The money was to go toward developing a Carpathian “heritage” trail” in Poland’s Podkarpackie region. After a local activist brought to funders’ attention a resolution passed by the regional government “expressing opposition to the promotion and affirmation of the ideology of the so-called LGBT movements,” the grant was withdrawn. – Thomson Reuters
Canadian Artists Debate Universal Basic Income
“If we artists had a basic income, that stress and fear over basic necessities would no longer weigh over our heads and we could be much more productive. It would help grow the economy, because when people have the means to do more than just get by, they put more back into the economy.” – The Tyee
Why Quarterbacks Say ‘Hut’ And ‘Hike’
Back in 2009, the NFL itself was wondering about that very question. So they asked Ben Zimmer, America’s most famous lexicographer, to look into it. Turns out that “hut” in particular is very practical, and it has a pedigree that seems obvious once you think about it. – Mental Floss
Intimacy Coordinator Says She Gets More Resistance From Female Actors And Directors
“‘My hunch is that, for some women, having me present means they have to examine their past experiences on set without an intimacy coordinator,’ said Mia Schachter, intimacy coordinator on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and HBO shows such as Insecure and Euphoria.” – The Guardian
‘Salvator Mundi’ May Be by Leonardo, But Its Hand May Not Be
Two different studies — one by the Louvre, the other by an independent art historian and her AI researcher husband — find that the Christ figure’s hand raised in blessing was added to the otherwise finished painting after the fact. The image recognition algorithm developed by the couple indicates that the hand was not by Leonardo (probably by an assistant), while the Louvre says it could have been added by the artist himself. – Hyperallergic
The Pandemic Has Brought Out The Medieval In Us
“Was there a connection between the sudden relevance of medieval anecdotes and an apparent increase in blackletter fonts on leftist social media? If plague humor was in, so too were ornate, eye-catching fonts derived from a Gothic style. And as platforms such as Instagram evolved last summer—becoming more text-heavy, politicized, and less about the passive consumption of lifestyle imagery—text-based infographics featuring blackletter became central tools for sharing information, arguments, and calls to action.” – The Baffler
A “Unique Addition” to the Whitman Repertoire
When PostClassical Ensemble undertook our world premiere recording of the 1944 radio play Whitman, we did so believing that Bernard Herrmann’s Whitman setting is a singular addition to the repertoire of “melodramas” – compositions for music plus the spoken word. – Joseph Horowitz
America Needs A Creative Intervention
With misinformation and disinformation (here’s the difference) flourishing unchecked online, being able to discern fact from fiction is especially crucial. We witnessed the fatal violence and the humiliation on the world stage that ensues when a critical mass of our citizens can’t tell the difference between lies and truth. How can democracy, which relies on an informed citizenry, prevail when so many are confused, or are the victims of lies? – Broad Street Review
Was Philadelphia’s Leading Classical Radio Host Just Fired?
Gregg Whiteside, who for 17 years hosted weekday morning programming and the Philadelphia Orchestra concert broadcasts at WRTI, abruptly disappeared from the air last month, with only a brief farewell note about his retirement (as it was termed) several days later on the station’s website. The staff had been alerted with a one-sentence memo saying that Whiteside no longer works there “effective immediately,” and station execs have said absolutely nothing about the matter since. – Broad Street Review (Philadelphia)
Stunning Aztec Eagle Carving Unearthed In Mexico City
The 42″-by’28” bas-relief of a golden eagle, carved from a reddish volcanic rock called tezontle, was found by archaeologists at the Templo Mayor, the Aztecs’ main religious site in what was then their capital city, where it was on the floor of an area devoted to the sun god Huitzilopochtli. – Smithsonian Magazine
You Love Classical Music But Spotify Isn’t Cutting It. Here’s A Comparison Of Streaming Platforms
Two of them, Idagio and Primephonic, have been created specifically for classical music listeners. The other four, Apple Music, Qobuz, Spotify and Tidal, cover all genres. As we’ll see, there are many different aspects to these services: their look and feel on the phone and the desktop, how you search, what audio quality they provide, their different ways of helping you choose what to listen to, and a number of special features. – BachTrack
When Artworld Value Is About Economic Value, We All Lose
Converting “qualities to quantities”, replacing “critical evaluation with economic, technical evaluation”, making “the price system” the ultimate judge, turning institutions into markets and individuals into competing contestants are all hallmarks of the neoliberal vision of a more efficient, productive society. They also characterise quite a lot of what is going on in the art world at the moment. – The Art Newspaper
Key Lesson For Theatres In The Pandemic? Adapting Is Key
“Are we going to come out of this moment with a new model or new models? No. But what if we were in a constant state of evolving our model? What if we didn’t do what we just did … and get so entrenched in it that getting out of it and moving past becomes this national conversation and crisis? What if we were always evolving in some way? – Brooklyn Rail
Journalists Are Coming To Terms With Their Relationships With Tech Companies. How About Academics?
