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How Hard Is It To Make Animated Characters Cry? Let The Animators Tell You

"Heaving sobs and effervescent teardrops are the result of the exacting labor of artists who must precisely illustrate, iterate on, time, and log their work on a budget. Making all that controlled effort look spontaneous and, above all, natural is never an easy feat." - Vulture (MSN)

A Transformative Calder Gift To The Seattle Art Museum

Last April, the Shirleys donated 48 works by Alexander Calder to the Seattle Art Museum (SAM). While Calders proliferate in museums across the globe, these are particularly major ones—the group of works was valued at $200 million by a Christie’s higher-up. - ARTnews

Another San Francisco Theater Has To Do An Emergency Donate-Or-We-Close-Down Campaign

"Cutting Ball Theater, the 25-year-old company known for form-breaking new plays and rejuvenated classics, ... says it needs to raise $45,000 by March 1 and $200,000 by June, out of a $750,000 annual budget, in order to stay open." - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

A Transformative $60 Million Gift To San Francisco Ballet

San Francisco Ballet has received a groundbreaking gift: It announced on Thursday that it had secured a $60 million contribution from an anonymous donor, the largest in the company’s 91-year history and one of the biggest ever to an American dance company. - The New York Times

Meet The Mother Of Contemporary African Dance

"Germaine Acogny studied dance at the École Simon-Siégel in Paris. She was the only black student (there) and a teacher criticised her 'big butt and flat feet' liberally. After graduating, Acogny returned to post-independence Senegal and developed a style that blended her classical training with traditional, African-inspired movement." - The Guardian

The Critical Importance Of Thelma Golden In The Art World

"I had known Thelma Golden for a decade before I fully absorbed the critical role she had played, and continues to play, in desegregating the art world." - The New Yorker

Harvey Weinstein’s Lawyers Appeal His Rape Conviction Before New York State’s Highest Court

The basis of the appeal is that the trial judge should not have allowed testimony from three other women whose alleged assaults by Weinstein weren't at issue in this case. The justices appeared divided; Weinstein didn't appear at all, remaining at the state prison instead. - AP

A Schubert Jukebox Opera? Yep.

"Jukebox" opera was hardly unknown in centuries past; it was called pasticcio. And while Schubert was a master of vocal music, his operas are rarely revived. (Blame the bad librettos.) So conductor Raphaël Pichon has taken highlights from those operas and put them together with a new story. - The New York Times

13th-Century Fresco By Cimabue Has Been Restored And Revealed

The painting, in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, is of the Madonna and Child with angels and St. Francis himself. The project has restored some bright colors that were darkened in the painting's last conservation (1973) and repaired some damage suffered in the 1997 earthquakes. - Artnet

OMG, Looks Like The Saudis Have Actually Started Construction On That 100-Mile-Long Building

Many onlookers have been skeptical that The Line, Prince Muhammad bin Salman's planned glass-clad behemoth 170 kilometers long, 1,640 feet tall and only 660 feet wide, will ever really be built. But the project's CEO has now released photos of the initial excavation. - Dezeen

Here’s One American Newspaper That’s Actually Making Money With A New, Free (!) Print Issue

This past September, Deseret News, the Salt Lake City daily owned and operated by the Mormon church, launched The Digest, a monthly compendium of the best of the paper's journalism from all its platforms, mailed to 120,000 homes. It was profitable by the following month. - Poynter

Second City Has Opened Its New York City Branch

"The new site (in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood) is less of a traditional comedy club than it is a sort of small campus for comedy aficionados. The 12,000-square-foot, two-floor complex includes two cabaret-style live theaters, a training center …, and a restaurant bar called The Bentwood." - Time Out New York

England’s Arts Funder Warns Grantees To Avoid “Political Statements” And Artists Respond Angrily

"Artists, writers and musicians have reacted with fury to an Arts Council England warning that “political statements” could break funding agreements. ... ACE advised the organisations it funds to be wary of 'overtly political or activist' statements made in a personal capacity by people linked to them." - The Guardian

Tate Modern Has 12.5 Million Social Media Followers. Here’s How

"We try to strike a careful balance between experimenting with TikTok and posting on Instagram, as Instagram remains our most reliably steadfast channel. It’s been our widest-reaching and most actively engaged audience for years, and accounts for around three quarters of our total video views." - The Art Newspaper

The Sports Industry Hasn’t Figured Out How Fans Should Watch

It’s never been more complicated (or expensive) for sports fans to watch their favorite teams. - Bloomberg

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