The panopticon-style jail, built in 1789 and closed in 1965, is on the tiny island of Santo Stefano, part of the Pontine Islands off the coast about halfway between Rome and Naples. The Italian Ministry of Culture is spending €70 million ($86 million) on the project. - ARTnews
Greta Gerwig is directing a Barbie movie with Margot Robbie (Ryan Gosling plays Ken). Lena Dunham has a Polly Pocket film coming. Tom Hanks will star as Major Matt Mason. There will even be movies based on Hot Wheels toy cars and Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. - The Guardian
There's teaching, church gigs, the occasional out-of-town sub job in another orchestra. The lucky ones have fully-employed partners. - KPAC (San Antonio)
"President Joe Biden has reversed a Trump-era order requiring that any visual art added to government buildings must portray American historical figures or ideals — and not be abstract." - Artnet
Since the revival began rehearsals in October, five dozen cast and crew members have tested positive for the virus; at one point producers had to cancel 11 performances. Here, six company members (including stars Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster) tell us how they've gotten through it. - The New York Times
Currently the chief conductor of the London Philharmonic and Bergen Philharmonic and formerly music director at English National Opera, Gardner will become music director of the Norwegian Opera and Ballet in Oslo in August 2024 (at which point he'll step down in Bergen). - OperaWire
"The exhibition space, called Kunsthalle Berlin, opened January 28 at the Tempelhof Airport, a facility that was built by the Nazis in 1923 and ceased operations in 2008." So what's the issue? Follow the money … - Artnet
As a Black author, what do I do with the knowledge that the cruel and senseless murder of a Black human being led to an increased interest in books by Black authors like myself? And why do Black people need to be brutalized and even killed so publicly and so horrifically before some entities decide that Black stories are...
The reasons why more artists haven’t abandoned Spotify include a stew of political hesitancies, music ownership complications and business incentives. The issues speak to the trickiness of the debate over COVID-19 misinformation, free speech, music rights and the role of Spotify in the modern music industry. - Los Angeles Times
In all, the total attendance of 139,584 indicates that about 74% of available seats were filled. Average ticket price was stayed at a modest $108, same as the previous week. - Deadline
When the call came from Steven Spielberg to conduct Bernstein’s iconic score for his 2021 film adaptation of West Side Story, “it was the most ‘yes’ yes I’ve ever said in my life,” Dudamel said via Zoom last week. - Vanity Fair
The design also includes more than 80,000 square feet of exhibition space, a theatre, a library, artist studios, space for a visual arts preschool and daycare, an Indigenous community space and a 40,000-square-foot courtyard. - The Globe and Mail (Canada)
"As administrators search for a conductor of her stature, as well as for someone to tip the scale of gender balance in the United States, … Gražinytė-Tyla is a defiant rarity: an anti-careerist who has resisted industry pressure in favor of artistic and personal fulfillment." - The New York Times
“After two years scanning covid charts, we’re doing the same with natural gas prices as the curve rises, with the life and death of Murano hanging in the balance,” said Andrea Della Valentina of the Seguso Gianni factory. - Washington Post
