Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Its Top Leadership Leaving, The LA Philharmonic Ponders Its Future
Some orchestra members said they were unnerved, too, but others — including those who have lived through such changes before — said they welcomed...
Their High School Canceled Their Play. So Students Raised Money And Produced It Anyway
LGBTQ storylines drew complaints from parents, spurring Carroll High School to cancel “Marian” in February out of concern for students’ safety. But the cast decided...
We Love Stories (And That’s The Problem)
The great breakthrough in human enlightenment was to develop techniques – empirical science – to allow us to grasp the real complexity of the...
Who “Owns” The Classical Past (And Why It Matters)
Contemporary debates about who ‘owns’ the classical past obscure the intellectual role it played in the emergence of modern democracy, and the reasons we...
A New Dictionary Of African-American Language
It is not simply about the words that appear in letters, books, poems and lyrics. It is also about the words that morphed into...
Why Stravinsky’s Music Has Fallen Out Of Favor
Stravinsky, right now, is in freefall. In 2021, few summoned much enthusiasm for an anniversary retrospective that was quickly quelled by Covid. - The...
The Explosive E-Sports Boom Losing Traction With Audiences
Unable to turn a profit, team owners are cutting costs by laying off employees and ending contracts with star players. In some cases, they...
Composer Hans Pfitzner — Lessons From A Conservative Artist In A Time Of Enormous...
It was an era of artistic manifestos, and in 1917 Pfitzner outlined his views in a pamphlet titled The Danger of the Futurists. It was...
The Inexplicable Survival Of The Guinness Book Of Records
Even now, in the age of YouTube and TikTok, when you can catapult yourself into fame, riches and recognition for feats of all kinds...
Vandals Who Attacked Degas In DC’s National Gallery Are Charged
If convicted, Martin and Smith face a maximum sentence of five years in prison as well as a fine of up to $250,000. -...
One Of Van Gogh’s Last Paintings Has Gone Missing (We Think)
For a century after van Gogh gathered flowers and placed them in an earthen vase to paint, the artwork’s provenance could be easily traced,...
The Latest Young Star Conductor
Things are happening quickly — Thomas Guggeis starts as the general music director of the Frankfurt Opera this fall — but he is trying...
Technology’s Vision For An AI-Driven Hollywood
Tech industry players have been selling the promise of a future in which AI is an essential tool for every part of Hollywood production,...
The First AI-Generated Dance
Now it’s ballet’s turn, and a subversive new performance will become the world’s first AI ballet, using generative AI to inspire all aspects of...
Learn To Love Math And You’ll Be Good At It
Typical curriculums fail to imbue children with love and appreciation of maths. This is not teachers’ fault – the education system judges students on...
US Supreme Court Justices Engage In Fierce Art Criticism Debate
Kagan’s dissent was not mild, either—it reads as strenuously as a vintage art-critical piece by, say, Clement Greenberg, slamming Harold Rosenberg—thus producing an image...
Are We Asking Too Much Of Public Art?
It must be said that no work of art interrogates anyone or anything. This linguistic tic is endemic to the art scene and unproductively cliché. The...
Colorado Museum To Close American Indian Exhibit
The exhibit was first established in 1978, in collaboration with Indigenous representatives. A description of the exhibit on the museum’s website says visitors could see “authentic...
Are America’s Regional Theatres Reaching The End Of Their Useful Lives?
It is certainly not a popular theory, but it’s quite possible that, at this moment, America’s cultural venues may be larger than needed. Now...
How AI Could Improve The Ways We Work
There’s a lot of potential for workers to step outside of the box with the assistance of generative AI, whether it’s improving their daily...
Report: Documenting How Artists Are Getting Screwed By Museums And Galleries
Data gathered from more than 100 contributors outlines a status quo in which artists are expected to work for low (or no) money, even...
Using AI And Bumping Up Against The Edges Of Reality
Where do real memories end and generative AI begin? It’s a question for the AI era, where our holy photos merge with holey memories,...
I Let AI Make All My Decisions For Three Days. Here’s What Happened
I had asked the chatbot to make the choice for me, and it had said that I should prioritize “valuable experiences” that contribute to...
To What Extent Do Our Secrets Define Us?
If a secret really is something I tell only myself, is there something here that is mine and mine alone, that survives as my true ‘self’,...
The Best Cannes Festival In Years
It’s one of the best years in recent memory for Cannes, which seemed revitalized as it finally shook off the hangover of the pandemic....
