Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Europe’s museums will save you from the heat
Good Morning,
Manhattan's borough president just routed his entire $50 million discretionary budget to the arts (The New York Times) — an extraordinary move.
In art...
How AI Prompting Poses The Classic Writer’s Challenge
This is one novel frustration of the AI age, yet millions of users searching for the “right prompt” are engaging in an old literary practice: turning...
Warning: European Museums Vulnerable To Cyberattacks
The warning comes less than three years after the British Museum revealed that about 2,000 objects had been stolen, damaged or gone missing from...
The Barnes Picks A New Chief Curator
Connie Choi is currently curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem, where she has worked for nearly a decade. At the Studio Museum, she worked...
Consensus Growing For A Federal Tax Credit For Movie Production
While production incentives are available in 39 U.S. states, the only federal aid that American productions can take advantage of is Section 181, a...
Judge Dismisses Class Action Against Spotify Over Inflating AI Streams
A US federal judge has dismissed a proposed class action that accused Spotify of allowing billions of bot-generated fake streams to inflate the play counts of Drake and...
How Will AI Impact The Arts?
Well, it's a mixed picture. ISPA recently convened a panel to examine the evidence. Watch the video here. - ISPA (Video)
Next-Gen Music Software Threatens To Replace Musicians In Theatres
A next-generation orchestral software from the German company KeyComp threatens to inflict the deepest cuts yet on what has traditionally been a steady gig for...
Is LA’s New AI Art Museum A Whole New Genre Of Contemporary Art?
In 2023 Jerry Saltz said Refik Anadol’s Unsupervised at MoMA was just a fancy lava lamp. He took that criticism and turned it into Dataland, which is so immersive, so expansive...
Air Conditioned Museums In Europe Become “Refuges From The Heat” During This Week’s Heat...
"When I see people taking refuge for an hour in a supermarket, I say to myself: 'Why shouldn't the museum be a place of...
How Smithsonian Chief Lonnie Bunch’s Lunch With Trump Went
Over chicken and gravy, Trump asked Bunch his opinion on four chandelier samples for the Oval Office; discussed the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which...
Finance Consultant – Arts FMS via TOC Arts Partners
Arts FMS is pleased to also be hiring a Finance Consultant to join their growing team.
DIY Critics
Good Morning,
Newspapers keep gutting their book sections, so an independent bookstore decided to run its own reviews rather than wait for the reviews to...
Remembering Clive Davis, Who Turned Hitmaking Into An Art Form
“I knew nothing about music,” he once said, looking back at his entry into the record business. Yet his instincts made him one of...
Is The Smithsonian Next?
From the start of the second Trump administration, the entire Smithsonian had been a target of those on the MAGA right who are preoccupied...
Has Blogging Ceased To Matter?
Anyway, the reason I’m writing all of this is not to brag, but to complain. Over the last two years, I’ve felt like my...
The Next Bookstore?
Samir Pail argues that the publishing industry is fundamentally flawed insofar as publishers and authors generate consumer demand, then hand buyers off to companies...
LA’s New Metro Stations: A Tale Of Two Design Realities
The stations, too, feel more connected, with art, architecture and infrastructure blending seamlessly into a cohesive experience, a tribute to Metro’s sharpened design approach...
Audiences At Independent Movie Theatres Are Growing
Independent theaters continue to be a vital asset to their communities, with a 9% increase in business in 2025, an encouraging sign for the...
Why Meritocracy Is A Deeply Flawed Idea
Zhuangzi insists that even in idealised situations where values can be straightforward, the idea that hierarchies and institutions can reflect that moral map is...
Eugene Ballet Gets $1M Anonymous Gift, Out Of The Blue
When Executive Director Josh Neckels received notification from the bank that the company had received a deposit, he nearly dismissed it as spam, but...
Art Removed From London’s National Portrait Gallery Over Churchill Reference
An artwork by a Turner prize-winning artist has been removed from the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) after a row about the role Winston Churchill played in...
ABC Campaigns Against FCC Review Of Its Licenses
ABC argued in a filing to the FCC in May that “The View” airs under an exemption to the equal-time rule “granted to it more than...
Senior Finance Consultant – Arts FMS via TOC Arts Partners
Arts FMS seeks a Senior Finance Consultant to join their growing team.
A New Old Mozart?
Good Morning,
A flute-and-harp fragment in Mozart's hand surfaced this week, and the New York Times reports it's almost certainly real. How is it that...
