Following “profound and healthy debate” at its Extraordinary General Assembly, the International Council of Museums postponed indefinitely a vote on whether to adopt a new definition of museums as “democratizing, inclusive and polyphonic spaces for critical dialogue about the pasts and the futures … aiming to contribute to human dignity and social justice, global equality and planetary wellbeing.” – Time
Month: September 2019
DC Mayor Locks City’s Arts Commission Out Of Its Storage Vault
In an escalation of what has reportedly been a long feud, staffers of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities “arrived at their offices in Southeast before the holiday weekend to find that the badges that grant them access to the agency’s art collection no longer worked.” The locks had been changed on the order of the office of Mayor Muriel Bowser, and access was not restored until the middle of the following week. – Washington City Paper
Kansas City Symphony Music Director Michael Stern Renews For Three Years, Will Then Retire
The 59-year-old conductor’s contract was to have expired at the end of this season; he’ll now remain on the job through 2022-23. In his 14 years there so far, he’s brought the KCSO increasing renown beyond Kansas City and enviable success at home: the orchestra’s classical concert series averages 94% of seats sold. – KCUR (Kansas City)
The United States’ Most ‘Arts-Vibrant’ Cities: Report
“A report from SMU DataArts ranks the most ‘arts-vibrant’ communities in the United States based on the number of artists and arts and cultural nonprofits it has, as well as the number of people employed by the sector; program and contributed revenues, expenses, and compensation; and government support.” – Philanthropy News Digest
BMI, The Performance Rights Administrator Announces Record Collections For Musicians
BMI announced record revenues this morning, with $1.283 billion, up 7% over the previous year. The performing-rights organization also distributed and administered $1.196 billion to its songwriters, composers and publishers, its highest distributions ever, and a 7% or $78 million increase over last year. – Variety
Performance Art Is Hot Right Now. But There’s A Problem…
While museums have been embracing performance art, the investment-minded commercial art world has been slower to get on board. There is one obvious reason. – The New York Times
Petrenko’s Conservative Debut With Berlin Philharmonic Is Troubling
Alex Ross: “Conservatives in the orchestra and in the audience may be reassured, but this retrenchment is a troubling signal from a historically great orchestra that ought to be assuming a leadership role in global classical music.” – The New Yorker
The Arts’ Funding Model Failure To Pay Living Wages Need To Change
“Our failure to figure out how to pay entry and midlevel people a real wage will ultimately seriously negatively impact our very ability to survive. It’s not a sustainable situation, and it’s not going away.” – Barry’s Blog
We’re Rich. So Why Do We Work Even Harder?
“That the wealthiest countries in the history of the world have sustained manic work regimes has puzzled thinkers for more than a century. Why could we not limit work to, say, three hours a day—the figure favored by writers as divergent as John Maynard Keynes and the revolutionary journalist Paul Lafargue?” – The Point
Is American Poetry Too Snooty?
“When I asked a friend, a terrific prose writer, why she seems to have a slight disdain for poetry, she replied, ‘It’s too elitist, like walking through a beautiful forest in which I know not where to look, much less know what I am searching for. If I don’t get it as a reader, then I feel like an idiot and somehow not worthy of the form’.” – The Paris Review