Relative to pre-pandemic times, the 2021-22 season saw a 14 percent decline in the amount of seats sold, a 17 percent reduction in paid capacity, and an 8 percent drop in revenue per performance. - American Theatre
"A Tory revolt has emerged over 'patronising' claims that funding for established cultural institutions contributes to the government's levelling up pledge, amid concerns from ministers and MPs that 'real levelling up' projects for the underprivileged have been slashed." - The Guardian
Measure P went before Fresno voters in November 2018 to add a 3/8th-cent increase to the sales tax for 30 years to benefit parks and arts. It appears the measure will generate $7 million in this fiscal year, and combined with a carryover from the previous year, the actual pot is $10.5 million. - Munro Review
About 48,000 unionized academic workers across the University of California’s 10 campuses — who perform the majority of teaching and research at the state’s premier higher education system — walked off the job Monday morning, calling for better pay and benefits. - Los Angeles Times
The hair samples were taken from children at residential schools between 1930 and 1933. The Peabody Museum "apologized to Indigenous tribal nations and descendants ... and indicated that it had initiated the process of returning samples to families and tribes." - Hyperallergic
And how they rip us, and artists, off as well. "Large firms can corner audiences and put them into a sort of corral. And because creators need to reach those audiences, these large firms can take whatever it is you have of worth." - Irish Times
For a while this week, Musk seemed to be saying anything that was a parody had to be labeled as such on Twitter, which he bought days ago. On the other hand, unintentionally, he "could make comedy on Twitter great again." - The New York Times
A lack of PPP funding has left a large hole in their revenue, but 2022 ticket sales or enrollment numbers generally still aren’t what they were pre-pandemic. Instead, they’re relying on the generosity of the community, as well as creative business models, to push them along. - Seattle Times
When Allen was alive, critics categorized his funding, at times, as based on whims. Some local artists and nonprofits still have flashbacks from 2014, when the foundation’s giving suddenly stopped without explanation. - Crosscut
"With the overwhelming approval of Proposition 28, California will now lead the nation in funding for the arts in every classroom. ... The passage of the proposition guarantees as much as $1 billion every school year for arts education taken from the state budget without raising taxes." - KPBS (San Diego)
New Prime Minister Rishi Sunak inherits the nation’s shrunken, crumbling pie, desperately searching for easy bits to scrape off. And the arts—international and outward-looking, promoting critical thinking and structural questioning—are hardly the current government’s flavor of the month. - Van
Viewing the process as a zero-sum game pits different parts of the country against one another. This approach also glosses over the underlying politics of arts funding beyond the number crunching and broader questions of what it’s actually for. - The Conversation
The museum, whose collection documents CIA history from circa World War II to the present, is at the agency's headquarters in Langley, Virginia and only open to officers and selected officials from elsewhere in government. But the collection is being digitized and much of it gradually posted online. - Atlas Obscura
