Parker was a huge supporter of civil rights and gave most of her estate to Martin Luther King (whom she had never met) when she died in 1967. When King died, the estate was transferred to the NAACP and she was buried at Baltimore headquarters. Now the organization is moving to Washington… – The New York Times
Author: Douglas McLennan
Battle Over Hirshhorn Museum’s Plans To Redo Its Modernist Gardens
Although the museum calls Hiroshi Sugimoto’s design a “revitalization” of the sculpture garden, its critics feel it is much more than that. They are especially concerned with the proposed changes to the core of the garden, the portion with the reflecting pool. Under the current plan, the pool would be replaced with one more than double its size with a stage at its center. – The New York Times
Turmoil At SFMoMA As Chief Curator Resigns
Gary Garrels is the fifth senior official at SFMOMA to depart over the past few weeks. Also gone are Nan Keeton, deputy director of external affairs; Marisa Robisch, director of human resources; Cindi Hubbard, manager of recruitment; and Ann von Germeten, chief marketing and communications officer. But the departures are not enough to assuage an activist group that calls itself xSFMOMA. In an open letter published Wednesday, July 15, the group of unnamed former employees demanded that the board also remove Benezra for his own culpability. – San Francisco Chronicle
Let’s Use COVID Shutdown To Bring Major Reforms To Theatre, Criticism
“Bad habits may be broken. Theater companies large and small will be weaned off the conservative commercial values of Broadway, freed of the timidity of white theater artists and audiences who are interested in seeing shows that assert their rectitude. Enough stage works that chronicle families under pressure. Where are the innovative scripts that explore thorny issues of race, corruption, income inequality, starvation, gender, global warming, philosophy, metaphysics?” – Arts Fuse
Minnesota Museum Fires Longtime Director
When Kristin Makholm took the helm in July 2009, the museum was virtually bankrupt and had been closed for about 18 months after losing its lease at the Ramsey County Government Center. But she soon found a new space at the historic Pioneer Endicott building, where it celebrated a grand reopening in December 2018. – The Star-Tribune (Mpls)
Reckoning On Race In Classical Music
“The systemic racism that runs like rot through the structures of the classical music world exists somewhere between broad statistical data and intimate personal disclosure. And right now, in what seems like a promising turn, a range of responses to it — individual, artistic and institutional — feels, at long last, audible.” – Washington Post
New Waves Of Arts Layoffs In Chicago – A Profession Dismantling
You might argue that furloughs are inevitable, given the inability of theaters to perform indoors in front of more than 50 people under current city and state guidelines. But it’s not the furloughs that have been so surprising: It’s the permanent layoffs, indicating that the boards of non-profit organizations just don’t see any imminent return to normal operations. Time and time again, I’ve heard that the job losses were necessary to protect the future of the institution. – Chicago Tribune
Leonard Slatkin: Here’s How I Would Change Orchestra Auditions
“In a way, the screen now represents a bit of an insult to those who are making the decision as to who will join the orchestra. Do we really believe that today’s musicians cannot come to a fair conclusion because they have seen who is playing?” – Leonard Slatkin
Portland Artist Space Suspends, Turns Its Building Over To Native Americans
Under its new ownership, Yale Union will be christened the Center for Native Arts and Cultures, serving as the new national headquarters for the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation. “This repatriation is symbolic in that it’s not often, or perhaps has never happened, where the owners just hand over a building to a Native organization,” T. Lulani Arquette, the CEO of the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, told Artnet News. – Artnet
Public Radio Ratings Plunge
Broadcast ratings for nearly all of NPR’s radio shows took a steep dive in major markets this spring, as the coronavirus pandemic kept many Americans from commuting to work and school. The network’s shows lost roughly a quarter of their audience between the second quarter of 2019 and the same months in 2020. – NPR