ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

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London’s Biggest EuroVision Screening Party Cancels To Protest Israel’s Participation In The Contest

Rio Cinema said, "With own slogan in mind, we hope that we can all be United By Music again soon. We will continue to organize fundraising events for the charities we support, including Doctors Without Borders and Medical Aid for Palestine." - Variety

Authors Withdraw From PEN Festival Over Its Response To The War In Gaza

Lorrie Moore, Maaza Mengiste, and many others signed a letter criticizing PEN America for not doing enough to highlight 'the scale and scope of the attacks on writers in Gaza’ … and drew a contrast with the organization’s forceful condemnation of the war in Ukraine." - The New York Times

Canada’s Independent Cinemas Say They’re In Crisis

And they call for more help: "About two-thirds of the 67 respondents said they need increased public funding in order to stay open, with many saying they would need about $50,000 annually for the next three years to close immediate gaps." - CBC

Philanthropy As A Business Model

First, and most simply, philanthropy is most certainly a business model, or at least the core of such a model, because it is at the heart of financing nearly every private university and almost all of the country’s leading cultural institutions, from museums to the performing arts, as well as most organized religious institutions. - Second Rough Draft

Government Regulators Need AI Experts. They Just Can’t Pay (Well) For Them

As governments spin up new AI programs, regulators around the world are urgently trying to hire AI experts. But some of the job ads are raising eyebrows and even chuckles among AI researchers and engineers for offering wages that, amid the current AI boom, look pitiful. - Wired

Ranking U.S. States By Arts Vibrancy

"Key insights: States with higher proportions of rural population tend to have lower levels of arts vibrancy – with some notable exceptions. States ranking higher on arts vibrancy generally have lower poverty rates; but having low levels of poverty doesn’t guarantee a top arts vibrancy ranking." - SMU Data Arts

The End Of The Subscription Era?

The inflection point is coming for Substack, OnlyFans and any platform where creators are reliant on the largesse of their audiences. When creators realise the dream of financial success and celebrity is sputtering, so too will the impression that this is a radical new future for content creation fade. - Medium

Why Toronto’s Festivals Are Struggling

Toronto is a city of festivals, but two years after pandemic restrictions were lifted, even big names in the sector are struggling to attract audiences, pay down debt and meet steeply rising costs of production. - Toronto Star

Smithsonian Finds (For The Second Time) A Founding Director For American Women’s History Museum

"Elizabeth Babcock … will head a (yet-to-be-built) museum that was shaken last summer by the withdrawal of its incoming founding director, Nancy Yao, following a Washington Post investigation of her handling of sexual harassment allegations at a New York museum." - The Washington Post (MSN)

Philadelphia’s New Mayor Names A New Arts And Culture Chief

"A trained soprano with degrees from Temple University and the University of the Arts, (Valerie) Gay, 58, was most recently deputy director of audience engagement and chief experience officer at the Barnes Foundation. … Arts leaders said they were thrilled with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s appointment." - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

Is Social Relevance At The Core Of The Arts?

Thanks to Arts Council England’s recently published analysis on opera and music theatre, ‘relevance’ is back on the agenda. But the report and its conclusions do not show true understanding of art and artists. - The Stage

UNESCO Ponders How To Preserve Intangible Cultural Heritage

unesco is best known for its prestigious list of World Heritage sites. But its most interesting endeavor might be a survey of humanity’s cultural practices. - The New Yorker

Vandalism Soars At England’s Historic Sites

"From York stone" — still valuable as a building material — "gouged from a 200-year-old bridge to graffiti sprayed on a medieval chapel, there has been a rise in theft and vandalism at the nation’s most cherished historic sites, with the cost of living crisis expected to only worsen the problem." - The Guardian

Post-Pandemic: Broadway Attendance Down, Also Movies, But Pop Concerts And Orchestras Up And Museums Mixed

The Philadelphia Orchestra is averaging 78 percent attendance so far this season, compared with 63 percent before the pandemic. The New York Philharmonic is averaging 85 percent attendance this season compared with 74 percent. - The New York Times

UK Study: 2023 Audiences Rebounded From The Pandemic

Overall tickets sales in 2023 were 101% of what they were in 2019, the last complete year of data before Covid. More than half of audiences in 2023 were first-time bookers.54% of the audience had not attended before, a near record high in the decade, eclipsed only by the figure of 55% first-timers in 2013. - BachTrack

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