“Denver has boomed over the past decade. The city is bigger, richer and more interesting than ever. Public- and private-sector investment is through the roof, and neglected neighborhoods are springing back to life. And in all of this, artists have been left behind.”
A Tuition-Free Ballet Program Changes The Lives Of Baltimore Boys
“Last school year, 31 boys attended Peabody Dance (which can cost thousands a semester) tuition-free, breathing new energy and life into the mirrored-walled studios and bringing economic, racial, and social diversity to a world that ‘hasn’t always been that way’.”
Learning A Second Language? You May Also Be Learning To Handle Ambiguity
Basically, what you don’t know when speaking a second language is as important as what you do know. “Weirdly, not needing to exhaustively know everything lets you learn more.”
The Idea Of America As A Fiction
“America cannot be made great again because America isn’t real. America never was real. America is 325 million different ideas that disagree with each other just enough for human lives to be lost in the process of translating between them. America is nothing but miscommunication and unspoken secrets and fragmentary dreams that fail to cohere. It’s a multiplicity of states, none of them united. America, like money, isn’t the final product of human creativity.”
Where Did The Whole ‘War On Christmas’ Issue Come From, Anyway?
Blame a book with a too-incendiary title and a conservative media star.
Should Scientists Really Bother Going To All The Trouble To Find What’s Unique About Strads?
Acousticians Bruno Fazenda and Trevor Cox suggests several reasons why the answer is probably no.
It Took Ethan Stiefel A 9,000-Mile Motorcycle Trip To Figure Out His New Ballet
“He’d set off on the cross-country journey soon after getting the call from Julie Kent, the Washington Ballet’s newly arrived artistic director, who offered him his first big commission as a choreographer.”
English National Opera Box Office Soars 32 Percent, But Donations Dip
“According to its box office receipts, the £11.4 million in its current report was up from £8.6 million in the previous year. Its total income was £40.3 million, compared with £38.2 million the previous year. However, money from donations and sponsorship tumbled, from £3.6 million in 2015 to £2.7 million in the year to March 2016.”
A Survey Of The Literature On Benefits Of The Arts
The team at Createquity gathered up all the research they could find on how the arts improve lives and tried to organize it in usable form. “Over the past half century, hundreds of researchers have spent thousands of hours and millions of dollars grappling with these questions. And while the literature still has a ways to go before we can consider the answers definitive, it is becoming clear in at least several arenas that it’s not just our imagination: arts participation really does improve lives.”
57 Years Ago Barbara Roston Checked Out A Library Book. This Year She Decided To Return It
This volume was due back on Nov. 18, 1959. After 20,842 days since, Ms. Roston would owe the library $1,042.10…
The Jedi Order Is Not A Religion, Rules Commission
The Temple of the Jedi Order applied for charitable organization status in England and Wales, but the Charity Commission ruled that Jediism “lacked the necessary spiritual or non-secular element” it expects.
Nina Simon On Five Tools That Can Help A Museum Manage Growth
“The biggest mistake I made as we grew was not to proactively address my personal fears and hesitations about growth. I resisted building better structures. I didn’t own up to their necessity, impact, and tradeoffs. Now, I own it. Now, instead of resisting growth, I’m learning how to make structure work for us–so we can continue to grow in ways that are gloriously, radically collaborative.”
Bocelli Out For Inaugural
A source said that, by Monday, “Andrea Bocelli said there was no way he’d take the gig . . . he was ‘getting too much heat’ and he said no.” But another source told us, “Trump suggested to Bocelli he not participate because of the backlash. It’s sad people on the left kept him from performing on a historic day.”
We Can Now See The Brushstrokes On The Ghent Altarpiece
“In this first phase of restoration on one of the earliest art works to use oil paints on a large scale, new scanning techniques uncovered the singular skills of the Flemish brothers Jan and Hubert Van Eyck, beneath layers of overpainting and varnish.”
We’re Saved! Merriam-Webster’s 2016 Word Of The Year Is Not ‘Fascism’!
These folks, unlike their colleagues, name their Word of the Year based on what gets the most search queries – and at the beginning of this month, they sent out a plea saying that “fascism” was in the lead and “There’s still time to look something else up.” Looks like we (or they) came through: Merriam-Webster’s official word for 2016 is something all-too-fitting.
‘Dear Evan Hansen’ Breaks The $1-Million-A-Week Mark On Broadway
“The musical, about an anxious adolescent whose social status improves after the suicide of a high school classmate, has benefited from strong reviews and positive word of mouth. And, in another sign that it is breaking through in a crowded theater season, it has begun attracting a stream of celebrities.”
The Art In New York’s New Second Avenue Subway Line
Chuck Close, Sarah Sze, Vik Muniz and Jean Shin each got a station “to treat … as their very own and make them into individual installations” as part of what the Times calls “one of the most ambitious contemporary art projects that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has ever undertaken.”
Another Yellowface-In-Theatre Battle Breaks Out
“London fringe venue the Print Room has moved to defend itself over casting Caucasian actors in a production set in ancient China, describing the play as a ‘very English’ one. The theatre was widely criticised for its use of four Caucasian actors in a play by Howard Barker called In the Depths of Dead Love.”
Theatre’s Explanation For Yellowface Row Is Clueless
Howard Sherman: “The Print Room would do well to consult with Asian artists … if they wish to remedy this situation, rather than forging forward with abstract, disingenuous excuses that fool no one who actually understands what diversity and inclusion genuinely mean.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 12.19.16
Orchestras, equity and disruption
Thinking about orchestras and equity, two things have helped me frame a perspective: Angus Maguire’s reboot … read more
AJBlog: SongWorking Published 2016-12-19
Chen Yi and Stylistic Synthesis
Every year, we have our composition students do focused study of the works of a living composer, then Skype with that composer to discuss the music. This year, one of the composers we focused on … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2016-12-19
Consensus: The Biggest Issues Facing Arts In The UK In 2017
Brexit, for sure, as England determines how to exit the European Union. Diversity also came up as a major issue.
Will Progressive Foundations Come Under Attack In The Populist Trump Era?
“The question is not whether anyone has the power to truly intimidate them—because nobody does. The question is whether foundations will allow themselves to be intimidated.”
A Neuroscientist Explains How Our Brains Grapple With Abstract Art
“The mind-bending point that Eric Kandel makes is that abstract art, which strips away the narrative, the real-life, expected visuals, requires active problem-solving. We instinctively search for patterns, recognizable shapes, formal figures within the abstraction. We want to impose a rational explanation onto the work, and abstract and minimalist art resists this. It makes our brains work in a different, harder, way at a subconscious level. Though we don’t articulate it as such, perhaps that is why people find abstract art more intimidating, and are hastier to dismiss it. It requires their brains to function in a different, less comfortable, more puzzled way. More puzzled even than when looking at a formal, puzzle painting.”
Rambo Takes A Pass On Running The NEA
The actor said he’s “incredibly flattered to have been suggested to be involved with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA),” but he’d be better suited for a role helping veterans. “I believe I could be more effective by bringing national attention to returning military personnel in an effort to find gainful employment, suitable housing and financial assistance these heroes respectfully deserve.”
The Battle For The Heart And Soul Of The Bay Area
The basics: “While one group of recyclers is valorized and financially rewarded for their efforts, another constituency is criminalized and harassed for simply trying to live. Where do we draw the line between art and trash, between good recycling and bad? The answer to this question is at the core of the battle being fought for the soul of the region.”