Nearly 60% of Americans say they have had to cut back on spending on live entertainment this year because of rising costs, according to a Wall Street Journal/Credit Karma survey of about 1,000 U.S. consumers conducted at the start of September. - Wall Street Journal
That number represents a six-point drop from the most recent survey in 2017, amplifying alarm bells that the arts community is struggling to regain its pre-lockdown audience. - Washington Post
"He’s very smart, really rigorous, and really inflexible," says former-boss-turned-colleague Rem Koolhaas of Joshua Ramus, "which in certain conditions is extremely useful." Says Harvard architecture dean Sarah Whiting, "Joshua is incredibly invested in how something gets pulled off ... the underbelly and the technical side." - The New York Times
Individual stores develop their own looks. "Any design agency would have a heart attack if they could see what we’re doing,” said CEO James Daunt. “We don’t have any architect doing our design at any stage. And certainly the identity people would have a complete crisis.” - The New York Times
Half the staff at Bandcamp, the online music platform known for championing independent artists and labels, have been laid off following the recent purchase of the company by music licensing startup Songtradr. - The Guardian
Weirdly: "People who do not know how librarians select material are much more likely to also believe librarians should be prosecuted for that material." - BookRiot
Irina Kolpakova, who has worked with ABT for decades, "is a consummate coach, her skill evident in her rapid-fire suggestions delivered in an emphatic mix of Russian-English, her poses, her quick adjustment of a dancer’s chin or shoulders." - The New York Times
"An audit showing unpaid bills. More than half of CapRadio’s board later resigned. Potential conflicts of interest came to light. News from competitors ... was how staff members said they often first learned about each instance. ... Sadness, worry and exhaustion poured out from employees." - MSN (The Sacramento Bee)
"Locals are hoping it will change (Eastbourne's) reputation and place it on a (larger) cultural stage. But as shown by the experiences of other English seaside towns, big-city culture often dovetails with an influx of new residents and concerns about unfairly shared benefits often follow." - The New York Times
"When the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park opens in Montgomery, Ala., in early 2024, on a bluff flanked by railroad tracks overlooking the Alabama River, visitors will be able to arrive by boat — retracing the footsteps of tens of thousands of Africans." - The New York Times
"Today culture remains capable of endless production, but it’s far less capable of change. Intellectual property has swallowed the cinema; the Hollywood studios that once proposed a slate of big, medium and small pictures have hedged their bets, and even independent directors have stuck with narrative and visual techniques born in the 1960s." - The New York Times
"On the one hand, there’s never been more of it — more specials, podcasts, comedy-generated discussions and debate and cultural flare-ups. … On the other hand, comedy, like everything else, is in bits. Online, it has shattered into memes and trolls and culture warlords and goats singing Bon Jovi." - MSN (The Atlantic)
Georgie Wolton launched the careers of Norman Foster and Richard Rogert, but all that's left of her legacy now is a house in deep disrepair. - The Observer (UK)
68% of art museum workers have considered leaving the field, 74% cannot always cover basic living expenses, and it takes an average of 12 years before a worker receives a promotion. Turnover is high — art museums lost 30% of full-time employees hired between 2020 and 2022. - Los Angeles Times
Dmitri Krymov had nine different shows running in Moscow when he left for Philadelphia to stage The Cherry Orchard. Then Putin invaded Ukraine, and Krymov's friends warned him not to come home. Now he's settled in New York, with his own fledgling theater company, raising the money himself. - The New Yorker
Zelda Williams: "I’ve witnessed for YEARS how many people want to train these models to create/recreate actors who cannot consent, like Dad. This isn’t theoretical, it is very very real." - Vulture
