ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

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Bard Center Explores Connections Between Arts And Human Rights

The two-year, interdisciplinary MA plans to host in-person classes at Bard’s Annandale-on-Hudson campus and welcomes “current and aspiring activists, artists, and researchers” who are committed to “understanding, exploring, and furthering the growing encounter between human rights and the arts.” - Hyperallergic

Getting In To A Concert Got A Lot More Complicated In The COVID Protocols

"Gone was the chance to rush to a concert after work and plop down into your seat as the curtain rose. Before they entered the Shed, concertgoers would need to check one of three boxes: show proof of full vaccination; demonstrate a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of the event; or have taken a rapid antigen test,...

Ted Gioia On Finding Creative Success Outside The System

"For many of us in the creative economy, too much energy is spent on working the system. My response has been to operate in contexts where that isn’t such a time drain. I don’t work the system anymore, except as a last resort: I aim instead to bypass it. The better I have gotten at circumventing gatekeepers, the more...

‘Live Shows Are About To Come Roaring Back To Full Houses’, Says One Critic

Chris Jones: "There's real evidence now of pent-up demand. Consider what is happening in Las Vegas. Cirque du Soleil, which has emerged from bankruptcy protection and put its famous productions of both Mystère and O on sale last week …, has seen colossal demand for tickets. … Comedian Dave Chappelle sold 13,000 tickets for his July 2 concert. The...

Florida Boosts Arts Funding by 24%

"The 2021-22 budget plan agreed to by the Florida House and Senate and sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis includes $26.7 million in two of the four budget categories that provide allocations for arts and cultural organizations and individual artists. That marks a 24 percent boost over 2020, when the Legislature approved $20.2 million in three categories." - Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Trial Indoor Performance With Audience Of 4,500 Shows Little Indication Of COVID Transmission

The event, a rock concert at an arena in Barcelona on March 27, required attendees to have an antigen test beforehand and to wear masks throughout, but no social distancing was required. Two weeks later, only six audience members (four of whom say they were exposed elsewhere) tested positive for COVID, which extrapolates to half the current infection rate...

Italy Begins Reopening Theaters And Museums

"After six months of rotating on-again, off-again closures, restaurants, bars, museums and cinemas opened to the public in most of the country under a gradual reopening plan that is seen as too cautious for some, too hasty for others." - AP

Hollywood’s Anti-Black Bias Is Costing It Billions Of Dollars A Year

For a supposedly capitalist industry, what the heck? A study found that "America’s film industry is the country’s least diverse business sector and that its systemic anti-Black biases cost it at least $10 billion in annual revenue. Black content is undervalued, underdistributed and underfunded, the analysis found. It also found that Black talent has been systematically shut out of creator,...

Scott Rudin’s Decades Of Power And Damage On Broadway And In Hollywood

At the crux of the matter, there are hints at rottenness that extends far beyond Rudin and his protegés: "Many wondered how artists who consider themselves politically enlightened could be so eager to work with Mr. Rudin, knowing how badly he treated his employees. 'People are acting like the industry is changing, but the fact that someone like Scott...

Arts Venues Hoping For Some Of That $16 Billion COVID Relief Hit Glitch

The Small Business Administration oversees the $16 billion portion that will offer grants to concert halls, theaters and museums. But soon after the process began on April 8, the application portal shut down. The apparent cause? Technical glitches — as in plural. The SBA has said it hopes to reopen the portal by the end of the week. -...

In Florida, It’s Now A Felony To Damage A Confederate Monument

While the "Combating Public Disorder Act" just signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis is most notorious for its provisions aimed at street protests (classifying blocking cars during a demonstration as rioting, protecting drivers who plow into a crowd of protestors from civil liability), it also makes the damaging of any "memorial" (defined as a marker that "honors or recounts the...

Canada’s Federal Budget Has More Than $800 Million In New Cultural Funding

"The budget earmarks $300-million over two years to Canadian Heritage to create a recovery fund to combat that drop in employment and support the recovery of those industries. … There's an investment of $200-million through regional development agencies for major Canadian festivals, and an additional $200-million through Canadian Heritage for local festivals and cultural events, including outdoor theatre." There's...

Charlotte Plans To Overhaul Arts Funding, With 50% More Money — But Some Artists Are Suspicious

"Last week, City Manager Marcus Jones recommended that the city take over arts funding from the Arts & Science Council, which has managed the funding process for decades. Jones's plan would see the arts and cultural groups receive $12 million per year from the public and private sectors — a 50% hike from a proposal the council has been...

Infrastructure For Creative Workers?

That view is to see the rise of Substack and podcasting and Bandcamp for musicians who want to escape the tyranny of the record labels and streaming platforms—supported and enabled by other services like Stripe and Patreon and Kickstarter—as a kind of Distributism for artists and knowledge workers. - Hedgehog Review

Kristy Edmunds On The Moral Imperative/Opportunity Of Continuing

"How do you support artist relief, raise money, how do you help people still feel like they haven’t disappeared? It has been a huge effort. When I posited the idea of how best to create continuity with what we have in a rapid economic decline, , “Why don’t we just stop because everything stopped?” No, we have a moral...

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