The Bruns Amphitheater, formerly home of California Shakespeare Company, is slated to reopen in April 2026 under a new name, the Siesta Valley Bowl. The newly-formed nonprofit Siesta Valley Foundation intends to present theater, including Shakespeare, as well as 40 to 60 concerts per year, which will bring in revenue. - SFGate
“(Jensen) Huang and his wife, Lori … are making a previously unreported donation of $5 million a year for multiple years to San Francisco Opera. This year’s gift went toward underwriting The Monkey King; future gifts will help sponsor mainstage operas, young artist training, community programming, and digital media.” - The San Francisco Standard
“The Nevada Senate has again rejected a $120 million annual subsidy for film and TV production, which would have enabled construction of a new soundstage facility in Las Vegas. The bill, AB 5, fell one vote short of a majority during a special session on Wednesday night.” - Variety
"We all know the trope of the starving artist," said researcher Gwendolyn Rugg, "But there's actually surprisingly little reliable data out there to back this up." Rugg helped gather and analyze the data from a new survey by the University of Chicago’s NORC and the Mellon Foundation. - NPR
“Senate Democrats are investigating the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts over its spending practices and booking deals involving political allies, accusing its leadership, installed by President Donald Trump, of ‘self-dealing, favoritism, and waste’ amid programming shifts and plummeting ticket sales.’” - The Washington Post (MSN)
“The long sought-after solution to the fourth passage of Kryptos, artist Jim Sanborn’s secret-code-bearing sculpture at CIA headquarters, sold at auction Thursday night for a final price of $962,500, blowing past its $300,000 to $500,0000 estimate and placing the 35-year-old enigma in new hands.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
The 1940 self-portrait of the artist asleep in bed, titled El sueño (La cama) — in English, “The Dream (The Bed)” — sold for $54.7 million at Sotheby’s, surpassing the record held by Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1, which sold for $44.4 million in 2014. - AP
Early to Bed (1943) is the only book musical for which Waller wrote all the music, yet no official score or even libretto exists. Yet John McWhorter (yes, the Columbia University linguist/New York Times columnist) managed to find Waller’s sketches and is presenting the show’s score in concert. - The New York Times
Bande dessinée (comic strip) is considered the “ninth art” in France, and the Festival international de la bande dessinée d'Angoulême is its pinnacle. But the culture ministry has withdrawn €200,000 in subsidy while graphic novelists and publishers are boycotting the event after a staffer who lodged a rape complaint was fired. - The Guardian
“The filmmaking is, I think, up there with anything Hollywood's produced. And musically … there's not many musicals out there, if any, which have as many classics on the soundtrack as The Sound of Music.” - CBC
For many workers, both remote and in person, the workplace has quietly shifted into a site of constant measurement—where every pause can trigger scrutiny and where productivity is no longer just about results but continuous presence. - The Walrus
None of us are academic philosophers, by any means; we have busy jobs and other pressing adult responsibilities. But the process has proved fruitful. A camaraderie emerges, I’ve found, when a group dedicates itself to a task that requires great effort. - The New York Times
“The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, which runs the popular Mütter Museum, announced plans on Monday to expand its footprint at 22nd and Chestnut Streets with a new, accessible entrance, larger galleries, educational and event spaces, an upgraded gift shop, and a renovated core gallery for the museum.” - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
The deals underline how AI is shaking up the music industry. AI-generated music has been flooding streaming services amid the rise of song generators that instantly spit out new tunes based on prompts typed in by users without any musical knowledge. - APNews
Earlier this year, The Times spoke to a dozen current and former SIFF staff and board members, many of whom expressed profound concerns about both SIFF and the impact that the landmark acquisition had on the organization amid broader challenges in the industry. - Seattle Times
