“There’s a rich history of thinking about how we learn across our lifespans in library settings and other community-based arts programs. But museums have only started to look at this arena pretty recently. Our goal is to create a space where patrons can absorb information and feel intellectually stimulated. But we also want to provide a starting point to help them make new and lasting connections . . . because simply trying something new and coming together around a shared interest can be life-changing at any age.” – Arts ATL
How Greenland Developed A National Theatre Company
The National Theatre of Greenland stages three to five productions per year, adapting material ranging from traditional lore to contemporary Greenlandic literature to Shakespeare, at its home in the capital and on tour all over an island the size of Western Europe, most of whose towns and villages have no roads in and out. – The Stage
Phil Kennicott’s Ruminations On The Power Of Music Amidst Grief
“When grief loosens its hold, you return to the world you once knew, only to find it transformed by the thing that is missing; when, at the end of the Goldberg Variations, Bach repeats the aria with which it began, it is utterly transfigured. It is like the river in which one can never step foot twice, and Bach seems to say: ‘You’ve never heard this thing you think you know so well’.” – Van
Disney’s “Hamilton” Movie Strategy: A Lucrative New Franchise
The modern retelling of founding father Alexander Hamilton’s life is a full-blown cultural phenomenon, one that has rolled out like a well-planned military campaign. The target? The hearts and minds of America, and the world, as part of that thing every studio executive wants: hilariously lucrative branded IP. – IndieWire
New Zealand To Lose Its Only Classical Music Radio Station
In proposed changes, the classical station will lose its FM frequency, all its presenters, interviews and live programmes. Playout of recordings will only continue as a fully automated playlist on a digital stream and AM frequencies. Under the plans, New Zealand will have no longer have a live-presented radio station dedicated to classical music. – ClassicFM
Are This Year’s Oscar Best Picture Nominations A Tipping Point?
Wesley Morris: “Assembled, these distinct movies become a representative entity, and a person like me notices a theme that could poke out an eye. And whiteness is part of that story. It’s always been, of course. But this year feels different. A homogeneity has set in. The nominated movies start to look like picture day at certain magnet schools.” – The New York Times
Who Placed Full Page Ads In The NYT And LA Times Attacking LACMA’s Building Plan?
On Sunday, full-page ads appeared in both the New York and Los Angeles Times with the slogan “saveLACMA FROM TANKING.” – Hyperallergic
The Solo Balanchine Made For Paul Taylor, Revived By New York City Ballet
“In his autobiography, Taylor said he had asked Balanchine if there was any way it should be performed. His reply: ‘Is like fly in glass of milk, yes?'” City Ballet soloist Jovani Furlan learned the dance, titled Variations, from Paul Frame (who learned it from Taylor); Furlan has now taught it to, and is alternating performances with, Michael Trusnovec, long the star dancer in Taylor’s own company. Gia Kourlas interviews them both. – The New York Times
Director Terry Hands, Longtime Head Of Royal Shakespeare Co., Dead At 79
Hands began his career as a co-founder of the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, and, after his well-regarded 13 years as RSC artistic director, spent 18 years in Wales at the helm of Clywd Theatr Cymru, which he saved from collapse. (He was also director of one of the most notorious flops in Broadway music history, Carrie.) – The Guardian
This Year’s Oscars Are Shaping Up To Be A Disaster
In the year 2020 when there are SO MANY movies and, with Netflix and Amazon entering the Oscar conversation, no excuse not to watch them, people should feel more invested in these awards than ever. It should be a watershed moment for the annual awards season. That there’s been no capitalization on, finally, a non-industry person’s access into the debate after so many years of the “who cares about the Oscars?” refrain is the most damning disaster of the whole thing. – The Daily Beast
How Google, Facebook, Microsoft, And Amazon Became The Most Manipulative Advertisers On TV
“For most of their history, these companies scoffed at traditional media. Can’t measure it, can’t convert viewers into customers, not enough real-time data. Yet here are the 21st century’s most dominant brands behaving like their counterparts of the late 20th, using TV as a key tool to build image and consumer loyalty. Taking a half-step back, this development is a bit rich given that other than Microsoft, these are companies whose businesses are working, through digital advertising dominance and streaming content, essentially to destroy the modern TV industry.” – Fast Company
Planting Vineyards
