The problem isn't earned income lost to tourism (that is, no tourism). The problem is the trustees. "Met trustees established a special fund to deal with the pandemic crisis. So far, according to the museum’s spokesperson, the board has raised 'just north of $25 million.' That is, in a word, pathetic. Since the pandemic began, America’s billionaire class has...
First there was Ratatouille: The Musical or Ratatousical, which raised more than a million dollars for actors, with the no doubt bemused blessing of Disney. Then TikTok went sea chanty. Now? It's Bridgerton: The Musical. (Bridgertousical?) "Barlow and Bear's frequent postings on social media have drawn lots of attention, including from Bridgerton cast members. And the pair says they've been approached...
Of course he did. "Like modern immigration laws, the Emergency Quota Act inspired a wave of pro-immigration activism, and Porter, who was born to the state’s wealthiest family and lived abroad after graduating from Yale, was part of it." - Indianapolis Monthly
You know his work even if you don't know of the man. "Stalmaster’s accomplishments are too numerous to list exhaustively, but among them: He became the first casting director to receive an honorary Oscar in 2016; he was the first casting director to receive a solo title card in a film’s credits, for The Thomas Crown Affair (1968); he...
Aime Césaire, whose Discourse on Colonialism remains (all too) relevant - and who protested to some effect in 2005after French President Jacques Chirac instructed schools to teach about the "positive role" of colonialism - was also "an imaginative writer who molded the French language to make a personal poetry characterized by hypnotic physicality, ritualized anguish, and metaphorical exorcisms." - Hyperallergic
Lana Condor on the To All the Boys I've Loved Before trilogy author Jenny Han: "When we first were talking years ago, she said, 'I just want you as Lana and as a young Asian-American girl to have the same opportunities that Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss would have or Kristen Stewart as Bella from Twilight.' And that was before...
Maybe, but then again, the form has a way of shifting with new information to meet the times. However, it will have to be something other than documentary: "Unless there emerges a bizarre public hunger for films in which tired parents try to connect their tablets to Google Classroom during a phone call with their boss, it is hard...
Ballin started volunteering as a docent in the 1970s. "Whatever lucky group she had in tow was pretty much guaranteed a good show. Along with an extensive knowledge of the artworks, she contributed sharp opinions and a wicked sense of humor to the proceedings, making a walk through the American Wing or a 'highlights of the museum' tour a...
Each lockdown has meant something different for the staff, especially of science and natural history museums. For instance, James Maclaine, senior fish curator at London's Natural History Museum, has to keep the flesh-eating beetles alive and make sure the freezers are running. "We have a lot of material in freezers which we haven't been able to process yet and...
The explanation of the current CEO and director of the Indianapolis Museum didn't, perhaps, help. Charles L. Venable said that "the decision to use 'white' had been intentional, and explained that it had been intended to indicate that the museum would not abandon its existing audience as part of its efforts toward greater diversity, equity and inclusion." -...
Maybe Asian American writers should stop dissing Tan. "I understand the resistance to being lumped in with her; I feel it, too. But when I recently re-read The Joy Luck Club, I could not help but to be moved by the stories of mothers and daughters, how they accumulate layers and imbue domestic life with the power it has always...
Well, that sounds hokey. But it's powerful, a program from Georgetown that, a co-founder says, shows "there is a particular power that performance has, to allow us to listen deeply, bear witness and ultimately empathize with each other." - Washington Post
Women Artists for Revolution (W.A.R., of course) weren't shy about their rallying cry in 1969. "The group ignited a robust movement against gender discrimination within, and widespread exclusion from, New York City’s patriarchal art industry, particularly by galleries and museums who saw art made by women as inherently illegitimate and therefore ineligible for serious consideration." - Hyperallergic
Of course, we've all probably been watching quite a few things during the past year, but have those things included Academy-honored movies? Time to start, perhaps. - The Guardian (UK)
