Mr. Blum said ZHAI had a computer tool that, in 27 hours, could come up with 100,000 designs for a building’s interior; an architect would have to produce 40 drawings a day for a decade to deliver that many options. - The New York Times
Over a third of the audience of the major theater companies uses mass transit, as do half the artists and staff; the percentage is likely higher for smaller companies. If the severe cuts BART and Muni are warning of go through, theater there will be hobbled. - MSN (San Francisco Chronicle)
In February 1969, amid one of Boston's worst-ever snowstorms, a crate containing Picasso's Portrait of a Woman and a Musketeer went missing from Logan Airport; five weeks later, the painting was dropped off at the Museum of Fine Arts. Here's what happened in the interim. - The New York Times
"Hollywood showered her with admiration and two best actress Oscars. But Jackson was not easily flattered. Famously prickly, her view of Tinseltown often bordered on contempt. ... And, at the height of her acting power, she gave it all up for a career in politics." - BBC
"Churches, monuments and museums are submerged all over the Kherson region. Archaeological sites dating back to the Scythians — a nomadic people who lived in the region in the 8th century BC — and a Greek settlement from around 400 BC have been damaged or irretrievably destroyed." - Deutsche Welle
SCPR, which operates the LAist website and LAist radio station (the NPR affiliate formerly called KPCC) as well as a podcasting studio, will eliminate 21 of its 175 staff positions due to a revenue shortfall attributed mainly to a cutback in advertising by Hollywood studios. - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
"Caught in a web of financial difficulties, (the choreographer) and his board of advisers have decided to close the (Petronio Residency Center) and put the 175-acre property up for sale. The final residency takes place this month." - The New York Times
"Two activists on Wednesday smeared red paint and then glued their hands to the protective glass on The Artist's Garden at Giverny, a painting by … Claude Monet on display in an exhibition at Stockholm's National Museum." - CNN
"Geoffrey Robson, who joined the orchestra in the fall of 2008 as associate conductor and a full-time member of the violin section, has been shepherding the orchestra through its interregnum since the departure of former music director and conductor Philip Mann at the end of the 2018-19 season." - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
For three decades at the publishing houses Simon & Schuster and Knopf, he turned hundreds of manuscripts into well-received books, many of which sold millions of copies, won awards and made authors wealthy and famous. Colleagues called him incisive but sensitive to writers’ eggshell egos. - The New York Times
Janet Rollé’s hiring was announced with much fanfare: She had made a name in the entertainment industry, having served as the general manager of Parkwood Entertainment, Beyoncé’s media and management company. Rollé, who is Black, was the first person of color to lead the company. - The New York Times
Some writers invite haters and court controversy; Gilbert writes books that want to be loved. Being accused of complicity with a regime accused of genocide can’t have felt very nice. But by withdrawing the book, she has set a terrible precedent. - The Atlantic
Those millions of people are contributing to the billions of views on movies and films chopped up to fit the app's restrictive post limits, parcelled up and delivered to users in completely random order on its homepage. - CBC
