ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

Stories

Defunding Public Media Is A Blow To Documentary-Making

Over the last five years, ITVS has directly invested $44 million of CPB funds in documentaries. In the same period, ITVS brought 126 films to public media viewers for free, or close to free, at a taxpayer cost of about five cents per American. - The Hollywood Reporter

How A Museum’s Attempt To Solicit Americans For America’s 250th Birthday Got Complicated

I’ve led communications at nonprofits for decades and — with rare exceptions — subscribe to the “as long as they’re spelling our name right” school of public relations. But the complications around OnOur250th.org were different, particularly the gravitational force to be drawn into political conflicts. - Hyperallergic

How Closely Do We Need To Measure Progress?

 If you want to make an accurate judgment of how progress is going, it seems intuitive that frequent monitoring would help. On the other hand, popular wisdom suggests that watching too intently can distort your sense of how quickly or slowly something is proceeding: as the saying goes: ‘A watched pot never boils.’ - Psyche

Maybe You Can Get Famous Playing The Edinburgh Fringe, But You Sure Won’t Get Rich

“The sprawling festival, open to any act that can find a venue and pay a registration fee, will this year showcase over 3,000 acts.” … Yet costs there, especially for lodging, are so high that “a sellout run doesn’t guarantee that a performer will break even, much less turn a profit.” - The New York Times

Washington National Opera Director Francesca Zambello On Relations With Kennedy Center’s New Regime

“The new management has not entered into our artistic planning. They support it and the same way they support the National Symphony …, and we are looking to them for more help in terms of fundraising and marketing.” - Opera Now

Allan Ahlberg, Author Of “The Jolly Postman” And Other Children’s Classics, Has Died At 87

“Ahlberg’s (more than 150) books introduced generations of young children to reading through simple rhymes, sharp observation and gentle humor. Many were co-created with his illustrator wife Janet Ahlberg, who died in 1994.” - AP

Public TV And Radio Across New York State Lose $57 Million In Trump/Congress Cuts

“Nearly $50 million of that will come from the budgets of public radio and TV stations, while roughly $7.6 million will come from the budgets of other types of public media organizations. The cuts will be especially hard on rural communities in the state.” - New York Focus

Smithsonian Removes Trump’s Name From Exhibit On Impeached Presidents

“The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in July removed references to President Donald Trump’s two impeachments from an exhibit display. … After this story published, the Smithsonian said in a statement that 'a future and updated exhibit will include all impeachments.'” - The Washington Post (MSN)

Man Leaps To His Death From Roof Of Whitney Museum

“An unidentified 34-year-old man died after jumping from the Whitney Museum on Wednesday evening, shortly before the museum closed, according to a source with knowledge of the incident.” - ARTnews

Gems Revered As Relics Of Buddha Returned From Sotheby’s To India

The gems were originally, circa 240 BC, buried in a stupa in Piprahwa, India, where they were mixed with some cremated remains of the Buddha. The jewels were to be auctioned by descendants of the British colonial landowner who took them to England; Prime Minister Modi intervened to halt the sale. - The Guardian

Maverick Director Robert Wilson, 83

“To see someone try to act natural onstage seems so artificial,” he told The Times in 2021. “If you accept it as being something artificial, in the long run, it seems more natural, for me.” - The New York Times

Surprising Facts About Caligula, Everybody’s Favorite Horrible Roman Emperor

“Despite his character, and questionable sanity, Caligula was also man of great intellect and learning with a particularly keen knowledge of pharmacology. … Caligula was certainly knowledgeable in the topics of toxicology, antidotes, and purgatives, and he was probably also aware of abortifacients.” - Artnet

The (Very) Muddled State Of Criticism Today

Now, as often as criticism has been declared to be in a golden age, and perhaps as a corollary, it has been held to be in crisis. - The Metropolitan Review

Are Spoof Movies Making A Comeback?

Their heyday was the 1980s and ‘90s, from Airplane! through the National Lampoon and Austin Powers franchises, Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries, and Scary Movie, but standards fell in the '00s and the genre faded away. With the return of the Naked Gun franchise and a Spinal Tap sequel, maybe spoofs are back. - The Guardian

US Government Auctioning Off Picasso, Basquiat

Art advisors and experts told ARTnews the works are high caliber and have “crazy” starting bids relative to their actual value based on previous auction records and sales information. However, the simple auction website and association with an international fugitive may deter potential bidders in an already sluggish art market. - ARTnews

Our Free Newsletter

Join our 30,000 subscribers

Latest

Don't Miss

function my_excerpt_length($length){ return 200; } add_filter('excerpt_length', 'my_excerpt_length');