Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
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...
Chief Philanthropy Officer
The Chief Philanthropy Officer will be an inspiring manager who shares a vision for what opera can and should be.
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...
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...
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...
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...
FCC Opens Investigation Into TV Ratings System
The FCC has launched a new inquiry into the TV ratings system, including whether issues of gender identity are being included in children’s programming without flagging...
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...
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...
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...
John Luther Adams On The Sound Of The World
For me, the subject of music is its sound. And in my music, I want to be in touch with sound that I haven't...
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...
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...
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...
Seattle Nonprofit Buys Downtown Office Building To Convert To Artist Housing
This is happening through the city’s Office to Residential Conversion Program, which allows developers to take empty commercial buildings and turn them into living spaces....
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...
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...
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...
Did AI Solve A Longstanding El Greco Mystery?
Using artificial intelligence, researchers analyzed The Baptism of Christ at the microscopic level, looking for trends in the texture of the paint at the resolution of a single...
Today’s Debates About AI And Music Echo Concerns About Player Pianos A Century Ago
More than a century ago the rise of the player piano prompted strikingly similar debates about automation, artistry and fair compensation. Of all the...
The Helen DeWitt Story Offers An Examination Of What We Expect From Artists
The level of prioritization it takes to truly produce something great puts you directly in conflict with people in your life. - The Argument
How America’s Museums Are Celebrating The 250th
The exhibitions showcase both the traditional and the unexpected, from portraiture to multimedia installations, from founding documents to found objects. Across the country, the...
America’s 250th Birthday Is Here. Americans Are Worried
Increasingly, historians are asking if they need to do more to meet the public’s hunger for meaning and inspiration. - The New York Times
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...
Executive Producer-Tacoma Musical Playhouse working with Management Consultants for the Arts
Tacoma Musical Playhouse seeks Executive Producer to lead the organization on an exciting journey to celebrate musical theater & build community in Tacoma, WA region.
