Nüshu developed among women in the south of Hunan who were barred from education. By the end of the 20th century the script had almost died out, but now younger women who see it as a form of resistance to patriarchal power are learning nüshu, even in Beijing and beyond. - AP
The situation in Australia is grim. "What this all shows is not only the precarity of the journalistic profession, but also the low value publications, newsrooms, media corporations and perhaps even the general public, place on quality journalism.” - ArtsHub
American downtowns may have mattered before 2020, but the enormous growth of remote work (with the resulting rise in office vacancy rates) and the consistent preferences of home buyers show that suburbs and exurbs are where the action is — especially since much development there is along New Urbanism lines. - The New Atlantis
“The anxieties of the art maker – the writer – come through in anxieties about painting, or photography, or sculpture, or dance. But the best art novels transcend this self-consciousness.” - The Guardian (UK)
"Gaming employees at every level … (labor in) a highly profitable and popular sector that has long exploited their creativity and devalued their work. Now, with the specter of generative AI hovering, … (they) are proving their worth and value — and ensuring that their workplaces will no longer treat them as disposable." - Slate (MSN)
At the Olympics, that’s not really in question as it’s part of Paris’s “Cultural Olympiad, a program of multidisciplinary arts events directed by Dominique Hervieu, a choreographer, an experienced leader in the arts and a former dancer as well.” - The New York Times
Leanne Benjamin, a former principal and then coach at London's Royal Ballet, returned home to Queensland early this year to take the helm at the Brisbane-based company. She's stepping down because she feels Queensland Ballet lacks sufficient funding to achieve her artistic ambitions. - InReview (Australia)
In late April, SMU Data Arts released its 2024 "National Trends for Arts and Cultural Organizations," analyzing figures from 233 institutions of varying sizes. This update has incorporated data from an additional 501 organizations. - SMU DataArts
"When it disclosed layoffs last July, the renowned nonprofit company said that it hoped to avoid a budget deficit in the year ending in August 2023. Instead, expenses exceeded revenue by $8 million that season, according to its most recent audited financial statement." - Broadway Journal
In FY 2021, aggregate spending by the 150 largest U.S. ballet companies had fallen by 39% from FY 2019. In FY 2022, spending rose from the FY 2021 figures by 63%. However, 89% of that spending was by the 50 largest companies. - Dance Data Project
Ashley Benefield was acquitted of second-degree murder but convicted of manslaughter in the 2020 death of her ex-husband in Florida. The Benefields were the founders of the highly-publicized American National Ballet, which, in 2017, fell apart for lack of funding just as it was about to start rehearsals. - The Washington Post (MSN)
"An intermediary said to be acting on behalf of the American tech company Co2Bit Technologies was reportedly planning to exhibit an unauthenticated Jean-Michel Basquiat painting at the Museum of Modern Art in New York without the institution’s permission." - ARTnews
John Mangum, 49, has no professional experience in opera, but he has spent a career in artistic administration at the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony. He became CEO of the Houston Symphony in 2018. - Chicago Sun-Times
Crawford entirely changed the field. He “was a pioneer who shaped the scope of American music research. … It wasn’t about celebrating an unchanging canon, but about opening up the magic of musical experience.” - The New York Times
