Many of the more recent changes in local arts organizations were sparked by the pandemic, which shone a spotlight on society’s inequities, as well as by the 2020 protests and the increased attention to diversity, equity and inclusion. - Seattle Times
"California's performing arts sector lost a decade's worth of jobs within a two-year period, with 2021 employment dropping to 2010 levels, according to a new study. More than 59,000 jobs disappeared during the pandemic that ... are unlikely to return if drastic action is not immediately taken." - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
"An anonymous donation this year made affordable rates for a quarter of the festival's shows possible, (subsidizing) about 1,300 tickets, valued at about $50,000. The program sets a minimum payment of $5 for tickets to cover fees (and) limits patrons to two tickets per show." - The Post and Courier (Charleston)
Reversals of fortune are nothing unusual in the news business. But in the last few weeks it’s been gobsmacking to see Vice facing bankruptcy and BuzzFeed shuttering its news division. The Times, meanwhile, hit its goal of 10 million paying subscribers and aims to have 15 million by the end of 2027. - Vanity Fair
"Decent we have, sometimes even good: well-made, professional. But wild, indelible, commanding us without appeal to change our lives? I don't think we even remember what that feels like. … Art is bland and unimaginative because we have landed ourselves in the lamentable position of getting exactly what we want." - Tablet
The case, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts v. Goldsmith, No. 21-869, concerned the limits of the fair-use defense, which allows copying that would otherwise be unlawful if it involves activities like criticism and news reporting. - The New York Times
As long as objects have been plundered, countries have called for their repatriation. Yet western popular culture has muted these voices, sometimes expressing anxiety over colonial plunder but ultimately reaffirming British and American supremacy. - The Conversation
The stage and film director, former head of the National Theatre in London, argues for two different (and, of course, generously financed) government funding bodies along the lines of those already in place for sports: one for elite/Olympic-level performance and one for community activities. - The Guardian
Diego Galafassi, who researches the role of the arts in sustainability, argues the arts can foster the disposition and imagination required to address the climate crisis. Arts activities can provoke positive emotions such as hope, responsibility, care and solidarity that, in turn, inspire resilience and climate action. - The Conversation
"In reality, it's very easy to use AI to do the lion's share of the thinking while still submitting work that looks like your own. ... It follows that massive structural change is needed if our schools are going to keep training students to think critically." - The Chronicle of Higher Education
The algorithm. The almighty, disgusting, algorithm, which prizes popularity above all things. So, for Netflix, the race to the bottom started with the success of Tiger King. - El País (Spain)
"The writers strike on May 2 has created hardships for many in the industry, including IATSE members who have lost scheduled jobs as productions shuttered. Fundamentally, however, IATSE members are facing the same challenges of maintaining historic income levels amid historic shifts." - Variety
"The school will be known as the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities and Technology. The largesse of the Bass Foundation follows a wave of philanthropic endowments in recent years that have dramatically reshaped the Richardson campus of a university founded in 1969." - MSN (The Dallas Morning News)
Today, as costs of living soar and working-class artists still wrestle with the remnants of the pandemic, the creative culture that has been our calling card is facing a crisis. - The Tennessean
Journals are awash in a rising tide of scientific manuscripts from paper mills—secretive businesses that allow researchers to pad their publication records by paying for fake papers or undeserved authorship. “Paper mills have made a fortune by basically attacking a system that has had no idea how to cope with this stuff." - Science
