"Black Sabbath: the Ballet, due to open in September in the band's home city, … is the vision of Birmingham Royal Ballet's artistic director, Carlos Acosta, who wanted to celebrate what he described as 'the most famous, and infamous, cultural entity to ever emerge from the city'." - The Guardian
It is a sad fact in the 2020s that anyone writing a book praising the achievements of an artist on the order of Ludwig van Beethoven situates himself on the dangerous side of a political question. - The Wall Street Journal
"Expiring pandemic-related government funds, a scuttling stock market and the increasing cost of doing business have left the 78-year-old arts organization seeking some help. … Symphony boosters are right now seeking $300,000 in donations ahead of the end of their fiscal year in June." - The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA)
Publishers and libraries ought to be on the same side: libraries aim to advance learning by providing free and open access to information; publishing literally means to disseminate to the public. Big publishers suing a digital library—during an unprecedented assault on libraries’ purpose and function—is a weird look. - The Walrus
The creator of Peter Rabbit was more than a writer of children's tales about fuzzy animals. She did professional-quality zoological illustration, carried out serious studies of insects and mushrooms, and was a landscape preservationist who bought many properties in the Lake District to keep them rural. - The New York Times
More than 30 stations have announced so far that they will no longer use Twitter. Some station leaders say they made the decision to show solidarity with NPR. - Current
Two Kiev-based publications, Solomiya and Telegraf, and a dissident magazine from inside Russia, BL8D (pronounced "blood"), are using visual art, fashion photography, interviews and essays to engage young people in Ukraine and Europe with the conflict and, hopefully, contribute to aid organizations. - The Guardian
""In one image, she takes a selfie at Piazza San Marco in Venice, while elsewhere on her travels she eats a pizza on Lake Como and rides a bike past Rome's Colosseum. … The concept has been met mostly with derision by social media commentators, art critics, and even government officials." - Artnet
"It's an inherently dramatic device — because a letter is both a vessel for self-expression and a catalyst for a response. Suspense swirls around what that response might be, and often whether one will arrive at all." - The New York Times
"The staff of Paper Magazine, the pop culture publisher made famous by the 2014 'Break the Internet' photo shoot with Kim Kardashian, was laid off Wednesday. … The publisher itself is not shuttering, but is instead seeking to cut costs as it looks toward alternative options to remain in operation." - Adweek
"(Richard Sharp) quit Friday after a report found he failed to disclose a potential conflict of interest over his role in arranging ... a line of credit (for former Prime Minister Boris Johnson) weeks before he was appointed to the BBC post on the government's recommendation." - AP
"Karin Hindsbo, who oversaw the consolidation of four Norwegian art institutions into the National Museum in Oslo, will take up her new post in September. She will succeed Frances Morris, the first female director of Tate Modern." - The Guardian
"Protesters smeared black and red paint on the case and pedestal of Edgar Degas's Little Dancer Aged Fourteen sculpture at the National Gallery of Art in D.C. on Thursday to bring attention to the climate crisis and demand that President Biden declare a climate emergency." - MSN (The Washington Post)
Nothing that we know of stops the right side of the brain from connecting with the right side of the body. That wiring scheme would seem much simpler and less prone to errors. - Quanta
