Naoko Kihara, the daughter of Japanese-Brazilian immigrants to Mexico, has been practicing hanayagi dance in the Mexican capital for nearly a quarter of a century and is passing the art along to students in the Japanese diaspora community there. - AP
There are still plenty of creative people in Portland, of course, but many left during the pandemic, and no doubt many potential newcomers have been priced out. When money is tight, artists do not make things just to make them, things that might bring joy to those around them but will not put money in their pocket. - Portland Monthly
"The hologram – which uses projectors and motion capture technology to create a 3D image of Callas – interacts with the audience without speaking directly to us; she motions to conductor Daniel Schlosberg, who motions back. She pauses for applause even after any real applause has died off." - The Guardian
What happens next with Hugo House won’t just impact Seattle’s literary ecosystem but could be a blueprint, or cautionary tale, for the scores of other organizations grappling with similar issues in today’s uncertain arts economy. - Seattle Times
"Is the banning of fantastical literature in prisons just carceral paranoia — or is it indicative of a larger cultural attitude that simultaneously denigrates and fears imagination? After all, prisons are part of U.S. culture which, despite a thriving culture industry that traffics in magic and fantasy, nonetheless degrades it." - Literary Hub
I think the future is versatility—a mixtape. I really believe that if a piece is put next to the right piece, even if it’s Schubert and Taylor Swift… they’ll shine light on each other. I see that working perfectly. - Van
"A year and a half ago, when I wrote a critical review of a show by (a) small company, a theater colleague asked me why I’d persisted with the project. … Whom does such a review serve, especially for a show that draws such small audiences?" Lily Janiak offers an answer to that question. - MSN (San Francisco Chronicle)
"After 20 years of assembling what may be the greatest typewriter collection in the world," — owned by the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Maya Angelou, Joe DiMaggio, John Lennon, Shirley Temple, and the Unabomber — "(Steve) Soboroff is putting all 33 of his beloved machines up for auction." - The New York Times
"It’s not art-at-the-service-of-science. … It’s a collaboration of the two that can generate a vision for the future, to explain complex information, both theoretical and hard big data. And all in a way that’s accessible to scientists and the wider community. … But the road to this future isn't clearly paved. Yet." - Nature
"Long before many others did so, Molnár embraced computers, which she used to create spare, minimalist drawings that were made according to sets of rules that she engineered. These drawings flirt with the points where order breaks down into chaos and chaos coheres into order." - ARTnews
"Layoffs affected a number of verticals including the website’s 'Originals' teams, with affected staffers told of their status in a meeting with their manager on Tuesday. The company will also be shutting down its 'In The Know' vertical, which curated news for Generation Z and millennial audiences." - The Daily Beast
"A skeleton crew of editors needed to take a hacksaw through the December issue of Artforum magazine. There were only a few weeks between the sudden firing of its editor-in-chief and a print deadline for the glossy’s annual 'Year in Review' issue." - The New York Times
"The choice to have the film address, but not explicitly depict, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the U.S. — which killed tens of thousands of people and left many with lifelong injuries — (had been) hotly debated in the (Japanese) media. - AP
Being alone is bad for you—and it’s not all about close family and friends. “Talking to strangers,” says Robert Waldinger, who leads the longest-running study on human happiness, at Harvard, “actually makes us happier. - The Walrus