“All organizations – not just nonprofits – are now in the business of promoting “social good” in order to gain support… If your organization imagines one of its key differentiators to be its social responsibility, well, then your thinking may be at complete odds with the way the market perceives and evaluates all organizations (i.e. nonprofits and for-profits alike).”
Arguments Break Out Over Hotel Planned Near One Of Modern Architecture’s Holy Sites
“The jury tasked with selecting the design for a new hotel adjacent to Peter Zumthor’s Therme Vals spa in Switzerland has ‘dissociated itself’ with the client’s decision to appoint Los Angeles firm Morphosis,” headed by Pritzker winner Thom Mayne.
Pole Dancing At An Art Museum – Politicized Pole Dancing, No Less
The installation at Manhattan’s New Museum, called (in exemplary political art fashion) P.O.L.E. (People, Objects, Language, Exchange), incorporates the original neon “Silence = Death” sign and has included pay-what-you-wish “open pole” sessions.
Now The Arts Are Getting Their Own Version Of The Coachella Festival
In March, about a month before the big rock music shindig kicks off in the California desert, a new one-day event called the Festival of the Desert will debut in the towns around Palm Springs. Headliners include soprano Renée Fleming, ballet dancer David Hallberg, and music biz giant Quincy Jones; the artistic leader is conductor Philippe Jordan.
What’s Up With The Peculiar Way The Grammys Treats Classical Music?
“If the Recording Academy feels that certain awards they give are not worthy of exposure on network television (which ultimately are the awards that wind up getting reported on in most of the media outlets and therefore the ones that most people are aware actually of), why give the awards in the first place?”
Minnesota Orchestra Will Be First American Orchestra To Play In Cuba Since American Policy Shift
“The trip marks a striking return to the limelight for an orchestra that only a year ago was emerging from the longest lockout in American orchestral history, with serious questions about its future. It is all the more fitting since the Minnesota Orchestra’s first-ever international performances were in Cuba in 1929 and 1930.”
Scientists Wonder: How Does The Brain Figure Out How To Read (Here’s What We Know So Far)
“You know where the color of your eyes came from, your facial features, your hair, your height. Maybe even your personality — I’m stubborn like mom, sloppy like dad. But what we’re trying to do is find out, by looking at brain networks and accounting for everything in the environment, is where your reading ability originates.”
Extremists Destroy Important Sufi Shrine In Yemen
Aside from anger at the act of violence, the difficulty of protecting such sites and the Islamists’ capacity to strike have caused frustration and pessimism. The attack took place “barely 20 km NW from Al Anad airbase, where hundreds of US armed forces personnel are based.”
When Sudan Banned Libraries
In the early 1990s, all of the city’s libraries were shut down and the books inside destroyed. Sudan became an authoritarian, single-party Islamic state following Bashir’s military coup in 1989, and censorship ruled. When Bashir came to power, the writers’ union was one of the first organisations he banned. “They don’t want gatherings, that’s all. They don’t want the people to meet,” he says.
Oops! Netflix Releases New Season Of “House Of Cards” Online For An Hour Before Taking It Down (Or Was This Genius Marketing?)
“Nearly as soon as people began to share the news on Twitter – and possibly drum up fake illnesses to stay home for binge watching on Thursday – Netflix yanked the highly anticipated episodes.”
Longtime Director Of Boston’s Gardner Museum To Retire
Anne Hawley said “she has been quietly weighing the decision for two years now, as the museum completed fund-raising efforts that included $114 million for the museum’s sleek 2012 expansion, designed by renowned architect Renzo Piano, and an additional $50 million to fortify the museum’s endowment.”
Solved: Here’s Why The Great Old Violins Have Such Power
A team of scientists worked on it. “Answering the musician’s simple question turned into a seven-year project in which the team examined the acoustic dynamics of stringed instruments through time, from the oud, lute, and medieval fiddles to the guitar and ultimately the violin — a period spanning from the 10th century to the 18th century.”
Study: Taking Art Lessons Alters The Brain
“Taking an introductory class in painting or drawing literally alters students’ brains. What’s more, these training-induced changes didn’t only improve the fine motor control needed for sophisticated sketching; they also boosted the students’ creative thinking.”
Life Is Getting Harder For Actors With Learning Disabilities
“Work seems to be being supported and assisted at a community level. So there’s a perception that people with learning disabilities can enjoy participatory activity but – on the other side of that – the professional opportunities and the professional training is dwindling. And it seems to be a strategic choice.”
The Numbers Don’t Lie: Women In Hollywood Movies
Female characters comprised just 12 per cent of protagonists in the top 100 grossing films of 2014, the lowest figure for more than a decade, according to a new study.
London’s Wigmore Hall Will Live-Stream Concerts Starting Next Season
“Music venue Wigmore Hall is to undergo a £2 million refurbishment that will see the creation of new rehearsal spaces and enable the building to stream and broadcast its work.”
“Outreach And Access” Will Be Conditions For Funding UK Arts Orgs If Labour Wins May Election
Harriet Harman, Labour’s shadow culture minister: “The money that goes into an arts organisation is taxpayers’ money. Outreach and access are not options, they must be part and parcel. … Taxpayers will not be happy to finance something if they think it’s not anything to do with them, especially in hard times.”
Why Jon Stewart Is Leaving “The Daily Show”
“Yesterday’s announcement … is jolting, but it shouldn’t be surprising. Last fall, on the eve of his writing-directing feature-film debut, Stewart openly wrestled with how much longer he wanted to keep doing the TV show that made him famous. It wasn’t hard to see which way he was leaning.”
How The Rise Of Jon Stewart Hastened The Demise Of Brian Williams
“In recent days, some commenters have dismissed Williams’s comic moonlighting as the work of a guy who couldn’t stand not to have a camera trained on him, or of a newsman who actually just wanted to be an entertainer. A more charitable view would be that he was an anchor trying to remain relevant in a news environment that, thanks in part to Stewart, was turning him into a dinosaur in a bespoke suit.”
The House That Jon Stewart Built: Comedic Journalism Will Not Disappear
“The idea that what Jon Stewart and his team did was journalism always rankled some journalists, but that’s exactly what it was. At its most fundamental level, the purpose of journalism in a democracy is to build a more informed citizenry. For many Americans, especially younger ones, Stewart fulfilled that task. And it seems to be a duty his successors are eager to take up.”
When Did Books Get Page Numbers – And Are They Even Useful Anymore?
“Numbering pages started out not as a tool for readers but a guide for those who physically produced books.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.11.15
Arts Predispositions II: Maybes
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2015-02-11
Heft and excitement
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2015-02-11
A New Old Bill Evans Interview
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-02-11
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St. Louis Symphony Picks A New Leader
A native of Québec, Marie-Hélène Bernard has been executive director and CEO of Boston’s early-music Handel and Haydn Society since 2007. Earlier, she worked for the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Canton (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra.
Judge Rules: Met Museum Can Charge Admission
Two separate lawsuits had been brought against the museum challenging its policy of charging a $25 “recommended” entrance fee, based on the Met’s original 1876 lease and a subsequent state law that provided city land and funds to establish the museum in return for free admission to the public during most of the week.
Big Name Hollywood Talent Agency Decides To Start Representing Artists (Beginning With You-Know-Who, Of Course)
“United Talent Agency, the Beverly Hills-based talent agency known for representing actors like Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, and Gwyneth Paltrow announced the launch of a new division called UTA Fine Arts, which will manage the careers of visual artists.”