“This was to be the first franchise of an event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and its failure to make it here is a reminder that the art patrons in Dallas will show up dressed to the nines for galas like TWOxTWO last week, raising millions of dollars for the Dallas Museum of Art and amfAR, but aren’t interested in seeing an event like ArtPrize come to life, which allows artists of any caliber to participate.”
Why Paris Used To Be Great (And Isn’t Now)
The Other Paris is both eulogy and paean to the matrixes of anarchy, creativity, crime, and serendipity that once gave shape to the City of Light. “The past, whatever its drawbacks, was wild,” Sante writes. “By contrast, the present is farmed.”
George Lucas’ Big Fantasy Museum Approved In Chicago
The planned museum, designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, looks like a postmodern blend of the Millennium Falcon, Disney’s (DIS) Space Mountain attraction and the TWA terminal at JFK International Airport.
Star Clarinetist Martin Fröst Stricken With Inner-Ear Disorder, Cancels All Remaining 2015 Concerts
Those dates included Fröst’s debut as artistic partner of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, in Minnesota and on an Asian tour. He has been diagnosed with Meniere’s Disease, “a disorder of the inner ear which causes severe vertigo, sickness, and tinnitus.”
Invaders in Our Living Room: Why We Love The Myth That Most Americans Believed The 1938 ‘War of the Worlds’ Broadcast
“The way we think about media to this day is heavily indebted to the very ideas behind the broadcast and its reception – that radio, and media, can constitute a kind of invasive psychological experiment. War of the Worlds and the panic about its panic are products of the moment when the young fields of social psychology and radio used one another to legitimize themselves. Its significance to American history, panic or not, is bigger than even popular myth allows.”
Buffalo Company Opera Sacra Shuts Down After 40 Years
“Opera Sacra, which focused on operas with religious themes, has presented many professional-quality productions over the past four decades.” Said director Father Jacob Ledwon, “I have decided that 40 seasons is a good run.”
Reading Can Be Hot, Says The Photographer Who Invented #LiterarySwag
“Israel has managed to snap photos and videos of everyone from Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Junot Diaz to author Ta-Nehisi Coates, all of whom project their personal style via their reading.”
As We Mourn Grantland, Here Are Some Of Its Best Longform Stories
Including stories on the death of the half-hour comedy show, a deep dive into NYT wedding announcements, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Los Angeles and much more.
Keeping An Artistic Record Of Fast-Moving Architecture
“‘I was interested in how people use material,’ she says. ‘And how those materials are used to re-create some element of the architecture of the place they are from. You see styles of houses from the coast or from the south of Mexico — but they’re all made with materials that are only found on the border.'”
A Play About Nannerl Mozart Brings Her Back To The Stage Lights
“When I researched how well she played, I saw that the two of them toured all over Europe. I saw that she was billed first in many of their shows. Yet, the things she composed did not survive. It just seemed to me like a story that needed to be told. If no one else was going to do that, I decided I would do it myself.”
‘Hopscotch,’ An Opera That Takes Place In Many Different Cars, Seems Perfect For Los Angeles
“Singers, actors, instrumentalists and dancers — a total of 128 performers are involved in the production — transform the city around you as you are driven around, occasionally changing cars, going for a stroll in a park or being guided through a building.”
How Shonda Rhimes Got So Successful
“Ms. Rhimes has decided to continue her year of yes. One of her biggest takeaways from the experience was learning to have difficult conversations. She now asks employees to speak up about their problems, and in her personal life, she has become more outspoken about her boundaries, such as not wanting to get married. ‘Across the field of difficult conversation lies serenity,’ she says, because ‘whatever the outcome’s going to be, at least you know.'”
There’s A New, Dark Ballet Series On TV
“The cast members who play dancers are actually dancers. Ms. Walley-Beckett regards the show, a psychological drama about obsession and worship, as the anti-‘Black Swan,’ the Natalie Portman thriller that was the last ballet drama to achieve mass success; it relies on neither the fantastic nor body doubles.”
Al Molinaro, The Diner Owner On ‘Happy Days,’ Dead At 96
“Molinaro, the basset-hound-faced character actor who was known for playing Al Delvecchio, the harried diner owner on the long-running sitcom ‘Happy Days’ — and who recommended a little-known comic named Robin Williams to portray an alien named Mork on a 1978 episode of the show — died on Friday.”
The British Museum Is Training Iraqi ‘Heritage Professionals’ In Rescue Archaeology
“‘While, at present, the situation on the ground in Iraq prevents direct intervention to protect those ancient sites that are currently held by so-called Islamic State, the scheme will instead plan for the day when the territory is returned to effective and legitimate governmental control,’ the museum wrote in a press release.”
Building – And Sustaining – A Tijuana Art Scene
“La Caja is part of an intriguing wave of independent Tijuana arts organizations — both small and large, established and homegrown — trying to build an artistic legacy in this city just 126 years old. These are galleries and institutions that don’t just show art but are also actively working to educate and help shape a generation of artists and designers.”
Report: Al Pacino’s New Broadway Show Is A F****** Disaster
“Friends of the actor say they’ve never seen him so despondent. He sits in his dressing room after the show “totally lost,” one says. And sources say he’s getting no help from Mamet, who saw two dress rehearsals and the first preview and then vamoosed to California.”
Chicago Needs Money. So Where To Get It? Classical Music Of Course!
“In the run-up to the City Council’s budget vote this week, the Progressive Caucus came up with a list of revenue-generating amendments including one intended to add a 9 percent tax to the cost of tickets for two of the city’s major cultural engines—Lyric Opera and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It would be so easy. All the council would have to do is delete a paragraph of the Municipal Code.”
How To Make Ballet More Diverse
On the stages of American Ballet Theater and New York City Ballet black, Asian, Latino and multiracial dancers are beginning to change the face of ballet where it matters most: Lincoln Center, home base to both companies.
Canada’s National Ballet Posts Its Sixth Straight Surplus
David Binet, Board Chair of The National Ballet of Canada, today reported that company revenues were $30,851,000 with expenses at $30,806,000 resulting in an operating surplus for the year of $45,000 and accumulated surplus of $65,000.
Is Analog Photography Making A Comeback?
“Using film makes people think about what they are photographing. You only get one go, you can’t take 50 pictures and delete them all.”
SXSW Says It Erred In Canceling Panels And Adds Anti-Harrasment Programming
“By canceling two sessions we sent an unintended message that SXSW not only tolerates online harassment but condones it, and for that we are truly sorry,” said Hugh Forrest, director of SXSW Interactive, in a statement.
LACMA’s Michael Govan, A Different Kind Of Museum Director
“The good thing about being the museum director is that you’ll eventually be forgotten. You can take risks. So if you succeed, if you fail, it’s not really a big deal in history. It’s the artists who are going to be remembered.”
UK Arts Pay Survey Shows Gender, Age Equity Gaps
“The overall profile of respondents gives an indication of the fragmented nature of the arts workforce as a whole. Just a third (720) of the 2,183 who completed the survey earned their entire income by working in a full-time salaried position on a permanent contract for a single employer, with the rest working either part-time for one or more employers, on temporary or casual contracts, or as freelance workers.”
Scottish Arts Funding Row Sparks Debate On Definitions For What Gets Funded
“Ironically, arts funding remains one area of government that is especially closed to any suggestions of change. It remains wedded to a post-war conception of elite decision making where those that know make the choices about what the rest of the population will most benefit from having subsidised.”