“BAM isn’t just for one audience. We were consistently sold out this season and more often than not had a standby line. That’s because the programming is doing lots of different things. And that diversity of programming allows us to reflect the diversity of this borough.” - Variety
Actress Renata Litvinova: "I suddenly realized that maybe I'm never going back." Director Kirill Serebrennikov: "I continue to allow myself the illusion that my departure was not a permanent escape." Scientist Ilya Kolmanovsky: "With time, people will come to understand that Putin's invasion was also an attack on Russia." - GQ
In order to live together, and to acknowledge each other and engage each other in a democratic society, conflict is necessary. Otherwise, we risk "not just forms of suppression but also extermination, expelling and annihilating those who are viewed as the source of conflict." - Aeon
With Rick Caruso, developer of upscale "lifestyle centers" (that is, malls without roofs), being one of the finalists for mayor of Los Angeles, Carolina A. Miranda considers the history of shopping malls, their purposes, and how the could recover from their widely-noted decline. - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
With a years-long civil war in Mali cutting off access, you simply cannot get to the historic city from abroad. But you can still send postcards to loved ones from there. - Atlas Obscura
Joan Acocella reminds us how utterly different the character and narrative in the original novel by Carlo Collodi are from Walt Disney's 1940 movie. The story has been remade and adapted dozens of times since; Hollywood has two more on the way and a third in the works. - The New Yorker
Ukraine's Ministry of Culture and Information Policy says that as of June 9, "389 cultural heritage sites have been destroyed or damaged since the invasion began." Is this accident or deliberate targeting? An international effort is underway to find out. - The Art Newspaper
Great that some people - including some artists who have been able to eke out a living at qualifying nonprofits or colleges - can get theirs forgiven after 10 years. But what about freelancers and those who cobble together an existence in the service of art? - Hyperallergic
Well, at least in Australia: both researchers and museum execs there report that attendance goes up when it's rainy, and new-ish major arts festivals during the antipodean winter are pulling in crowds, even in chilly Tasmania. - Arts Hub (Australia)
That is, they should consider the benefits of becoming creative therapists. After all, art, performance, and (especially) music-based therapies have a lot of research-based backing as effective. And, importantly, therapy can be a consistent source of income for artists. - ArtsHub
"So far, 70 bills — which PEN America calls 'educational gag orders' — have been introduced in 28 states, with 56 more coming in 2022. The upswing signals an increased effort by lawmakers ... to limit the discussion of certain topics on campuses, according to the group." - The Chronicle of Higher Education
It is not just a pretty idea. The UPenn Social Impact of the Arts Project studied New York City in 2017. Their data showed that neighborhoods with cultural assets had improved outcomes in education, aging, mental health, public safety and decreased engagement with the criminal justice system. - New York Daily News
Another thing that’s changed “is it turns out we like our neighbors. And there are plenty of communities that are under-represented in our spaces, or are economically unable to participate or have a limited participation. - Cedar Rapids Gazette
We discovered that at the center of the arts in the San Francisco Bay Area is the anchor artist: someone central to their community who inevitably pushes the field forward. - Hyperallergic
"The budget signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis allocates slightly more than $59 million for three major grant categories, up from the $26.7 million last year. Once again this year, the budget provides no money for the cultural endowments category" and focuses largely on programming grants. - Sarasota Herald-Tribune
