No, the answer isn’t merely “white” — for one thing, there are many whites to chose from (just go to Home Depot and check the paint chips) — and for some purposes, various shades of blue, green, or yellow work even better. – Hyperallergic
Creating Space For Human Connection
Kelly Lamb Pollock: “My organization, COCA–Center of Creative Arts in St. Louis, is expanding with a 50,000 square foot addition. … In planning for our expansion, we have done more than our fair share of discussing, debating, and decision-making about the technical specifications and ‘performance’ of our new space. However, as the project has evolved, I’m more interested in thinking about how our space, and our art, can be in service to humanity, not the other way around.” – Americans for the Arts
The New LACMA – A Museum For No One
The museum has been through three contentious redesigns before, but the thing it needed all along was more room. Its collection—which includes pre-Columbian relics, as well as modern showpieces like Chris Burden’s Urban Light—was already bursting its four current buildings at the seams. Now, it will be squeezed into a space two-thirds the size. – The New Republic
‘I see pain in her eyes’ – the £3.6m masterpiece that went to jail
“A powerful painting by Artemisia Gentileschi, depicting the torturing of Saint Catherine, is touring Britain. What did the women of Send Prison make of the chilling work?” – The Guardian
Intersectionality And The Meaning Of Culture
The term “intersectionality” was coined in 1989 by professor Kimberlé Crenshaw to describe how race, class, gender, and other individual characteristics “intersect” with one another and overlap. “Intersectionality” has, in a sense, gone viral over the past half-decade, resulting in a backlash from the right. – Vox
‘I Didn’t Feel That There Was Any Casting Couch”: Ann Reinking Talks About Her Relationship With Bob Fosse
“I never thought he was abusive that way at all. I think everybody he was with was completely willing to be with him. I never perceived him as using a part as being manipulative. And I’ll tell you how I knew that — it was instinctual. … I trusted Bob. I trusted Gwen. And I was right to. My instincts weren’t incorrect at all. They never hurt me, and they were on my side.” – The New Yorker
How Many Artists Does It Take To Write A Hit Song? (Apparently More Than It Used To)
According to research by Music Week, it took an average of 5.34 people to write last year’s Top 100 biggest singles. That’s up from 4.84 in 2017, and 4.53 the year before. So what’s going on? – BBC
Why, Amidst All The Musical Comedies, It’s Important Every So Often To Have A Musical Tragedy
Rachel Chavkin, director of Hadestown: “This gets now into very old Greek theater, but the idea of catharsis and working through something together and the tragedy as a crucible that the audience travels through as a community and mourns together. … I think there something is so medicinal in that purgation. That’s how the Greeks used that word, catharsis, both spiritually and physically — which of course wasn’t separate for them — as medicinal.” – Slate
Does Classical Ballet Qualify As Camp? (A Lot Of People Seem To Think So)
“Ballet might have been considered camp from the start in its original French context,” allows Madison Mainwaring. (But then, so could most things at Louis XIV’s Versailles.) “If there is a camp essence in [today’s] Romantic style of ballet, with its jeweled costumes and feathered headdresses, it is related to the worship of a style that is no longer of its time.” – The New York Times
The (Fabulous) Making Of Randy Rainbow
Think of him as a modern-day Gilbert and Sullivan, or the millennial version of the piano-playing Mark Russell or Tom Lehrer — the key difference being that his get-it-out-fast production marathons and savvy use of social media bring his commentary to the public quickly, directly and with no filter. – Washington Post
BookEXpo’s State Of The Biz: Number Of Indie Bookstores In US Up 20 Percent In Last Ten Years
“The booksellers association again gained membership, rising from 1,835 individual companies (all but a handful independently owned stores) a year ago to 1,887, an increase of more than 20 percent since 2009. The number of store locations is now 2,524, compared to 2,470 in 2018, as independent sellers such as Shakespeare & Co. in New York continue to expand.” – Seattle Times (AP)
’13 Reasons Why’ Does Not Lead To More Teen Suicide: Showrunner Refutes Reports On Study
Brian Yorkey: “As the Los Angeles Times recently reported, a new study using Centers for Disease Control data claims to show a correlation between 13 Reasons Why and an increase in teen suicide. However, the research failed to substantiate the author’s own hypothesis. … [In fact,] the show’s positive impact has been observed in numerous independent pieces of research.” – The Hollywood Reporter
Michelle Terry Loves Running Shakespeare’s Globe, But Starting The Job Was Not Easy