Just as journalistic embargoes aren’t universally bad or unprofessional, academic embargoes might not be either. But conversations about the ethics of “access scholarship” are far less mature than debates about “access journalism.” (Though such journalism still dominates cultures of political reporting, it at least has a name and prominent critics.) – NiemanLab
Taking Ballet Class Outdoors In The Middle Of A New York Winter
“Across the city, amateur and professional dancers are donning sneakers, masks and lots of layers to carry on with a familiar ritual that, for many, is essential to maintaining physical and mental health. … For the most part, [classes] have endured without interruption, a consistency that speaks to dancers’ desire to be physically present together, not cooped up in their apartments or separated by screens.” – The New York Times
Scientists Are Trying To Determine The Basis Of Beauty
There is no shortage of theories about what makes an object aesthetically pleasing. Ideas about proportion, harmony, symmetry, order, complexity and balance have all been studied by psychologists in great depth. The theories go as far back as 1876—in the early days of experimental psychology—when German psychologist Gustav Fechner provided evidence that people prefer rectangles with sides in proportion to the golden ratio (if you’re curious, that ratio is about 1.6:1). – Scientific American
Staging Theatre In A Row Of Empty Miami Beach Storefront Windows
“The pandemic closed the city on March 13, the eve of the opening of Miami New Drama’s first musical. To keep the 5-year-old company going, [artistic director Michel] Hausmann … commissioned seven notable playwrights — five Latino or Latina, two Black — to write short works that would fit under the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ rubric. … Guides led audience groups of 12 from store to store, where they listened to the actors over iPods Velcroed to their bright red, socially distanced chairs.” – The New York Times
Mexico Makes Legal Claim To Collection Of Pre-Columbian Art About To Be Sold At Christie’s
“The National Institute of Anthropology and History, a division of the Mexico government dedicated to the preservation of cultural artifacts, has filed a legal claim over 33 pre-Columbian objects set to be auctioned at Christie’s on February 9 in Paris. … The pieces scheduled to be sold include sculptures, vessels, masks, plates, and figures from Aztec, Mayan, Toltec, Totonac, Teotihuacan, and Mixtec cultures.” – ARTnews
Arts Donations Down By 13% In North America And A Third In Britain — But There’s Good News!
Yes, 2020 was a no-good-very-bad year for the arts (and most everything else), but a new study from TRG Arts and Purple Seven has at least a few glad tidings. In the U.S. and Canada, half of the arts organizations surveyed took in more total gift income than in 2019, and three-quarters attracted more individual donors than the previous year. Even in the UK, which has less strong a tradition of arts philanthropy, the number of people making small donations went up. – TRG Arts
UK’s Art Dealers Don’t Like New Anti-Money-Laundering Rules, But They’re Practicing Acceptance
“The new regulations … mandate that dealers must conduct specific checks on clients and report suspicious transactions that may suggest money laundering to the government. … The report found that asking art buyers for personal information — including identity documents and proof of address — remains art business’s biggest concern.” (And the paperwork’s a pain in the neck.) – Artnet
An Analysis Of How Colorado Arts Organizations Have Survived During COVID
“I’d say that size, discipline, history of percentage split of earned/contributed revenue, and dependency on partnerships and fee-for-service have all played a role in an organization’s ability to adapt, survive and even thrive during the pandemic.” – Colorado Sun
UK Parliament Told Festivals Could Be Safe This Summer
“The idea that the festivals can’t go ahead and be socially-distanced is inaccurate,” one festival director told the House of Commons Culture Select Committee, which is examining the live music sector. – BBC
America’s Leading Black Classics Scholar Says The Field Needs A Complete Overhaul. Is That Even Possible?
Dan-el Padilla Peralta came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic at age 4 and grew up extremely poor; it was his childhood fascination with ancient Greece and Rome, combined with his academic talents, that got him school scholarships and pulled him out of poverty and into a professorship at Princeton. Today he argues that his discipline, as it developed in the U.S. and Europe from the 18th century onward, is completely bound up with white supremacy and should be either restructured completely or abandoned entirely. – The New York Times Magazine
Tony Bennett, Age 94, Has Alzheimer’s — But He Can Still Sing
In fact, he recorded his new album of duets with Lady Gaga in sessions spanning 2018 to 2020, and he was first diagnosed with the condition in 2016. And though he is quiet most of the time these days and frequently disoriented, he still sings through his 90-minute set twice a week and was even performing right up until the pandemic began. – AARP
Actor Hal Holbrook, 95
In a long career spanning stage, film, and television, he was known for roles ranging from John Adams to Abraham Lincoln to Deep Throat to Willy Loman to the Stage Manager in Our Town. But he was most famous for his one-man show portraying Mark Twain — a role he played for more than 60 years, considerably longer than Samuel Clemens did. – The New York Times