Carolina A. Miranda: “Let’s retire the outmoded idea that the most important factor in a city’s cultural landscape is the presence of some white knight bearing a checkbook and grandiose ideas about turning bulldozed Los Angeles neighborhoods into the Champs-Élysées (as Broad once described his vision for Bunker Hill). In fact, a moneyed philanthropist can wreak havoc on public institutions.” – Los Angeles Times
A Choreographer Learns To Rest, To Improvise, And To Feel Joy
During what we might call “the long 2020,” choreographer Kyle Marshall experienced quite a bit of change. “In this next step of his career, he said, he’s more focused and more comfortable making decisions. But the pandemic made also him realize something else: Just how exhausted he was.” Now he’s trying to be more intentional, working more carefully with his dancers and creating work that celebrates life and wonder. – The New York Times
Why ‘In The Heights’ Took So Long To Become A Movie
The movie has been in development since 2008. “The project stalled for many years between different directors and studios, because executives wanted more well-known Latino actors to star, such as Shakira or Jennifer Lopez. They also wanted more stereotypical storylines for the characters, such as pregnancies and gang violence.” But Hamilton changed all that. – NBC
Can We Ever Trust A Recorded Image Again?
A new documentary “focuses on surveillance and the cop-worn body-cam in specific as key topics, exploring the headquarters of the Taser, drone and camera manufacturer Axon in search of insights on the police state’s expansion. But this inquest soon gives way to a more expansive interrogation of the treachery inherent to every photo and frame of video, warped and modified and presented with purpose.” – The Guardian (UK)
Art Basel Will Take Place In September
A successful Hong Kong venture means Switzerland gets its fair (with new safety protocols, no surprise). – Artnet
John Boyega Exits Netflix Production Mid-Filming
Production is paused for the role in Rebel Ridge to be recast and reshot. The Small Axe star left for family reasons, he said – The Guardian (UK)
Kim’s Convenience Actor Calls Out Producers, Pay Issues
Actor Simu Liu plays Jung Kim in the show, whose fifth and final season is dropping on Netflix Canada. It’s a critically lauded show with a lot of comedy buzz. But, says Liu, the producers (who were “overwhelmingly white”) discounted input from Asian cast members; the actor also said that the actors were paid at an “absolute horsepoop rate.” – CBC
The Challenges Ahead For Media’s Newest Giant Company
The government review of the planned Discovery-Warner Bros merger could take more than a year, and subscribers are abandoning Discovery’s cable channels (and cable in general) in droves. Then there’s the huge debt – and the companies’ culture clashes. – Los Angeles Times
Artist Auctions Off Invisible Sculpture
That’s right, there’s nothing there. And it sold for more than $18,000. – Artnet
What Are Companies Planning To Do With All Those Music Catalogs?
Universal, Hipgnosis, Primary Wave, and others have paid multiple hundreds of millions for music catalogs ranging from Bob Dylan’s to that of Stevie Nicks. But “music publishing and related intellectual-property management and exploitation is not a business one enters lightly. Famously called ‘a business of pennies,’ it requires attentive nurturing and development in order to maximize the value. … [Song catalogs] are demanding, ephemeral assets that require a lot of attention — pitching, repackaging, finding new opportunities — without oversaturating and thus damaging the artist (a.k.a the brand) or the songs.” – Variety
Puppies Are Now Born Ready To Communicate With Humans
Humans have probably changed dog genes in this arena. A new study shows that “even 8-week-old puppies with little exposure to humans can understand pointing and show sophisticated levels of social cognition in other tests. On top of that, the study found that each fluffball’s genetic makeup was a strong predictor of its ability to follow a pointed finger to a hidden treat as well as the pup’s tendency to pay attention to human faces.” – Smithsonian
Scholars In Belgium Are Ready For Restitution Guidelines
The Belgian government has dragged its feet – so “a group of Belgian experts have drafted a set of restitution guidelines for dealing with the nation’s colonial collections.” – Artnet
The Nexus Of Dance And Drag Is Growing
And it’s not — not just — the Trocks and RuPaul’s Drag Race. The latter, however, by its popularity and creativity, does seem to have created space for dancers and choreographers, even high-profile ones, to shake off the rigid gender expectations that have held sway in dance and to experiment with costuming, make-up, and gender-neutral movement and roles. – Dance Magazine
How Alamo Drafthouse Pulled Itself Out Of Chapter 11 In 12 Weeks
“After furloughing around 80 percent of the chain’s workers at once, and having survived the financial crucible of bankruptcy by selling itself to deep-pocketed backers, the company is poised to make good on its grandest ambitions to date. Such expansion, though, comes with a subtle but undeniable shift in corporate culture.” – Vulture
So Many Acting Students, So Few Living Wage Jobs
Is the theatre industry training too many students? The pandemic sure made it seem so. “There is a vital need for creative practice and an equally critical need to earn a living. It’s not a binary consideration, but one that increasingly feels antithetical.” – The Stage (UK)
Kneehigh, Acclaimed Theatre Company, Abruptly Shuts Down
The Cornwall-based company, a frequent visitor to the US whose production of Brief Encounter was nominated for Tony and Olivier Awards, said in a statement that it was financially stable, but that “recent changes in artistic leadership raised questions as to whether Kneehigh could sustain their vision going forward.” Founding artistic director Mike Shepherd had resigned in March after 41 years; deputy artistic director Carl Grose left in January.- The Guardian
Hobby Lobby Sues Professor Who Allegedly Sold Them Papyri Stolen From Oxford
“The $7 million lawsuit … alleges that Dirk Obbink stole 32 items from the Egyptian Exploration Society at the University of Oxford’s Sackler Library and sold them to Hobby Lobby, the nationwide arts and crafts chain owned by an evangelical Christian family,” which was trying to rapidly assemble a collection for the Museum of the Bible, which it opened in DC in 2017. – Artnet
Mellon Foundation Is Giving $125 Million In Recovery Funding To Artists And Small Orgs Across New York
“[The project called Creatives Rebuild New York,] which has also received contributions from the Ford Foundation and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, will provide up to 2,400 artists with a no-strings-attached monthly income and will endow 300 full-time salaried positions at small- and mid-size arts organizations across the state.” – ARTnews
Artful Manager: The Book
I’m thrilled to announce the publication of The Artful Manager: Field Notes on the Business of Arts and Culture in paperback and eBook formats. This book gathers 50 posts from the first 18 years of The Artful Manager blog – edited, updated, complemented with opening quotes, and sorted into three themes. – Andrew Taylor