“Three individuals were involved in an attack on an exhibition in Chelsea … in which photographs were defaced, neo-Nazi leaflets dispersed, and a curator assaulted with pepper spray. The assailants objected to the Ukraine-focused section of a photojournalistic show on recent unrest in that country and Syria called Material Evidence.”
How Garth Fagan Makes His Dances
“Fagan’s blend of Afro-Caribbean and modern dance is technically challenging, requiring changes in rhythms and speed. … But Fagan’s choreographic process begins in silence, when he has the dancers learn the movement and rhythms. ‘They learn the parts of the body that they should and shouldn’t use,’ added Fagan, ‘then I bring the music and their eyes light up.'”
The Prado Will Not Have To Give Up Its Bosch And Tintoretto After All
“Spain’s minister of education, culture and sport, José Ignacio Wert, has dispelled any fears that some of the Museo del Prado’s Renaissance masterpieces could be transferred to a planned Royal Collections museum, due to open in 2016.”
Tax Case May Change What Wealthy Collectors Do With Their Art
“Many people donate percentages of a painting to a museum over several years so that the deduction matches their income. While the ultimate goal is to give 100 percent of the painting to the museum, people might be deterred from giving art gradually if the I.R.S. discounted the value for charitable gifts.”
The Asian Male Stereotype On American TV (What’s It Take To Get Some Action?)
“What does it take for an Asian male to get some action on TV? While there have been trailblazing Asian male actors, such as George Takei on Star Trek and B.D. Wong on Law & Order: SVU, few of them have played characters who have had romantic relationships.”
America’s 200-Year-Old Arts Organization Has A Birthday
“I think the common denominator through these 200 years is the people of Boston — these businesspeople, musicians, the visionaries who really kept it afloat. If you think that it never stopped performing during the two great wars, the Civil War, the Depression . . . this organization has always kept going.”
Nielsen: Music Is Most Popular Form Of Entertainment
“When surveyed about their activities in the past year, 75% of respondents said they actively chose to listen to music, even ahead of watching television at 73%.”
Interactive Movies Were All The Thing (And Then They Weren’t)
But “we’re on a new frontier of interactive media: the virtual-reality simulation, as heralded by Oculus Rift and Google Glass, seems poised to break into the mainstream.”
Satanist Coloring Books Aren’t Being Distributed In Florida Schools After All
After a Christian group was twice allowed to distribute Bibles in Orange County public high schools, the Satanic Temple – last heard from with an idea for the Oklahoma state capitol – suggested that they should be permitted to give out The Satanic Children’s Big Book of Activities there. Several news outlets reported that permission had been granted (which led to the predictable protests), but it ain’t so.
Facebook Will Never Stop Manipulating Us
“Facebook has every reason to manipulate the News Feed to optimize for whatever user engagement metrics correspond to the best returns for advertisers, which in turn correspond to the best returns for Facebook. And it has every reason to use other experiments in an effort to improve other parts of its operation.”
That Time Britain Put On More Than 120 ‘Fun Palaces’ To Honor A Legendary Theatre Director
“In 1961, partly inspired by traditional pleasure gardens and working men’s institutes, [Joan Littlewood] tried to build a venue where visitors could enjoy performances, learn practical crafts and skills, watch events on giant screens or just eat and drink.” More than 50 years later, theatres in the UK mounted 120 productions in her honor.
Having An Extraordinary Experience Can Make You Extra Sad Later
“People who had enjoyed something unusually wonderful ‘had little in common with their ordinary peers, who had a lot in common with each other, which made the extraordinary experiences both alien and enviable, which left them feeling excluded and sad.'”
No, 99-Seat Theatres In Los Angeles Can’t Survive An Attempt To Make Them All The Same
“Theaters are not fast food restaurants and the artists are not minimum wage employees. They are artists trying to create art. We do it for love. We do it to feed our souls. We know we are not going to make our livings doing this work.”
Taking On The Films That ‘Nobody Wants Made’
Steve McQueen: “The world is perverse. And sometimes perversity happens in the most beautiful places. That is what it is all about.”
Does The World Need Yet Another Young Dancer Competition?
“As carefully as this competition has been worked out, as admirable as its panel of judges may be, there are flaws in the whole concept that no amount of sensitivity and good sense can overcome.”
How Do You Build A Gay Art Museum?
“What we hope that we can do — and what we care a great deal about — is treat and deal with issues of gender and sex in a professional museum setting that is done in a straight forward and honest manner. So that other museums have the courage to do so.”
Ten Tips To Being A Bestselling Author
“Writers are very fragile, they’re like butterflies or perhaps moths; they can be easily crumpled. If you’re very sensitive, which I am, it only takes a raised eyebrow or a chance remark about an idea for you to lose confidence.”
The Final Step In Dealing With An Artistic Crisis
“I want to take a moment to talk briefly about unexpected opportunities. Just as it is important to formally state your desires and goals, it is equally important to remain open to the unexpected.”
Federal Mediators Will Join Atlanta Symphony Negotiations (For Real This Time)
After a false start last week, both musicians and management confirm that Allison Beck, who helped end the impasse in the Metropolitan Opera contract talks, will lead the effort to end the lockout and settle terms of a new labor agreement.
Atlanta Symphony Lockout: Ex-Board Member Charges That Parent Org Has “Taken Over Running The Symphony”
“Right now the feeling of the symphony board is frustration and anger and sadness. The ASO board no longer seems to have any power. WAC [Woodruff Arts Center] is calling all the shots. … They have gradually taken over all authority for running the symphony.”
San Francisco Opera Chief David Gockley To Retire In 2016
“With a mature organization like the San Francisco Opera, a CEO should stay 10 years,” he said. “The energy and creativity kind of gets squeezed out, and then the way opens up for new energy and new vision. This will be a positive thing for the company, and will put the onus on the company to get somebody great to succeed me.”
Atlanta Symphony Bosses Pushed For New World Symphony-Style Internship Model
The orchestra’s musicians say, and parent organization Woodruff Arts Center does not deny, that both the departed ASO president and Woodruff leaders argued “that the number of full-time tenured musicians of the ASO should be permanently reduced, and resulting vacancies could be filled with alumni from the ASO’s Talent Development Program (TDP), who would perform in an ‘internship’ capacity.”
Corcoran Faces Unsure Future As National Gallery And George Washington University Take Over
For observers who fear the worst, George Washington’s past experience absorbing smaller institutions offers ample evidence for concern.
Concertgebouw Orchestra’s Next Chief Conductor Is Daniele Gatti
The Italian maestro begins in his new position in 2016, succeeding Mariss Jansons, who is stepping down next March. “[Gatti] takes over at an orchestra that critics regard as one of the world’s finest, but whose finances have been shaken by a decline in government support.”