It's not just the documentary, of course, but ... "Public scrutiny of the court-ordered guardianship has exploded with the #FreeBritney movement backed by fans turned activists and the recent New York Times documentary Framing Britney Spears." - Los Angeles Times
"The West Indian Cultural Centre (WICC) in Wood Green was constructed in the 1980s, becoming a vibrant hub for cultural events and debates on subjects such as the struggle for racial equality. It drew huge numbers of visitors who came to hear speakers including the Nobel prize-winning poet Derek Walcott, the American civil rights activist Al Sharpton and the MP...
The Music Center in downtown Los Angeles says that it is the first performing arts organization in the country to receive a UL “healthy building” verification, representing high standards for air quality at four venues — Walt Disney Concert Hall, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theatre. - Los Angeles Times
"More than 100 San Francisco artists will be guaranteed $1,000 a month for six months under a pilot program set to launch in May, following similar efforts by Stockton, Oakland and Marin County to support struggling residents during the pandemic." - San Francisco Chronicle
The decline in cultural memberships has undoubtedly been accelerated by Covid-19. Just this month, the Royal Academy (RA) reported a loss of 18,000 members since February 2020. Other organisations should prepare themselves for a similarly large exodus. - Arts Professional
"Australia's arts and entertainment industry will receive an additional $135m in the next federal budget to ease the pain in one of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic. But of the federal government's earlier $250m rescue package for the sector, budgeted for the 2020/2021 financial year, three-quarters is yet to be spent." - The Guardian
The 169-year-old liberal arts college in Oakland, which has left an extraordinary legacy in American arts (especially contemporary classical music), is one of the few all-female undergraduate schools left in the U.S. But the pandemic has only intensified longstanding declines in Mills's enrollment and financial health, and administrators say that the school will accept no more new students, stop...
The arts leaders call the measure a crucial part of any sustainable future for arts and culture in Canada. And, as they point out, they represent the majority of Canada’s artists. The document details several hard facts about the devastating effect the pandemic has had on the arts sector in Canada this past year. - Ludwig Van
"The pilot project, backed by Berlin Culture Senator Klaus Lederer, includes a series of nine events, held at seven different venues, including theaters, opera houses, concert halls and even a club, from March 19 to April 4. The Berliner Ensemble theater launched the test phase's first weekend." - Deutsche Welle
Arts venues are dying while waiting for their entertainment venue relief. Not great: "A far longer than expected build-out of the application process by the Small Business Administration — which only had its new head, Isabel Guzman, confirmed by the Senate last week — has meant serious delays in the disbursement of funds. And a buildup of anxiety, debt...
California labor law doesn't allow for pay secrecy. Disney denies the claims by the plaintiffs that "Disney prohibits employees from disclosing their own wages, discussing the pay of others or inquiring about another employee’s compensation. ... Some of the plaintiffs also claim to have been instructed multiple times not to talk about their compensation, with one alleging that another...
Well, that's ... a good question. "We know how Amazon treats its workers, how it squeezes its sellers, how it devastates small businesses, and how it extorts money out of state and local governments (and let’s not even start talking about privacy). We know that our elected officials play along. We aren’t happy about it, yet we keep on...
The greatest imaginative challenge seems to be foreseeing which changes will arrive sooner than expected (computers outplaying chess grandmasters), and which will be surprisingly slow (flying cars). The tech-world saying is that people chronically overestimate what technology can do in a year, and underestimate what it can do in a decade and beyond. - The New York Times
A new report looks at the balance sheets of the country's arts organizations. Community and theatre organizations fared the best, while museums and symphony orchestras had negative bottom lines. - SMU Data Arts
"The campaign has forced the Arts Development Council into stating it might suspend grants to artists who advocated independence, while additional cultural venues have refused to screen a controversial documentary about the 2019 anti-government protests. The question of what constitutes 'lawbreaking artworks' has also been raised in the Legislative Council." - South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
