The government has said subjects like music, dance, drama and performing arts, art and design, media studies and archaeology are “not among its strategic priorities”, according to the Office for Students, which distributes government funding to universities. – BBC
Director Barry Jenkins Says Maybe America Never Has Been Great
The director of Moonlight took on a 10-part adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad partly because it was such a wellspring of fear. “Jenkins was surprised, he says, of the extent to which the retelling of that history affected him. ‘There’s no blood, there’s no fire on set,’ he says. ‘And yet, we were on an actual plantation in Georgia. And as we’re recreating some of these moments, this feeling seeps into your body that things like this happened here. And even worse things.'” – The Guardian (UK)
Charles Dickens Hid A Lifelong Grief In A Locket
Dickens’ 17-year-old sister-in-law collapsed one night as she returned from the theatre, and died in the arms of the writer. “A failure of Hogarth’s heart was blamed, but today an aneurism, or stroke, is suspected as the more likely cause of death. It was a shock that altered Dickens for ever, throwing a shadow over his imaginative life.” – The Observer (UK)
Cirque De Soleil Is Back, Almost
The pandemic forced Cirque to shutter 44 shows all over the world. Now, performers are getting ready – as ready as they can, within their apartments – to return to Las Vegas this summer and London in January. But: “At a time when the pandemic is still raging and uncertainty remains about people’s willingness to return to large theater venues, the attempted comeback by the former behemoth is a litmus test of sorts for the live entertainment industry.” –The New York Times
Artists Following In Their Mothers’ Footsteps
Dance, publishing, painting, music, and the stage – having an example, an inspiration, and a mentor in the house can both block and encourage young artists as they decide what to do with their lives. – CBC
NFTs Are The Newest Tulipmania
“Art NFTs put me in mind of film auteur Werner Herzog’s distinction between the ‘truth of accountants’ and ‘ecstatic truth.’ NFT mavens wax lyrical about the ‘authenticity’ of these tokens as if they are trading a semi-divine quality, yet the authenticity encoded by an NFT is the same kind encoded by a transaction number on a credit card statement. They are a dressed-up species of bookkeeping. What art needs is less auditing and more ecstasy.” – Los Angeles Times
Getting At Reality Through Blurred Photos
When artist Tabitha Soren had her third child, a friend suggested she photograph the experience. “Time can turn photographs into metaphor or allow them to become a symbol instead of a documentary picture; at this particular moment, mothers’ needs are on the minds of the country. [The resulting project] is about what mothers don’t show: the emotions and psychological states that we’ve all been socialized to bury.” – The Atlantic
New York Plans To Give Artists Work This Summer
Like the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s, NY’s City Artist Corps is a relief program that “will pay hundreds of local artists to beautify and activate public spaces across the city with murals, public artworks, performances, and more.” – Hyperallergic
Bandwagon Is Changing The NY Phil’s Relationship With The City
Instead of the whiff of noblesse oblige and platitudes about the uplifting nature of classical music, this is about working together. “The key phrases when Bandwagon 2 was announced last month were the desire to ‘center the voices of our partners’ and ‘utilize the Philharmonic’s resources to amplify the work of our collaborators.’ In less fancy terms, the orchestra is stepping back, giving over its stage and its money rather than hogging them.” – The New York Times
Where Tap Dance Came From, And Where It’s Going
It’s a long history, and a new generation is reviving the art even during the pandemic. – CBS News
Nashville Isn’t Coming Through For Women
But TikTok is, forcing country radio to pay attention, and give opportunities, to young singers in new ways. – The New York Times
Is Drawing In Decline In Britain?
Some of the nation’s top (male) artists are unhappy about the lack of drawing classes, bemoaning the lack of compulsory drawing classes at the Royal College of Art, Slade, and other art schools. Apparently, one says, “You now have people who are more interested in conceptual art – which is actually what you do if you can’t draw.” – The Observer (UK)
What Will Happen To Eli Broad’s Grand Dreams For Los Angeles?
Broad’s vision was of a Champs-Elysées on Grand Avenue, but all with his stamp on it. “Broad’s ambitions ought to prod Angelenos to consider what they think should be central to their city. Emperors, bureaucrats and billionaires mold cities to their desires, but so could humbler aspirations. … To better serve its future sense of place, Grand Avenue may require less architecture and more humanity.” – Los Angeles Times