The return to figurative art in the past two decades has been embraced by a new wave of younger Black artists, and for many of them, it is now clear, Kerry James Marshall has been a primary inspiration. - The New Yorker
Sociology suggests that pundits and policy makers have been looking at vaccine refusal all wrong: It’s not an individual problem, but a social one. - The Atlantic
“I think creativity by its nature is activism,” says composer-pianist Max Richter. “It’s about meaning, it’s about experiment, it’s about the unknown, it’s about discovery.” - The Guardian
The road ahead won’t be easy for ViacomCBS. Its fledgling Paramount+ was a late entry into streaming, and is essentially a rebranded and expanded version of CBS All Access. - The New York Times
"At times, the plot’s inevitable murder, sexual intrigue and family secrets seem almost incidental to the auditions and rehearsals, the bickering dancers and complaining parents, the punishing toe shoes and pulled muscles." - Washington Post
While it is laudable that these theatres no longer run programs that contribute to the industry’s holding pattern of inequity, complete cancellation is ultimately a failure of imagination. - Howlround
I do think that there is a new energy, there’s a new kind of way of engaging with live performance that is very exciting. You see all these non-traditional spaces opening up because of what happened in 2020, because of the economy, because there are more spaces available to artists to take over." - Howlround
"As fallible as human transmission can be, the fact that our mistakes in transmitting cultural information occur in systematic and directed ways, rather than purely randomly, is opening a new pathway to understanding continuity and change within the field of cultural evolution." - Nautilus
That is to say, with the Delta variant tearing through countries and kids in the U.S. still unable to be vaccinated, Jungle Cruise made a poor showing on the big screen (and Disney Plus $$ wasn't enough to make up for that). - The New York Times
And, like old Dutch memento mori paintings, the forum lets people talk about something that happened to an awful lot of people in 2020 and 2021 - death. - Boston Globe
But what kind of art should it be? "Some advocate for the calming power of nature scenes, while others push for works of gallery quality: rousing, conceptual, complex." - The New Yorker
The sad, Airbnb-inflected tale of an artist whose family and nonprofit are at odds, not only dividing the artist's art from artist's house (with that fence), but setting townspeople against each other every day. - The New York Times
Leadership bungled budgets and staff during the pandemic - but aslo has a longstanding, baked-in message that Muslim Americans say fuels war and Islamophobia. - Hyperallergic
Author Rebecca Donner knew little about her great-great-aunt. Turns out she (and her husband) were one of the most famous American spy couples of the Resistance during WWII. - The New York Times
