Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
San Francisco Arts Funder Attack For Change Of Criteria
Change in the leadership, direction, and procedures of the SF Grants for the Arts reduced or eliminated support for dozens of organization, big and...
Why The French Idea Of The “Good Life” Is Irrational
France has long been associated with a specific version of the good life, from haute cuisine to haute couture. In the global imagination, the...
John McWhorter: My Experience With Affirmative Action
It may have been a necessary compromise for a time, but it was never truly proper in terms of justice, stability or general social...
How Dancing Helps Rewire The Brain
“Dancers are better able to connect that incoming sensory information, whether it’s visually through the eyes, or through touch, and then connect that to...
Study: Drumming Helps Those With Autism
"What we see is children who learn how to play the drums aren't afraid of making mistakes. When they stop and make a mistake...
Grammys: Music Created With AI Is Eligible For Awards
“Here’s the super easy, headline statement: AI, or music that contains AI-created elements is absolutely eligible for entry and for consideration for Grammy nomination....
Checking In On Ireland’s Basic Income For Artists Scheme
Grant recipients, including visual artists, musicians, filmmakers, writers, actors and dancers, were chosen at random from a pool of more than 8,000 eligible applicants,...
Robot Conductor Debuts With Korean Orchestra
The two-armed robot, designed by the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, made its debut at the National Theater of Korea, leading musicians in the...
Why “Living In The Present” Might Be Overrated
The identification of the present, not as a hectic shimmer of zeptoseconds but a series of temporal clearings where one might deeply linger, originates...
Why Archaeologists Rebury Their Excavations
It will help preserve the site for future archaeologists who might have more modern methods and can study the evidence better or ask new...
Our Culture Is Obsessed With Stories. But What If Stories Are A Trap?
When did the so-called narrative turn—the doctrine of narrative supremacy—go mainstream? “At a certain point in history, people started saying, ‘We are born storytellers,’ ”...
Why Must The Worth Of Canada’s Culture Be Measured Primarily By Economics?
The value of culture is hard to measure - everyone's experience is different. But governments' obsession with justifying cultural worth economically gets in the...
Just How To Stop Russians From Plundering Ukrainian Culture?
As Ukraine launches its summer counteroffensive, historians fear that Ukrainian cultural objects from Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine might be moved to Russia if the Russians...
Why Do Theatres “Ghost” Playwrights?
“How does expect writers to continue to find the will to write when there is not only little chance of production but also...
Just Why Are “Fans” Throwing Things At Performers This Summer?
Collective action by fans can create a sense of "belonging" within their community and lets them "express their identity". "However, I think something is...
Why Pop Music Today Doesn’t Resonate?
The music of today has grown up on the internet rather than adapting to it. Instead of using the infinite archive to show superior,...
Disturbing New Trend: Concert Performers Are Being Hit With Objects Thrown By Audience Members
In the latest bout of singers being pelted by concert fans, the country star Kelsea Ballerini was hit in the face by a bracelet thrown...
Blockbuster No More? “Indiana Jones” Struggles To $60 Million Opening Weekend Box Office
The film, reportedly budgeted north of $250 million, came in on the lower end of projections with $60 million in ticket sales from 4,600...
The Idea Of “Nature” Is A Human Invention
The ideal of nature as it used to be before human intervention and before we introduced what we now call “invasive species” is one...
Music Streaming Is Collapsing On Itself. The Music Industry Is At An Inflection Point
The music industry is at a tipping point. There is still time for the creators and businesses within it to help shape what comes...
Why Canada’s New Media Deal With Online Platforms Isn’t Good News
I was part of an Australian research team that wanted to understand how Google and Meta were able to have such different responses to...
Virginia Johnson’s Groundbreaking Career
“I wanted to continue the way that Arthur Mitchell had started Dance Theatre of Harlem, and show how diverse ballet could be as an...
And Another Theatre! Chicago’s LookingGlass Theatre Lays Off Staff, “Pauses” Productions
The ensemble-driven theater, founded by a close-knit group of Northwestern University classmates and friends in 1988, famously has produced original work for the last...
Beloved DC Theatre Leader Dies
In its nearly half-century as a fixture on the region’s vibrant theater scene — GALA (short for Grupo de Artistas Latinoamericanos) orbited around Hugo’s...
Controversy Over Translation At The British Museum
As momentum grows behind the criticism of the museum, it is a good time for all of us to consider how we value and...