She had plenty of experience in that theatre as an actor, but taking over the artistic directorship after the contentious departure of Emma Rice was quite a challenge: “The big learning curve was understanding my place as artistic director in the organisation, at a point when it was bruised and people needed healing. It was traumatic.” – The Stage
Netflix Is First Studio To Speak Publicly (And Unhappily) About Georgia’s New Abortion Law (No Hasty Decisions, Though)
The company’s chief content officer said in a statement, “Given the legislation has not yet been implemented, we’ll continue to film there, while also supporting partners and artists who choose not to. Should it ever come into effect, we’d rethink our entire investment in Georgia.” – Variety
There Will Be No Roof Garden Or Avant-Garde Spire At Notre-Dame: French Senate Votes To Make It Like It Was
“On Monday evening, the French Senate approved the government’s Notre-Dame restoration bill — but added a clause that it must be restored to the state it was before the blaze, striking a blow to the government which had launched an international architecture competition to debate ideas on the restoration.” – The Local (France)
Author Tony Horwitz Dies Suddenly At 60
Though he won a Pulitzer in 1995 reporting for The Wall Street Journal on the conditions of facing low-wage workers, he was best known for his books combining personal travel and history, often following himself the path of historical figures. His most famous volume, Confederates in the Attic, is now used in many a college course. – NPR
Gerard Schwarz Named Music Director Of Palm Beach Symphony
The 71-year-old conductor, formerly music director of the Seattle Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, will take over in Palm Beach this fall. He has also accepted a faculty appointment at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. – South Florida Sun Sentinel
Robert Bernstein, Longtime CEO Of Random House And Co-Founder Of Human Rights Watch, Dead At 96
“Under his direction, Random House expanded into the world’s largest general-interest publisher, increasing revenue from $40 million in 1966, when he was named president, to more than $800 million in 1989, when he was forced into retirement. … For decades, he spent what few free hours he had promoting human rights, a passion that deepened in the 1970s when he visited Moscow with a delegation of American publishers.” – The Washington Post
Countless Historic Sites In Italy Ravaged By Looting, Vandalism, And Plain Old Neglect
“The country boasts the highest number of UNESCO world heritage sites in the world, but according to EU statistics is second-last in Europe for public funding of culture. As a consequence, parts of its immense heritage – which have survived earthquakes and wars” – have essentially been abandoned. – The Guardian
Collectors Bought Rare Antique Manuscripts, Only To Find Out They’re From French Public Archives
Until it went bankrupt in 2015 after its founder was prosecuted for money laundering and fraud, the French company Aristophil held the world’s largest private collection of historic manuscripts. For the past 18 months, auctioneers have been liquidating that collection — but now 900 lots have been withdrawn because they are, in fact, stolen government property. – The Art Newspaper
The Rehabilitation Of Antonio Salieri (Modestly)
“Two centuries of calumny have created sympathy for the musical devil: I found Salieri’s grave festooned with bouquets. These were evidence that the man and his music are enjoying a modest comeback.” – The New Yorker
Artist Peter Max Has Dementia. Those Around Him Saw Opportunity To Profit Big
“For five years and counting — the latest lawsuit came Friday — the artist’s family, friends and associates have been trading lurid courtroom allegations of kidnapping, hired goons, attempted murder by Brazil nut, and schemes to wring even more money out of what was already one of the most profitable art franchises in modern times. From Shun Lee to the high seas, the twilight years of Mr. Max’s life have produced a pursuit of art-auction profits and a trail of misfortune as surreal as his trippiest works.” – The New York Times
Bunch Crunch: How Will Smithsonian Institution’s Secretary-Elect Navigate DC’s Political Minefields?
The elephants-not-in-the-room at this morning’s press conference celebrating the appointment of Lonnie Bunch III as the Smithsonian Institution’s new secretary were the man currently occupying the Oval Office and conservative members of Congress — politicians not known to be sympathetic towards federal cultural support in general and politically sensitive exhibitions in particular. – Lee Rosenbaum
Founding Director Of The National Museum of African American History Is Named New Smithsonian Secretary
Considered a giant in the museum field, Lonnie Bunch, 66, becomes the 14th secretary of the quasi-federal institution, responsible for a $1.5 billion annual budget that supports 19 museums, nine research centers and the National Zoo. He is the first Smithsonian director to ascend to the secretary’s post in 74 years and starts his new job June 16. – Washington Post