Juneau already has a surprising number of galleries for an isolated town of 32,000 that can’t really be reached by road. In particular, the work of Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian artists is thriving. Now a nonprofit called Sealaska Heritage Institute aims “[to make] Juneau the Northwest Coast arts capital of the world.” – Smithsonian Magazine
What Stand-Up Comedians Have Learned From Working On Zoom For Nine Months
“Vulture spoke with [11] comedians about how pivoting to virtual and outdoor shows in 2020 were (and weren’t) helpful for preparing material, lessons they learned about performing during the pandemic, and how they see themselves evolving as performers in response to the radical shift we’ve all faced this year.” – Vulture
What To Look Forward To In The Arts In A Biden Administration
Proposed actions include an expansion of existing workforce hiring programs to include artists and creative workers, launching a program of federal arts commissions, developing an ArtistCorps within AmeriCorps, continuing CARES Act policies that extended benefits to the self-employed, and the creation of a new leadership position to coordinate federal arts policy. – Forbes
The Generosity Of A Playwright Who Earned Some Unexpected Money
This isn’t exactly a normal year for any playwright, and indeed, Jeremy O. Harris of the multiple-Tony-nominated Slave Play has earned little from his plays. But fashion collaborations and HBO came through – and Harris is coming through for others in return, including numerous “microgrants” to 152 U.S.-based playwrights. “In dire times, he believes, everyone should be committed to ‘protecting, uplifting and sharing,’ adding: ‘Some might call it philanthropy, but I call it upkeep or maintenance.'” – The New York Times
Please Keep Your Hands, Feet, And Breath Inside The Car While At The Museum
That’s 2020 for you, and it’s also a clever way to deal with distancing. In Mexico City, “Objects In the Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear (Los objetos en el espejo están más cerca de lo que parece, in Spanish) … brings together over 30 works by more than 20 contemporary artists, from sculpture to video works and LED installations, across three floors of a commercial parking garage in the city’s Polanco neighborhood.” – Hyperallergic
Research: The Role Dreaming Plays In Ideas, Personality, And Who We Are
“Research about REM/dreaming began in the mid-1950s and accelerated sharply with advances in neuroimaging. We now know that, independently of sleep – that is, of non-REM sleep – REM/dreaming plays an essential role in learning and memory, mood and immunity, as well as in creativity and artistic expression. Just as important, REM/dreaming stretches, expands and reshapes our very consciousness. From Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams, REM/dreaming effectively morphs our fundamental sense of self.” – Aeon
The Power Of Talking To Yourself Out Loud
“Like many of us, I talk to myself out loud, though I’m a little unusual in that I often do it in public spaces. Whenever I want to figure out an issue, develop an idea or memorise a text, I turn to this odd work routine. While it’s definitely earned me a reputation in my neighbourhood, it’s also improved my thinking and speaking skills immensely.” – Psyche
Broadway Fans Are Creating Entire Musicals On TikTok
Just three months after she posted it, TikTokers had conjured up an entire “Ratatouille” musical universe. A composer spiced up her song with Disney-fied orchestrations. Songwriters whipped up tunes for Remy, his brother, his dad, his fellow chef, the food critic Anton Ego. A director explained how he’d stage the show. Dancers demonstrated how they’d dance it. A puppeteer showed how he’d puppet it. A designer created a breathtaking Playbill, in a video that’s been seen nearly 5 million times. Stagehands, ushers, photos of the Broadway marquee — all of it materialized. – Washington Post
How Christmas Became Such A Child-Oriented Holiday
Yuletide wasn’t always an occasion for Santa Claus and toys and families opening presents in front of the tree. Historically, particularly in England, Christmas was such a time of rowdy revelry (not to say drunken debauchery) that, in the 17th century, Scottish Presbyterians and Massachusetts Puritans went so far as to ban it entirely. (December 25 wasn’t a public holiday in Scotland until 1958.) Christmas as Americans think of it today is a more-or-less deliberate creation of the 19th-century powers-that-be. – Zócalo Public Square
