"The Chronicle sought multiple sources of data over time, including the number of theaters and shows, the amount of work for artists, theaters’ tax documents and reports from consultants and foundations. Taken together, these sources do suggest a contraction, albeit with bright spots." - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
"Even as the platform gains influence, it raises questions: Is Substack empowering writers to build sustainable careers, or is it just the latest iteration of pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps optimism? Ironically or not, Substack itself thrives on this ouroboros-like discourse." - Quartz
"Dancing between art, philanthropy and activism, For Freedoms addresses issues including racism, misogyny, violence and free speech, most visibly by commissioning artists to make billboards. They hope their imagery will provoke questions in people who see them." The results of the election have them reassessing their efforts. - The New York Times
The star dancer has resigned as artistic director of Columbia (SC) Classical Ballet, at whose school he first studied dance and which he helped recover from the city's 2015 floods. His decision came in the wake of an abrupt 50% cut in funding from the city of Columbia. - Free Times (Columbia, SC)
Though they depict no sexual activity, Mann's nude portraits of her young children have attracted controversy ever since they first appeared 35 years ago. This week five of them were taken down from a group exhibition at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth after a complaint was filed with police. - Glasstire
"Ushers at the Kimmel Center, the Academy of Music, and Miller Theater have struck a tentative deal on a new labor contract. If approved, the contract would give the members of the union a 23% raise over five years." - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
"Voting for the nearly 10,000 Academy members opened Jan. 8 and was originally set to close on Jan. 12. Deadline is now Jan. 14. The nominations announcement, originally scheduled to be announced on Jan. 17, has moved to Jan. 19." - BBC
"In (The Life of Herod the Great), Hurston looked to redefine the legacy of Herod, who reigned as king of Judaea from 37 BCE to 4 BCE. … Following Hurston's death, the unfinished manuscript sat in a trunk that was nearly consumed in a fire. Luckily, a neighbor intervened with a hose." - NPR
Colin Furze demonstrates that in certain corners of the creative economy an individual with minimal overhead can work on select attention-catching projects and earn a generous upper-middle-class income. Beyond this relatively modest scale of activity, however, the returns on additional investment rapidly diminish. - The New Yorker
"How can we reconcile the apparently gung-ho socialist sentiments expressed in Symphonies No. 3 and 4 with the bitter disillusionment and sarcasm that explode in Symphonies No. 13 and 14? Should the issue of Shostakovich’s political convictions (or lack thereof) change the way we listen to his music anyway?" - San Francisco Classical Voice
If we take art to be something that is beautiful and consciously created – and animals consciously create things that look like art – shouldn’t we accept these productions as art, too? As Edgar Degas put it, “art is not what you see, but what you make others see”. - The Conversation
When considering writing as a function of the body, we face the work’s physical, irreplicable quality. Stories and poems can be shared, but voices cannot; languages can be shared, but consciousnesses cannot. Accepting a global literature, then, is to be inspired, instead of disturbed. - Asymptote Journal
When national politics is becoming increasingly polarised, global conflicts are escalating to new temperatures, and the toll of the climate catastrophe grows deadlier, the mere mention of utopia risks generating side-splitting laughter. - Psyche
"What’s gone missing, in a society that long ago excused itself from seriousness, is a broader sense that art is urgent business, that your life, in some sense, depends on it. With that goes the mass audience. With that goes not only the possibility of meaningful criticism, but also its point." - Persuasion
Over the past three years, we have studied thousands of scientists on three different continents, asking them about the role of beauty in their work. Our research left us convinced that the core aesthetic experience science has to offer is not primarily about sensory experiences or formulas. - Aeon
