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Reimagine Yourself

The failure to lift our eyes and see that our core work can and should be connecting people with art is the principal source of the problems we have experienced over the last 20-30 years. - Doug Borwick

Liz Lerman Talks Movement & Discord

The choreographer, performer, writer, educator, and speaker shares her creative process and the connection between movement and discord. - Aaron Dworkin

How Do You Play a Flower Pot?

What makes washtubs sound best? How about coffee cans? For the answers, check out Lou Harrison’s instructions for his Concerto for Violin and Percussion. So far as I am aware, it is the most memorable, most original violin concerto by any American. It also creates a visual spectacle ideal for COVID-era streamed performances. - Joseph Horowitz

Can a New LACMA Rise from the Rubble? Quaffing Michael Govan’s Kool-Aid

The doubts engendered in me by the shifting ground (related to the proximity to the La Brea Tar Pits) under the cranes being used for construction of LACMA’s new Geffen Galleries caused me to reflect back on Govan’s spotty track record for delivering on his ambitious, provocative proposals. - Lee Rosenbaum

David Stull Discusses Acquiring Opus 3

The president of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music speaks about the school's historic acquisition of Opus 3 Artists. - Aaron Dworkin

Build Back Better

At this point I would implore arts organizations not to return to pre-pandemic practices with nothing more than modest tweaks. This is a time for serious reconfiguring. So let me suggest three categories for new or significantly expanded approaches. - Doug Borwick

A “Unique Addition” to the Whitman Repertoire

When PostClassical Ensemble undertook our world premiere recording of the 1944 radio play Whitman, we did so believing that Bernard Herrmann's Whitman setting is a singular addition to the repertoire of “melodramas” – compositions for music plus the spoken word. - Joseph Horowitz

Matthew VanBesien Talks Presenting

Matthew VanBesien, President of the University Musical Society of the University of Michigan, as he talks about the role of presenters in the arts. - Aaron Dworkin

Govan’s Folly? Stuck in the LACMA Quagmire

In decades of covering museum buildings, I’ve mostly refrained from “reviewing” a building that hasn’t gone up yet. That’s why I’ve hung back from commenting on the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s capital project-in-progress. But an unsettling (literally) development led me to weigh in. - Lee Rosenbaum

Matter

An arts organization must come to matter to the community. When it matters, the community will support it. But how do arts organizations come to matter? The mindset that “We matter because we present great art.” does not cut it. It is only things that people see as important to their lives that fill this bill. - Doug Borwick

Looking for a Fugitive Rainbow — A Very Transient “Gift” to the Bidens

Laura Baptiste, the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s always-helpful chief of communications, found herself dealing with misinformation disseminated in a number of news reports after the inauguration festivities. - Lee Rosenbaum

Joseph Conyers on Being an Artist Entrepreneur

The Philadelphia Orchestra bassist and entrepreneur shares the passions that have fueled his success. - Aaron Dworkin

Ominous Juxtaposition? Biden Flanked by Duncanson’s “Rainbow” & Statue of a Murdered President

Am I the only one who gasped at the photo in this tweet? - Lee Rosenbaum

Trey Devey Shares his passion for Arts Education

“If we are empowered with creativity, with collaboration, with all of the skills that come from practicing the arts… that will lead to the breakthrough ideas.” Trey Devey, President of the Interlochen Center for the Arts, speaks to the power of arts education. - Aaron Dworkin

Capitol Offense: Metropolitan Museum Blasts “Domestic Terrorism” by “Treasonous Rioters”

Throwing caution to the winds, the Metropolitan Museum today went beyond the more measured words of a few other museums in its angry call to “bring to justice those responsible” for the “criminal actions” at the Capitol on Jan. 6. - Lee Rosenbaum

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