Stories

Pittsburgh Arts Groups Are Fundraising For Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars

“Given sweeping changes in the arts and nonprofit ecosystems both locally and nationally since early 2025, many original benchmarks and timelines included are no longer realistic,” according to the Downtown nonprofit’s funding application. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Cuba’s Ballet Tradition Continues Amid Blackouts

For months, two-thirds of Cuba had no electricity at night. Some neighborhoods in the capital of Havana have been without running water for more than two weeks. Transportation is scarce and eggs, bread and cooking oil are hard to find. - AP News

A Reprieve For Philly’s Academy of Natural Sciences?

Drexel says that while it appreciates the William Penn Foundation’s “public suggestion that it assist in temporarily keeping the Academy’s museum open,” they have “not received a formal proposal with a defined level of financial support.” - Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre Gets New Leadership, Including Famous Alumnus David Schwimmer

The new co-artistic directors are Ericka Ratcliff, most recently literary manager at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and longtime Lookingglass ensemble member David Catlin. Another longtime member, Philip R. Smith, will be executive director, while Schwimmer takes the new position of producing director, focusing on fundraising, marketing, board development and finding co-producing partners. - Chicago Tribune (Yahoo!)

Soprano Christine Goerke Launches New Organization To Present Vocal Music (Of All Kinds) In Detroit

She will be the artistic director, with Matthew Principe as executive director and creative strategist, of VOX Detroit, which will produce concerts of — as Goerke describes it — “opera, cabaret, musical theatre, song, recital, spoken word, and whatever wonderful things happen to fall in between.” - Detroit Free Press

Whitney Museum Staffers Are Going On Strike Right Before Major Roy Lichtenstein Retrospective

“Unionized staff at the Whitney Museum of Art will begin striking on Monday, October 5, if they cannot reach a contract agreement with the museum, Local 2110 UAW announced. … (That’s) only three days before member and press previews open for the museum’s major Roy Lichtenstein retrospective (the show opens to the public October 11).” - ARTnews

England’s National Museums Will Keep Free Admission For Everyone, UK Government Confirms

“The decision follows months of discussions between the Government, museums, the tourism sector and local leaders to examine whether charging tourists from abroad could boost the institutions’ finances. … Free entry to museums was introduced by Sir Tony Blair’s government in 2001.” - The Independent (UK)

Hollywood Is Now Eyeing The Boston Globe’s Viral Lesbian Bar Article

“UTA, which represents the Globe, has been fielding inquiries about potential adaptations for the article” — headlined “A Western Mass. lesbian bar required KN-95 masks. When it changed the rules, all hell broke loose.” — “both in the scripted space and the documentary sphere.” - The Hollywood Reporter

Novelist Louise Erdrich Wins $250K Dorothy And Lillian Gish Prize

The award, established by the estate of the silent film stars, is given for “an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life.” Among previous winners are Gustavo Dudamel, Isabelle Allende, Merce Cunningham, Ava DuVernay, Laurie Anderson, Tricia Brown, Maya Lin, and Meredith Monk. - AP

Nashville Symphony “Suspends” Its Season And Furloughs Its Musicians And Staff

“The Nashville Symphony has declared a state of 'financial emergency,' suspending the 2026-27 season effective Oct. 18, as well as furloughing roughly half their staff and all 77 members of the orchestra. At this time, 29 full-time Symphony staff members remain, while 27 were furloughed.” - The Tennessean (Yahoo!)

Middle Schoolers, Blocked From Most Social Media, Turn Comments On An NPR Podcast Into A Hangout Spot

“When Glass asked one of the kids why they picked this particular podcast, they said, ‘We just, like, looked for podcasts that didn’t have many comments.’” Ouch. But also, creative as heck. - The Verge

An Ohio School District Cancels A Popular Play, And The Fallout Is Ongoing

“Copley Superintendent Aimee Kirsch said the play was canceled not because of its gay themes but because the proper vetting procedure wasn't followed.” Unh-hunh. The students cast in the canceled She Kills Monsters were offered parts in the newly approved Alice in Wonderland. - Akron Beacon Journal (Yahoo)

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger On Creativity

A culture of creativity is also a culture accepting of failure. Creativity is not a science. You can’t possibly bat 1,000. There are inevitable failures, and it’s really important to know as a culture how to process failure so that when you do, it doesn’t destroy people’s ability to continue to create. - Harvard Business Review

Paramount Boss David Ellison’s Big Challenge: Winning Over Hollywood

The Paramount Skydance chief executive will have to work hard to repair badly frayed relations with Hollywood talent who fiercely opposed the consolidation of two historic studios as a bad deal for workers. - Los Angeles Times

Why America Looks The Way It Does

It would be hard to overstate how ignorant the Founders of the United States were about their own country. The main map they’d used to negotiate the postwar peace with Britain was woefully inaccurate. - The New Yorker

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