A 2015 survey by blogger Mae Mai reported that 260 new opera companies started since 2000 in the United States. There are 80 opera companies now working in New York alone. Over the past couple months the New York Opera Fest showcased many of the New York companies. For the most part, these don't look like your grandpa's operas - just clicking the website confirms that. New opera embraces the … [Read more...]
Attention Deficit Disorder: Our Walled-Garden Problem
As the digital world pummels us with more information and choice, many of us react by walling off the things we simply won't pay attention to. It's a survival strategy. We increasingly define ourselves by the things we choose to pay attention to, and bestowing attention is a form of currency we are reluctant to squander. This is a problem if you're trying to grow an audience. Building a better … [Read more...]
Editor’s Picks: Five Highlights From Last Week’s AJ – How To Define Art Edition
This Week: In an age of artists what is the definition of being an artist?... Canadian study says arts workers are most at risk... What is R&D in the arts?... Edinburgh Festival's success shows the broadening impact of festivals... In the information age our opinions seem to be more arrogant. We're All Artists Now (So Maybe It's Worth Asking What Is An Artist?): We equate creativity with … [Read more...]
Editor’s Picks: Five Stories You Shouldn’t Miss, Factually Challenged Edition
This week: How did our culture get to the point we don't trust facts?... Are artists actually detrimental to neighborhoods?... Our notions of "greatness" need an overhaul... Europe's new cultural paradigm desperately needs artists... Are donors to museum building projects do their museums a disservice? Do Facts Matter Any More? (Let's Define "Facts" Please): It's as if we live in parallel … [Read more...]
Our Don’t-Miss Stories From Last Week’s ArtsJournal: Musical Prime Minister Edition
This week: A penetrating portrait of artist Chuck Close, a reality check on meritocracy as a concept, a look at anger and our access to visceral emotion in a media-saturated world, the enduring meritocracy of the Emmy as measure of success, and a Prime Minister exits stage right, humming. A Virtuoso Artist Profile: Wil S. Hylton's profile of Chuck Close for the New York Times endeavors to … [Read more...]
Do Artists Have A Vision For The Future?
Around the beginning of the 20th Century, some French artists were asked to design a series of cards that would imagine what life would be like 100 years in the future in the year 2000. The first cards were created for the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris and eventually there were at least 87 of them. This was the mechanical age, the dawn of automation. So it's not surprising that the artists' … [Read more...]
Five Highlights From Last Week’s AJ: Ethics, Success, And Documentation Edition
This week: What ethical responsibilities do funders and funded have to one another?... The gatekeeper problem is still a thing in the internet age... What should the measure of success be in opera?... Historians are going to have a real problem documenting today's artists... Our all-image culture suggests the place of images in art may be changing. What Ethical Responsibilities Do Funders … [Read more...]
Five Highlights From Last Week’s AJ You Shouldn’t Miss
This week: Alas, hard work probably doesn't trump innate ability... It's tempting to believe extravagant claims for technology, but there are limits... Yes, by all means let's talk about equity, but be sure you know what it means... A real-world experiment in ticket pricing (and some surprising results)... The death of the mid-budget Hollywood movie. We Like The Idea That Hard Work Trumps … [Read more...]
Last Week’s Don’t Miss Arts Stories: Brexit Edition
Clearly Brexit is a cultural decision, and it will have a big impact... A new jazz scene emerges and re-energizes the art form... There's a practical reason there are so few women ballet choreographers... Christo's simple idea wows the world... Has public radio figured out a compelling future? Brexit Will Have Big Impact On Culture: The British vote to leave the European Union is a … [Read more...]
Five Stories From Last Week’s AJ You Shouldn’t Miss (Meaning Of Art Edition)
Can computers help us better understand art? What the world thinks is creative. Why is it still okay to discriminate against stupid people? How gaming is taking over. And the "Rotten Tomatoes of Books" reveals a problem with how books are reviewed. What's New In Understanding Art: How do we understand art? Of course there are the tangible technical qualities anyone can see. But there are also … [Read more...]
This Week’s Top AJ Stories, When Blockbusters Fail Edition
Maybe our biggest problem with teaching music in schools is the way we teach it. Hollywood thought making blockbusters would save it. Surprise! How charity auctions take advantage of artists. The internet is changing what we value in the world. And the wonder of Bill T. Jones... Music Teacher: We should change the way we teach music in schools Currently we teach it based on classical music … [Read more...]
Sorry – A (Respectful) Dissent On A Well-Meaning Statement On Arts Equity
I would say based on the thousands of stories we sift through every day at ArtsJournal, diversity and cultural equity (along with funding) are right now probably the biggest issues being talked about in the arts community. And rightly so. It's astonishing to see article after article documenting inequalities in gender, race, sexual orientation and age in our cultural industries. The … [Read more...]
Five Highlights From This Week’s ArtsJournal, College Crisis Edition
A new music director for the Met Opera, and what it means. A looming college crisis and what it means. How art is changing politics. Is art driving ISIS? And flooding threatened the Louvre, D'Orsay. Metropolitan Opera Gets Its First New Music Director Since 1976: Confirming a fairly open secret, the Met chooses Yannick Nézet-Séguin, music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. But there are … [Read more...]
Five Highlights From Last Week’s AJ, Endless Arts Planning Edition
When arts planning becomes the point rather than the process. Why your creativity may be dependent on being bored. Are MFA degrees a waste of time if you want to be an artist? Broadway breaks more records. And three new ways to see traditional art. Boston Arts Plan - All Process, No Beef? The new mayor of Boston aspired to to his city being an arts town, a place where culture flourishes. So … [Read more...]
Five Stories From Last Week’s AJ: Likes And Dislikes Edition
Why aren't the arts something we can all get behind? Maybe it's somewhere in the psychology of how we like what we like? Revealed: nobody reads arts reviews anymore (says an editor who hates to run them but wants to "support" the arts). Where the money is in music (hint: not for musicians). And is "This American Life" undermining public radio? Go Team! Why Don't The Arts Unite Communities … [Read more...]