students who did and did not take the arts in middle school were initially different.” – Pacific Standard