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Archives for January 2017

Are Orchestras A Ticket Or An Art? Maybe We’re Thinking About The (Made Up) Model Wrong

January 26, 2017 by Douglas McLennan 13 Comments

As recently as 1990, American symphony orchestras accounted for an average of 60 percent of their budgets in earned income. This meant, at the time, that if you weren't selling enough tickets (and other services) to make 60 percent, then you weren't considered healthy. A report in 1991 - The Financial Condition of Symphony Orchestras - conducted by The Wolf Organization, said that attendance at … [Read more...]

Five Highlights From This Week’s AJ: The Big Ideas You Need To Know, Says MIT

January 22, 2017 by Douglas McLennan 1 Comment

This Week: Trump, the arts, the culture budget and protest... Harvard ART school gets suspended...MIT's list of 10 things you need to know... Writers and money - the straight dope. Trump Inauguration And Artists: Obviously the biggest story this week was the American inauguration and the demonstrations the day after. There were dozens of stories pondering the role of art and artists in … [Read more...]

Killing NEA, NEH And PBS Is Just Collateral Damage In The Commodification Of American Values

January 20, 2017 by Douglas McLennan 22 Comments

So it begins. A report in The Hill, then picked up in the Washington Post, says that the Trump administration intends to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities and sell off PBS. It's part of a plan to cut some $10.5 trillion over the next decade. Zeroing out the culture budgets isn't about money; together, the NEA, NEH and PBS account for … [Read more...]

Context: Hollywood’s Political Bias? It’s Money

January 17, 2017 by Douglas McLennan Leave a Comment

Unquestionably, a majority of the people who work in Hollywood lean politically left. More than lean, in many cases. But how much of their politics makes it onto the big screen? Rory Carroll takes up the question in the Guardian, writing that: "the industry as a whole could disappoint those hoping for a liberal, inclusive wave from Los Angeles to counter rightwing populism from … [Read more...]

Five Highlight Reads From This Week’s AJ: Did Originality Steer The Arts Wrong?

January 15, 2017 by Douglas McLennan 3 Comments

This Week: The Trump era is a challenge to America's arts institutions... Artificial intelligence is teaching us how to better-design concert halls... How originality has failed art... The Metropolitans Museum and Opera are struggling... Is Canada becoming the first "post-nation" state? The Role Of Arts Institutions In The Era Of Trump: As what follows any seismic shift in the landscape, … [Read more...]

Douglas McLennan

I’m the founder and editor of ArtsJournal, which was founded in September 1999 and aggregates arts and culture news from all over the internet. The site is also home to some 60 arts bloggers. I’m a … [Read More...]

About diacritical

Our culture is undergoing profound changes. Our expectations for what culture can (or should) do for us are changing. Relationships between those who make and distribute culture and those who consume it are changing. And our definitions of what artists are, how they work, and how we access them and their work are changing. So... [Read more]

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Archives

Recent Comments

  • Alan Harrison on Making the Creative Turn: Is Using AI Cheating?: “There is no pushback that would make sense. “Cheating” is, of course, a relative term — it means different things…” Jun 29, 18:48
  • Tom Corddry on Making the Creative Turn: Is Using AI Cheating?: “The emergence of new tools doesn’t make previous tools illegal to use for artistic creation, though new tools may radically…” Jun 29, 15:30
  • David E. Myers on How Should we Measure Art?: “A sophisticated approach to “measuring” incorporates all of the above, with clear delineation of how each plays a part if…” Nov 3, 16:20
  • Tom Corddry on How Should we Measure Art?: “Reading this brought to mind John Cage’s delineation of different ways to experience a Beethoven symphony–live in concert, on a…” Nov 3, 01:58
  • Abdul Rehman on A Framework for Thinking about Disruption of the Arts by AI: “This article brilliantly explores how AI is set to revolutionize everything, much like the digital revolution did. AI tools can…” Jun 8, 03:49
  • Richard Voorhaar on Classical Music has Lost a Generation. Blame the Metadata (in part): “I think we’ve lost several generations. My parents generation was the last that really supported, and knre something about classical…” May 15, 12:08
  • Franklin on How Subsidy for Big Tech Wrecked the Arts (and Journalism): “Language, yes; really characterization. Investments and margins don’t become subsidies and taxes whether or not markets “are working” – I’m…” Mar 8, 07:13
  • Douglas McLennan on How Subsidy for Big Tech Wrecked the Arts (and Journalism): “So what you’re arguing is language? – that investments aren’t subsidies and margins aren’t taxes? Sure, when markets are working.…” Mar 7, 21:42
  • Franklin on How Subsidy for Big Tech Wrecked the Arts (and Journalism): “Doug: You can, if you like, buy a jailbroken Android, install GrapheneOS, and sideload apps from the open-source ecosystem at…” Mar 7, 16:17
  • Douglas McLennan on How Subsidy for Big Tech Wrecked the Arts (and Journalism): “Franklin: Thanks for the response, But a few points: My Chinese solar panel example was to make the point that…” Mar 7, 12:46

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An ArtsJournal Blog

Recent Posts

  • Making the Creative Turn: Is Using AI Cheating?
  • Creativity Versus Skills
  • How Digital AI Twins could Transform how We Make Art
  • How Should we Measure Art?
  • Classical Music has Lost a Generation. Blame the Metadata (in part)

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