If expanding our base to new communities is necessary, we need an appropriate metaphor for the process. I think I’ve finally stumbled upon something workable. – Doug Borwick
Polarized News Is Hurting Advertising Revenues
Just 9 of the most 100 most-read news articles from 2019 were considered brand safe by keywords blacklists, per the study. Often many words are blocked in fear of one meaning, but then are misapplied. For example, words like “attack” are often included in blacklists, even it it pertains to something positive, like an “attack wing” in soccer. – Axios
When Working Men Bought ‘Pride And Prejudice’ For A Penny
“Austen first emerged in penny editions in the 1890s. Penny versions were modeled on the sensational Penny Dreadfuls, those cheap stories of violence on which Britain’s lawmakers were known to blame the rise in urban crime. Operating in tandem, two newspaper giants stepped in to offer better entertainment to ‘the poorer millions.’ These alternatives were pushed as ‘Penny Delightfuls.'” And yes, poor working men and women bought and read them. – Literary Hub
Marin Alsop Named Chief Conductor At Ravinia
She will be the first person to hold this post, which has been created for her, in Ravinia’s 116-year history. – Chicago Tribune
Alice Mayhew, Editor Who ‘Helped Pioneer The Modern Washington Political Chronicle’, Dead At 87
“A top editor at Simon & Schuster who assembled a roster of literary heavyweights, … Ms. Mayhew focused on popular histories and biographies as well as the journalistic genre known as “the Washington book.” Released only a year or two after the events they covered, the books featured heavily reported, insider accounts of Beltway politics and White House intrigue, tailored for readers who wanted details that were often unavailable to daily journalists.” – The Washington Post
A Right-Left Tug-Of-War Over Poland’s Museums
“Over the past five years, Poland’s art institutions have increasingly become a vehicle for the ruling right-wing Law and Justice party’s cultural reform efforts. … [There’s now] a nationwide battle over who shapes Poland’s cultural institutions, with both sides claiming that they are being silenced. The stakes are high: the dispute has the potential to shape the art shown in Poland and the history taught to the public for decades to come.” – Artnet
A Mural Helped Turn Around A Derelict SoCal Park — Until Unexpected Protests Got It Removed
For decades, Tony Cerda Park in Pomona was desolate, dilapidated, and dangerous. Last summer, artist Joe Ded painted a mural to honor the park’s namesake, a longtime leader of local Native Americans. People began using the park again, and the city started paying attention to it. Then some of the local Native Americans got a look at the mural, and they were not happy. – Los Angeles Times
Gene Reynolds, Director And Producer Of ‘M*A*S*H’ And Other Hit TV Series, Dead At 96
A former child star, Reynolds directed many episodes of classic 1960s American sitcoms and went on to create and produce three of the best-known and well-regarded series of the ’70s: Room 222, M*A*S*H, and Lou Grant. – The New York Times
Coronavirus Outbreak Leads Washington’s National Symphony To Cancel Three Concerts In China
Said the NSO’s executive director, “The combination of warnings from the State Department and the CDC, and our flights were canceled; there was no way to get there and no way to get home.” The orchestra’s March tour will still include five concerts in Japan. – The Washington Post
After Two Decades, Director Who Transformed Alberta Ballet Will Step Down
“Alberta Ballet’s longest-serving artistic director, Jean Grand-Maître, will step down after a three-year transition period that will see him passing the torch to [company ballet master] Christopher Anderson by 2022.” – Calgary Herald
Australian Artists Hijack Bus Shelter Ad Spaces
Forty-one artists are involved in this latest Australian iteration, including Georgia Hill, Tom Gerrard, Sarah McCloskey, Ghostpatrol, Callum Preston and E.L.K, as well as anonymous artists.In one poster, a Caramello Koala has burst and is melting above the words “Save an Aussie icon”. In another, Blinky Bill runs from an encroaching wall of flames. The collective launched three weeks prior to the posters going up, via a group chat of artists on Instagram. They were dismayed at what they saw as biased bushfire coverage and at the misinformation being shared by some media – particularly the Murdoch-owned press. – The Guardian
The Obama Portraits: The Book, The Traveling Exhibition, T-Shirts, Coasters, Umbrella…
With 23 items exploiting the portraits currently arrayed for sale on the NPG’s website, the Smithsonian’s merchandising masterminds have found a way to turn an uplifting event into something bordering on tacky. (The book is very good, though.) – Lee Rosenbaum
Recent Listening: Lyn Stanley Revisits Julie London
Los Angeles singer Lyn Stanley frequently appears in L.A. with a big band of Swing Era veterans. But in this recording, her accompanists are six of Southern California’s busiest veteran players of modern jazz. – Doug Ramsey