Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Fraught: Museums Are Changing How They Collect Antiquities
Acquiring older cultural objects through purchase or donation can be risky for museums if they suspect the art or artifacts might have to be...
New Tax On UK Orchestras Touring In Europe Is The Latest Brexit Blow
A new Brexit tax hike set to hit U.K. orchestras later this year could make trips to Europe “unviable” and undermine their activities back...
Study: How Music Puts Us In “Sync”
“I am interested in how being ‘in sync’ with other people through the experience of music-making and other forms of artistic expression supports a...
Generative AI Is Still In Its Infancy. We Need To Treat It Like A...
A.I. is in the phase when kids live like tiny energetic monsters, before they’ve learned to be thoughtful about the world and responsible for...
Just Because Western European Culture Has Been Dominant For A Long Time Doesn’t Mean...
First was the original ‘world order’ created by Genghis Khan (and his house) in the 13th century. If there is indeed an ‘East’ that is distinct...
Why The LA Public Library Bought A Book Publisher
The LAPL, which manages 73 branches and houses more than 8 million books, has lately been much more ambitious than even the average big-city...
Russian Billionaire’s Aide Testifies In Court About Sotheby’s Alleged Role Convincing Him To Overpay...
An adviser to a Russian billionaire asserted in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday that he and his boss had been tricked by a Swiss...
A New Center To Give Shape To Creativity Of Lakota Artists
The Artspace is the latest manifestation of a resurgence of Native cultural traditions and ceremonies and the increased national and international visibility of Indigenous...
Jonathon Heyward On The Future Of The Baltimore Symphony
I don’t want it to be an art form where people feel like it’s only for certain types of people. Because it’s not. I...
When AI Comes For Culture (Who Cares Who Gets Hurt?)
If A.I. is the key to a gleaming utopia or else robot-induced extinction, what does it matter if a few poets and painters got bilked...
The Musical Mind Of George Lewis
George Lewis is one of the most formidable figures in modern music: a composer of international renown, a legendary improvising trombonist, a computer-music pioneer,...
Just How Classical Are India’s Classical Dance Traditions?
Although Indian classical dance is commonly assumed to be ancient and reverential—and there is a documented history of devotional dancing extending back more than...
Can ‘The Nicest Guy In Show Biz” Make Lower Manhattan’s New Arts Center Work?
“Amazing work happens at the grassroots level, but how can an organization and people with positional sway and a multimillion-dollar budget do that without...
Sam Altman: The Unexpected Leaps AI Will Make In 2024
Chatbots will expand well beyond digital text by handling photos, videos, diagrams, charts and other media. They will exhibit behavior that looks more like...
The First “Influencer” And The Quest For Reality
Beau Brummell’s a really interesting figure. He’s often called the first influencer, the inventor of sponcon (sponsored content). He was a Regency-era (early nineteenth...
Star And Understudy Sick, Actor Drives 150 Miles To Save “Evita” Performance
An actor travelled more than 150 miles to ensure a performance of the musical Evita could go ahead after the lead and understudy became...
Stats: Trends Across Ten Years In The Classical Music World
One notable finding over the past ten years has been the steady rise in programming of music by living composers. Worldwide, since 2013, contemporary music has...
America’s Oldest Choral Festival Adopts A New Artistic Model
A different festival director from a variety of artistic disciplines will be engaged each year. It is a new concept for the oldest choral...
Composer Phil Niblock, 80
Niblock made music from drones, microtones, and instruments such as cellos, bagpipes, hurdy-gurdies, and more. He remains best-known for the spare sounds he produced,...
Europe’s New Libraries Are Winning Fans As Community Connectors Of The Mind
For all its newfound task as “knowledge navigator and facilitator” in an increasingly complex and connected world, the library’s traditional role has also benefited...
Unfinished Video Games Can Become Big Hits
“If you want to know your game is not good, you prefer to know it as early as possible, so that you can still...
And Now: The AI Elvis Experience
"The AI generates an authentic version of Elvis, born of original material, but it allows you to do new things with him." -...
Why Is Plundered Art Still In Western Museums?
Museum professionals publish scathing books that indict the very institutions that pay their salaries. The ethics of exhibiting plundered art are called into question...
As Streaming Becomes More Like Cable TV, Cable Companies Look To Rebundle Streaming
“There’s an opportunity for cable companies to rebundle streaming services in a way that is friendly to consumers,” MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett said. - The Wall...
Oregon’s Rural Libraries Have Become A Lifeline
“Libraries are places where people from all different backgrounds can interact,” Buzzy Nielsen, a program manager for the State Library of Oregon, said. “You see...