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Yerba Buena CEO Quits After Controversy

Sara Fenske Bahat’s departure follows weeks of turmoil at the center. After artists Jeffrey Cheung and Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo alleged that YBCA prevented them from advocating for Palestine in additional projects for the Bay Area Now 9 exhibition, eight artists in the show altered their own artworks with pro-Palestine messaging. - Hyperallgeric

UNESCO Talks About Protecting Intangible Cultural Heritage

The Unesco convention defines intangible cultural heritage as: “Practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognise as part of their cultural heritage.” - The Conversation

NY Times Co-Chief Art Critic To Retire After 32 Years, 4,500 Reviews

Roberta Smith started freelancing for The New York Times in 1986, after writing for Art in America and The Village Voice, and after a semester at the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program. Before writing full time, she also worked at MoMA; with Donald Judd, the celebrated Minimalist; and at the Paula Cooper Gallery. - The New York Times

Proposed Law To Increase Streaming Royalty To A Penny A Stream

Streaming has grown to represent 84 percent of recorded music industry revenue, but that Spotify, the leading music streaming platform, only pays an average per-stream royalty of $0.003, meaning an artist must reach 800,000 monthly streams to equal a full-time $15/hour job. - The Hollywood Reporter

Those Round-Up Purchase Donations Have Added Up To Be Big Money

In 2022 alone, charities raised $749 million nationwide through so-called point-of-sale donations, a 24% jump from 2020, according to Engage for Good, which tracks this type of charitable giving. - NPR

The Evolutionary Roots Of Our Attraction To Music

Groups that could make music together - whether a simple drumbeat or a beautiful melody - were more cohesive, communicative, cooperative and defensive. Natural selection then embedded the capacity for music into our biology. - Psychology Today

Technology And Teaching The Violin. What Will AI Change?

A team at the University of Maryland (UMD) has received almost a million dollars from the US National Science Foundation (USNSF) to study the possible application of artificial intelligence to violin pedagogy. - Nightingale Sonata

The Gay Best Friend Was A Tired Trope, Sure, But Did He Really Need To Vanish Entirely?

“For a long time now, popular culture has been moving forward without a once-essential style accessory: the Gay Best Friend. We’re not supposed to mourn his absence; we’re not supposed to want him back. But I kind of do." - The New York Times

The International Booker Longlist Showcases The Strength Of Latin American Fiction

The 13-book longlist "signals a 'second ‘boom’ in Latin American fiction', said judges, with a quarter of the nominated authors being South American." - The Guardian (UK)

Let’s End The ‘Best Supporting Actress’ Curse Now

“Taking home one of the industry’s most prestigious awards might seem to indicate that an actress is one worth paying attention to, making it more conspicuous when they’re seemingly nowhere to be seen, or limited to more supporting parts." - The Atlantic

Britain Released An Official Photo Of Kate As Proof Of Life – Then The AP Withdrew It

Speculation has been absolutely rife online about Catherine, Princess of Wales, and the photo was supposed to calm it down. But "at closer inspection, it appeared the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet AP’s photo standards." - Los Angeles Times

When This French Actress Had Trouble Landing Roles, She Made Her Own Play, And Her Own Way

"The production is testament to Blanc’s ability to forge a lasting career in a performance landscape that has often felt hostile to her. … last year, she became the first actress on the core syllabus for all French high school students studying theater." - The New York Times

Oregon Finally Passed Some Arts Funding, But Left A Major Museum And Most Smaller Organizations Out

The state legislature hadn’t funded the arts at all during its regular session in 2023, so “news was both good and bad Thursday ... when, in the closing hours of the short legislative session, lawmakers approved less than half of the funding arts champions had hoped for." - MSN (Oregonian)

Songwriters Are Terrified Of AI

And rightly so. "Any person could put into an AI programme something like ‘I want a song 100 BPM that sounds like a cross between Abba and Arctic Monkeys’. And some music will be created and it will be pretty good.” - The Guardian (UK)

The Polarizing Movie That Paved The Way For Barbie-Mania

“Before the buzzy movie debuted, paparazzi photos of the costumed stars began leaking from the location shoot. When the premiere rolled around, it was just the first in a months-long series of red-carpet events, for which the cast … wore clothes inspired by" Bonnie & Clyde. - The Atlantic

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