"The Art Gallery of Ontario, which closed to the public on March 26 as more than 400 unionized workers went on strike, (reopened) on April 30. The employees, whose ranks included curators, archivists, designers, researchers, technicians, and front desk staff, … had sought wage increases and protection for part-time workers." - Artforum
Last year, 125 grassroots music venues closed permanently and 1,293 pubs shut their doors across Britain. According to the Night Time Industries Association, more than 3,000 pubs, clubs and venues have closed down in London alone since the pandemic began in March 2020. - The Guardian
I don’t know whether the Sphere is the future of live music—it’s very expensive, both to build and attend, and the venue’s path to profitability isn’t clear at all. But I do know this: The Sphere is a mountain. - The Atlantic
Here on my screen was the distillation of a peculiar American illness: namely, that we have a profound and dangerous inclination to confuse art with moral instruction, and vice versa. - The New York Times
With a season packed to the brim with late openers vying for awards attention, the 2024 Tony nominations were full of unexpected twists and turns. Here are the 10 biggest snubs and surprises. - Variety
Back in the day, a TV was a TV, a commercial was a commercial, and a computer was a computer. They have now been mixed into an unholy brew by the internet and by opportunistic corporations, which have developed “automatic content recognition” systems. - The Atlantic
"Inspired by the existing Albatross Books, (Allen) Lane’s nascent company wanted an animal for (a) mascot. Many years (later), designer Edward Young explained that after a couple hours of fruitless brainstorming, 'we were in despair. Then suddenly the secretary’s voice piped up from behind the partition. ‘What about penguins?''" - JSTOR Daily
At the new gateway to the campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology the 180,000-square-foot Student Hall for Exploration and Development offers views into two nearly transparent cubes. In one, actors rehearse a theater performance; students are practicing their moves in a dance studio in the other. - Bloomberg
Architect Seun Oduwole: "This museum pops with colour and sound." Curator Will Rea: "It is very different to a European museum, you walk in a soundscape and it’s noisy, it’s performative, you have to move your body the whole time." (It also has a public swimming pool.) - The Guardian
According to Talker Research (formerly OnePoll US), an online survey conducted in April with 2,000 Americans concluded that respondents opted for 92 minutes as their preferred running time. - The Guardian
"We had the framework of the Nativity story, so we didn’t have to worry a great deal about devising a new narrative structure. … Over a period of several months, we met several times with piles and piles of books and sketched out what I call a flowchart." - The Paris Review
After 34 renowned seasons and acclaim around the world, the SLSQ will disband as an ensemble this year, but its members will remain active at Stanford University, where the Quartet has been in residence since 1998. - San Francisco Classical Voice
The document, carbonized by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE and deciphered using advanced imaging techniques, recounts the last evening of the philosopher's life and reveals his burial place as well as the point when he was sold into slavery. - The Guardian
It’s quite fair to worry, as Congress does, that TikTok’s mass collection of personal data can pose a threat to our data. Yet Meta, X, Google, Amazon, and nearly every other popular platform also suck up our personal data. - The Atlantic
