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A Cross Between A Baseball, An Armadillo, And The Sydney Opera House: Design For Vegas’s Major League Stadium Is Revealed

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and HNTB designed the planned 33,000-seat arena for the team currently known as the Oakland A's, which is moving to Nevada. Ingels himself describes the structure as a "spherical armadillo." The stadium will be on the Strip, on the current site of the Tropicana. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)

Starchitect Bjarke Ingels Talks About His “Spherical Armadillo” For Las Vegas

"I mean, it’s not like we tried to make it look like an armadillo." On comparisons to the Sydney Opera House: "I’ll definitely take it as a compliment. I think it’s one of the most beautiful buildings on Earth. And I think, in all fairness, this is a very different building." - The Athletic

Gabriel García Márquez’s Final Book Is Being Published. Should It Be?

During the '00s, Gabo went through several drafts of Until August and planned to publish it. But by 2012, afflicted with dementia and unable to finalize the book, he asked that it be destroyed. A decade later, his sons decided it could be salvaged. Were they right to try? - The New York Times

The World’s Largest International Comedy Festival, Montreal’s Just For Laughs, Is Cancelled For 2024

"Groupe Juste pour rire Inc. said that it is seeking protection from its creditors as it begins formal restructuring under Canada’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. … The company plans to continue operations in what it called a scaled-down format as it restructures (and) hopes the festival will return in 2025." - AP

Pritzker Prize For 2024 Goes To Riken Yamamoto, Known For Innovative Housing Projects

"Across a five-decade career, Yamamoto has dedicated himself to fostering community in Japan’s rapidly expanding cities. From housing projects that coax residents into spontaneous interactions to a glass-walled fire station that invites passersby to peer inside, his architecture appears intent on 'blurring boundaries between its public and private dimensions.'" - CNN

Off-Broadway Will Lose Its Theatres Without Support

“If Broadway is sustained by tourists, to use a sweeping generalisation, Off-Broadway is where the locals can be found, given the primarily limited run nature of what is offered. Losing theatres to high rents and redevelopment only contributes to the hollowing out of the city." - The Stage (UK)

At A Rally, Hollywood Craft Unions Warn Of More Strikes Looming

The IATSE president "addressed one of the key issues in the negotiations — artificial intelligence — saying it should not be used to replace workers, but also that it has the potential to lighten the load." - Variety

Composer Christian Wolff, Still Going Strong At 90

Wolff "is the last living representative of what’s known as the New York School of composition, a group that included John Cage, Morton Feldman, Earle Brown and David Tudor. Their tight-knit circle shifted midcentury American music away from classic European models. And it radiated out." - The New York Times

Could Generative AI Finally Break Copyright Law?

Contrary to popular belief, copyright does not exist for the benefit of creators. Its purpose, according to founding documents and recent interpretations, is to foster a culture that produces great works of science, art, literature, and music. - The Atlantic

Bankrupt San Francisco Art Institute Purchased By Nonprofit

"A newly formed nonprofit, composed of prominent local arts leaders and backed by philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, purchased the 93,000-square-foot campus through a limited liability company, BMAI LLC, for roughly $30 million, or $322 per square foot." - San Francisco Chronicle

As Frank Gehry Turns 95, Los Angeles Should Give Him The Disney Hall He Actually Wanted

Improving DTLA desperately needs advocates - and a focus, which the area could provide. “The sorry fact is that the hall has never been the best it can be, and there seems to be far too little motivation to take the place to its necessary next step." - Los Angeles Times

Art Shows The Reality Of War In A Way The News Can’t Quite Reach

Thinking about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, for instance, “to come close to the feeling and texture of war as it is lived behind the lines – and behind front doors – it is necessary to turn to the work of Ukrainian artists, writers, playwrights and filmmakers." - The Guardian (UK)

Investigators Say The Art Institute Of Chicago Is Clinging To A Nazi-Looted Schiele Drawing

“The institute’s decision to continue to fight the efforts by Manhattan prosecutors to retrieve its Schiele work makes it a lone holdout among the museums and collectors who received warrants from investigators telling them they possessed stolen property." - The New York Times

As ‘The Outsiders’ Makes Its Way To Broadway, The Young Cast Visits Its Oklahoma Inspiration

The cast and crew took a “granular, history-flecked tour of the place where, about 60 years earlier, S.E. Hinton’s coming-of-age story was written and set. Hinton, 75 and still a beloved local, was a star attraction." - The New York Times

Hollywood’s Musicians Reach A Tentative Deal With The Studios

The musicians’ union calls it “a major win” and “a watershed moment.” Next up: The “below the line” workers - that is to say, the Hollywood crew members in IATSE and the Teamsters - start to bargain. - MSN (Los Angeles Times)

News Website DCist Shut Down By NPR Outlet WAMU; 15 Staffers Laid Off

As with (still-operational) local news sites Gothamist, LAist, and others, DCist was acquired by its nearby public radio station when the -ist sites' parent shut down. WAMU management says it is refocusing on audio content, and the DCist website is now unavailable to the public. - The Washington Post (MSN)

Britain’s Second City, Effectively Bankrupt, Announces Elimination of All Arts Funding

In Birmingham, which faces a long-brewing cash crisis, "grants to regularly-funded arts organisations will face 50% cuts this year and 100% next financial year." This includes, among others, the City of Birmingham Symphony, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Birmingham REP Theatre, IKON Gallery, and Birmingham International Dance Festival. - Birmingham Live

The Terrifying Logistics Of Getting An Entire U.S. Symphony Orchestra Packed Up And Onto The Plane For A European Tour

"(It's) a finely tuned and precisely orchestrated operation, requiring months of advance planning and permitting, a crew of nearly a dozen workers and an all-hands effort by the musicians themselves." Michael Andor Brodeur watches as DC's National Symphony prepares and sets off. - The Washington Post (MSN)

At 61, Jodie Foster Is Finally Unclenching And Letting (Some Of) Her Guard Down

"At a certain point, the survival tool, which has kept you safe and kept you warm, which has kept you with your family, it’s allowed you to exist in the world — you gotta cut that fucking thing off," she said. "You gotta cut that thing off, because it’s killing you." - The Atlantic

Israeli Forces Raid, Destroy Publishing Houses In The West Bank

"IDF raids on Palestinian publishing houses are nothing new. Seven Palestinian publishing houses were raided or destroyed over a six-month period in 2016-2017, and eleven more were targeted in a seven-month period in 2021." - LitHub
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