He has ambitions for Theatre Calgary to be a destination theatre – for companies countrywide and worldwide, and for playwrights. “For it to be a place that authors will want to come to and try out their new works or develop their plays or their musicals and put it on a map on a global level. Because there is an energy and a pulse that is undeniable.”
Author: Douglas McLennan
“Deep Time” And What It Means
The concept of ‘deep time’ was first described in 1788 by the Scottish geologist James Hutton, although only coined as a term 200 years later, by the American author John McPhee. Hutton posited that geological features were shaped by cycles of sedimentation and erosion, a process of lifting up then grinding down rocks that required timescales much grander than those of prevailing Biblical narratives. This dizzying Copernican shift threw both God and man into question.
American Cities Discovering The Many Benefits Of Investing In Parks
From Philadelphia to Seattle, American cities are banking on parks and public spaces to drive social and economic progress. “Parks may not seem particularly urgent compared with the latest gangland murder epidemic; but the effort in Chicago to improve and expand them has, neighborhood by neighborhood, delivered long-term rewards. A few downtown showpieces, like the urbane Riverwalk and glamorous Millennium Park, have reaped immense financial windfalls for the city. Barack Obama’s presidential library in Jackson Park promises to become a major new attraction and help rejuvenate that part of the South Side.”
Alex Ross: The Value Of Critics In A Clickable World
“The trouble is, once you accept the proposition that popularity corresponds to value, the game is over for the performing arts. There is no longer any justification for giving space to classical music, jazz, dance, or any other artistic activity that fails to ignite mass enthusiasm. In a cultural-Darwinist world where only the buzziest survive, the arts section would consist solely of superhero-movie reviews, TV-show recaps, and instant-reaction think pieces about pop superstars. Never mind that such entities hardly need the publicity, having achieved market saturation through social media. It’s the intellectual equivalent of a tax cut for the super-rich.”
More Museums Press To Speak ABout Issues Of the Day
“In recent years, museums have been making a greater effort to have a voice in social activism and respond to pressing problems of the day. The big question is when and how art museums should take a public position and try to effect change, or at least initiate a community discussion on a topic.”
What Happened To Art In The Age Of Russian Dictators
“On March 2, 1917, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated, handing power to a socialist provisional government; in October, led by Lenin, the Bolsheviks stormed the Winter Place in St. Petersburg and formed a new government. A year later Lenin launched his “Plan for Monumental Propaganda”: painting, sculpture, photography, posters, textiles, and ceramics were all to proclaim the glory of the Bolshevik state.”
Hollywood Conservatives Feel They Have To Burrow Underground
“For the vast majority of conservatives who work in entertainment, going to set or the office each day has become a game of avoidance and secrecy. The political closet is now a necessity for many in an industry that is among the most liberal in the country.”
Is This Why Canadians Aren’t Watching Canadian Movies?
“The way the Canadian industry is set up right now, we fund people to make work, but we don’t fund people to market work. If people don’t know a film is out there, and you’re not marketing it to them as American companies do, then you won’t get people to see it. It’s not that complicated, actually.”
How Crowdfunding Is Changing The Ways We Give Money
“All told, the crowdfunding sector generated $34 billion in free-flowing cash in 2015, and is on pace to do nearly 10 times that within the next decade. (That’s generally broken into three main areas–person-to-person lending, donations, and equity investment–yet about 70% goes toward those in need, according to a Pew Research Center report). The result is a vast pool of money that’s fundamentally shifting who is funding charitable work and how that work gets done.”
Poets Dismayed As They Discover Canadian University Has Been Scanning Copies Of Their Work And Making Them Free
“As well as works by Coach House poets Damian Rogers and Jeramy Dodds, the page for the centre’s contemporary poetry reading group featured high-quality reproductions of entire books by such high-profile Canadian writers as Governor-General’s Award winner Dionne Brand and nominee Lisa Robertson, and international poetry superstar Anne Carson, as well as leading U.S. poets including Claudia Rankine, Ariana Reines and Maggie Nelson. The books, most of which would retail for less than $20, were available to download free to anybody who clicked on a link.”