Museums Are Still Acquiring Art During The Pandemic
Museum collecting looks a lot different these days. Not only has there been a greater focus on women and artists of colour, but acquisitions have unfolded more quietly than usual for fear of seeming insensitive to the financial suffering of staff and visitors alike. Far less common are the press releases announcing major purchases. Museums are in the unusual position of downplaying instead of promoting their acquisitions. – The Art Newspaper
The Ten Biggest Literary Stories Of 2020
It was pretty bad, overall. Some parts were okay. There were some good books. There were some bad actions. There were some much-needed reckonings. – LitHub
How Literary Theory Took Over The 1980s
“As deconstructionist reading started becoming more widespread, disseminated in the United States, a lot of people noticed the similarity—rightly so—between the reading style and New Criticism because of the close reading and the attentiveness to language. That was a major thing that happened that actually influenced the course of English study in the United States for a couple of decades—and, actually, still.” – LitHub
How The COVID Relief Money Will Help Performing Arts Venues
“Under the federal plan venue operators, promoters, music managers and talent agencies can apply for non-repayable, two-part grants that cover as much 45% of a venue’s 2019 revenue, capped at $10 million in the first round, followed by a supplemental grant in spring 2021 valued at 50% of the original grant. To qualify, applicants must have been in business on Feb. 29, 2020, and show 2020 revenues decreased by at least 25% on a quarterly basis compared to 2019. Venues will be able to begin applying for the funds in the coming days with priority given to venues that faced 70–90% revenue losses in 2020.” – Billboard
Colosseum In Rome To Get Retractable Floor, Just Like It Had Originally
Well, this new one will probably be higher-tech, but yes, the Italian government has requested bids to construct a retractable floor along the lines of the one the ancient venue had until about 1,000 years ago. Plans are for construction to start in 2021 and be completed in 2023, after which concerts and theater will be performed there. – Artnet
Composer ‘Blue’ Gene Tyranny Dead At 75
Born Joseph Gantic, raised as Robert Sheff, and having acquired the name he was known by during a brief period as a member of Iggy Pop’s band, he performed Charles Ives and John Cage while still in high school, worked with Robert Ashley and Laurie Anderson, and made a career composing and performing music that, as Steve Smith puts it, “deftly balanced conceptual rigor with breezy pop sounds.” – The New York Times
Upright Citizens Brigade Closes Yet Another Theater
“Almost exactly eight months after the closure of their [last remaining] New York venue and improv training center, the Upright Citizens Brigade has announced the end of their Sunset Theater in Los Angeles.” The company’s four founders (Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, Matt Besser, and Matt Walsh) said in their Twitter announcement, “We have been unable to make mortgage payments during this extended shutdown.” – Vulture
Broadway Star Rebecca Luker Dead Of ALS At 59
An operatically trained soprano whose clear and youthful voice was a natural for such roles as Maria in The Sound of Music and Christine in The Phantom of the Opera (which she understudied and which became her first lead role on Broadway), she was a three-time Tony nominee, for work in Show Boat, The Music Man, and Mary Poppins. Her last Broadway appearance was as Alison’s mother in Fun Home in 2016, and she worked until late last year before announcing her ALS diagnosis this past February. – Playbill
How The Vienna Philharmonic Has Pushed Through The Pandemic
They went on a tour of Japan last month; since they got home, they’ve started a Bruckner symphony cycle under Christian Thielemann and played Strauss and Webern program under Zubin Mehta. Chairman Daniel Froschauer and general manager Michael Bladerer talk with a reporter about the orchestra’s commitment to playing together live and why it’s important. – The New York Times
Dürer May Not Really Have Written That Famous Lament On Martin Luther’s Arrest
“Considered one of Dürer’s best-known writings, the Lament on Luther could instead have been the work of a contemporary monk that was slipped into the artist’s diary, possibly for political reasons, according to what the National Gallery describes as ‘very convincing evidence’.” – The Guardian