ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

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Angelinos Are Flocking To LA Bars… To Listen To Academic Lectures

Attendees hear thought-provoking talks from experts on wide-ranging topics such as Taylor Swift’s use of storytelling in her music, how AI technology is being used to detect cardiovascular diseases — all in a fun, low-stakes environment. And rest assured: No grades are given. It’s a formula that’s been working. - Los Angeles Times

How Teachers Are Trying To Get Around AI Chatbots

Across the country, a small but growing number of educators are experimenting with oral exams to circumvent the temptations presented by powerful artificial intelligence platforms such as ChatGPT. - Washington Post

We Don’t Need To Make The Humanities “Relevant”

The humanities, which value rigorous inquiry for its own sake, will always be at odds with a world that thinks this way; that’s why relevance is a futile goal. For humanities departments to continue to matter, they must challenge the modern world rather than accommodate it. - The Atlantic

A Cyberattack Forces An Oregon Library System Offline For Days

No book drops, no events, no audio books, no catalog, no buildings open: That’s what a cyberattack did to the Deschutes County Library system over the weekend. - Oregon ArtsWatch

Sinners Is About Black Creativity Changing Everything

“Ryan Coogler’s supersized supernatural blockbuster fused critical and commercial enthusiasm into a kind of mass obsessive fervor. It became, for a few weeks, the film everyone was talking (and raving) about,” but some in Hollywood - and the US in general - couldn’t deal. - American Prospect

Is Filmmaking Actually Meeting The Political Moment?

Maybe? “This isn’t a bad batting average, with movies about everything from the melding of Silicon Valley and politics to authoritarianism, nationalism and racism. And remarkably, most of these opinionated releases were also big hits.” - The New York Times

There’s A PR Push From AI Companies To Say Data Centers Might Not Be That Bad In Terms Of Water Usage

A lot depends on where you are. “In the near term, it's not a concern and it's not a nationwide crisis. … But it depends on location. In locations that have existing water stress, building these AI data centers is gonna be a big problem.” - Wired

The Woeful State Of Arts PR. Here’s Why It Matters

On the inside of my job, lousy PR is one of the biggest signs that an institution is struggling. Outreach goes ignored, follow-up is late and flustered, and media events suffer. - Broad Street Review

Profound Changes In Canada’s Cultural Economy

It found that Manitoba’s cultural sector produces $1,010 worth of cultural goods and services per person, one of the highest per-capita levels in Canada. Manitoba trails only British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. - Winnipeg Free Press

A Wave Of Unionization At Chicago’s Cultural Institutions

In the last four years, AFSCME’s Cultural Workers United organizing campaign has helped 2,500 Illinois cultural workers form unions at such sites as the Art Institute of Chicago, Field Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shedd Aquarium, Newberry Library, and, most recently, the Adler Planetarium and Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. - WBEZ (Chicago)

Why Does It Seem Like Every Major Cultural Institution In Melbourne Is Named After The Same Person?

Well, because that person, Ian Potter, was extraordinarily generous, as his widow and his foundation continue to be. But when your sister gets angry because she was waiting for you at one Ian Potter Museum while you waited for her at another, you realize there must be a better way. - ABC (Australia)

The Trumped Up Kennedy Honors

Every detail of the ceremony appeared to have been plucked from Trump’s mood board, an indelible blend of revanchist impulses and eighties camp. - The New Yorker

Historic Movie Palace Is Remade Into Palm Springs’ New Performing Arts Center

The Plaza Theatre had a star-studded opening in 1936, with the premiere of the Greta Garbo vehicle Camille. But it fell on hard times and closed in 2014. It has just reopened after a $34 million renovation and already has over 100 events scheduled, including classical, jazz, and film. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)

Professors Are Giving Lectures In Bars — To Capacity Crowds

At Lectures on Tap, “attendees hear thought-provoking talks from experts on wide-ranging topics such as Taylor Swift's use of storytelling in her music, how AI technology is being used to detect cardiovascular diseases, the psychology of deception and the quest for alien megastructures — all in a fun, low-stakes environment.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)

Philadelphia Will Host A Five-Week Arts Festival For America’s 250th Birthday

“Dozens of Philadelphia artists across disciplines will present more than 30 original works, staged from late May to July 2026 in venues around Philadelphia, coinciding with the Fourth of July and FIFA World Cup matches as part of the city’s Semiquincentennial events.” - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

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