The collection, and the home near Rittenhouse Square, belonged to Henry McNeil Jr. (son of Tylenol magnate Henry Slack McNeil), who died last July at 81. There are works by Sol LeWitt, Carl Andre, Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, and others; there’s even a Picasso print in the bathroom. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
“’We were never notified,’ said Monifa Days, co-founding ensemble member (of Congo Square Theatre Company). ‘Our lawyers were never notified. How we found out was we would just do searches in the state’s database about where our status was ... and that’s how we found out.’” - WBEZ (Chicago)
“Rafael Bonachela will step down in the middle of 2028, marking 20 years at SDC. Under his leadership, the company has emerged as a significant player on the global dance stage and established extensive training programs for young dancers.” - The Sydney Morning Herald
“(He) turned everything from computer engineering to life in a nursing home into unexpected bestsellers. … Kidder won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for his 1981 work The Soul of a New Machine, which (explored) a fledgling computer company long before most people cared about the inner workings of Silicon Valley.” - AP
“Jonathan Berry, a longtime Chicago director and former artistic producer at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, will take the helm at Raven Theatre, a 43-year-old off-Loop Chicago theater that operates a busy, two-stage complex in an Edgewater building that once housed a grocery store.” - Chicago Tribune (Yahoo!)
“Jurors (in Los Angeles) found the tech companies to be both negligent and having failed to provide adequate warnings about the potential dangers of their products. The jury awarded the plaintiff in the case damages of $6m, with Meta to pay 70% and YouTube the remainder.” - The Guardian
“Matt Brittin, 57, who has a background in tech, rather than traditional broadcasting, spent almost two decades at Google, becoming the company’s president in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.” - AP
Disney and OpenAI announced the blockbuster three-year licensing deal in December, saying that over 200 Disney-owned characters would be available for use in Sora-generated videos. At the same time, Disney said it would be making a $1 billion equity investment in the AI company. - Ars Technica
Second flutist Emma Gerstein didn’t want to miss Klaus Mäkelä’s first tour with the CSO, which was to the East Coast last month. Neither did she want to stop nursing her ten-month-old, Ronan. So he came along with his mom, who kept a diary about the experience. - WBEZ (Chicago)
A Grammy-award winning South African composer who wrote and performed the iconic opening chant in “Circle of Life” for Disney’s “The Lion King” movies is suing a comedian for allegedly damaging his reputation by intentionally misrepresenting the song’s meaning on a podcast and in his stand-up routine. - AP News
“His goal (is) to platform voices that many audiences won’t be familiar with — and to push back against a theater landscape he feels has lost its edge. ‘Professionalism has flattened its soul,” he said. ‘It can feel polished to the point of sameness.’ … His program ... (will) favor cracks over polish.” - The Hollywood Reporter
In another market, the building might fetch $100 million. Today, in a downtown cultural district still recovering from the pandemic - with depressed real estate values, weakened foot traffic and strained arts funding - the buyer pool shrinks to a narrow question: Who can take on a large, vacant cultural space and make it work? - San Francisco Chronicle...
In a city still somewhat in thrall to its heritage, from the Haçienda to Oasis, many in the Strange Quarter say the area has redefined Manchester’s cultural life. - The Guardian
"If I’m just talking about the work, I would say we have a very clear movement approach that has developed over time, a shared language that includes a lot of different modern dance techniques, a language that has become unique to us." - LA Dance Chronicle
“Since 1980, Val Caniparoli” — for decades SFB’s principal character dancer — “has dedicated most of his energies to a much-lauded choreography career, and rather than slowing down, he's building momentum as he enters an exciting new phase.” - San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
