The arts advocacy group says these are the trends that will inform its work over the next few years. – Americans for the Arts
Author: Douglas McLennan
Forgers And The True Believers That Want To Believe Them
Perhaps the forger’s best tool is the desire of buyers to want something to be real. No matter how improbable. – The Daily Beast
How Musicians Are Starting To Grapple With The Climate Impact Of Touring
“It seems to me that the only solution commensurate with the scale of the problem is fundamentally changing the way musicians work. We have to stop seeing it as reasonable that we’d play in Barcelona one day, London the next, and New York two days later. And stop seeing it as reasonable that, at a big festival in Barcelona, fifty thousand out of the hundred thousand people there have flown from the U.K. to attend.” – The New Yorker
The Radical Plan To Remake Paris Into A “15-Minute City”
The idea, floated by the city’s mayor, is to redesign urban life so that all the essentials – for work, play, shopping, culture – are within 15 minutes of every resident of the city. It would change how resources are allocated and would rework how people get around. – CityLab
Rarity: Vienna Kunsthalle Museum Replaces Director With A Three-Person Collective
Founded in 1992, the Kunsthalle Wien is a large exhibition space with no permanent collection. How does a triumvirate lead such a venue in practice? Surely much more time is spent on meetings and co-ordination? To whom do the 35 staff report? WHW say: “We don’t have specific tasks, so no one is in charge of something. Decision-making is at the level of the collective. We have a single email address for staff [to contact us].” – The Art Newspaper
Boy Scouts Of America Files For Bankruptcy
The organization has about half the members it did in the 1970s. But it has failed to address claims of sexual abuse for decades, and the claims have mounted up. The bankruptcy is an attempt to deal with some of the settlements. – The New York Times
More Than Numbers: How Astronomers Named The Planets And Stars
As the Shakespeare scholar Todd Borlik has pointed out, the triumph of Romanticism throughout Europe by the mid-1800s meant that Shakespeare (though not so much Pope) was seen as a universal rather than particularly English genius. Because of the Bard’s immense cultural appeal during this period, Herschel’s suggested names transcended cultural or nationalistic boundaries and allowed him the opportunity, whether he intended it or not, to enshrine English literature around the planet first named for an English king. – Aeon
In Praise Of Wikipedia And What It’s Become
Today, Wikipedia is the eighth-most-visited site in the world. The English-language version recently surpassed 6 million articles and 3.5 billion words; edits materialize at a rate of 1.8 per second. But perhaps more remarkable than Wikipedia’s success is how little its reputation has changed. It was criticized as it rose, and now makes its final ascent to … muted criticism. – Wired
Six Cooper Hewitt Boardmembers Resign Over Director’s Forced Resignation
Caroline Baumann was forced to resign on Feb. 7 after an investigation by the Smithsonian’s inspector general into how Ms. Baumann procured her dress and the venue for the ceremony. It was unclear whether there were additional allegations.According to two people familiar with the Smithsonian’s decision-making, the inspector general found the appearance of a conflict of interest, but several board members said they believed the punishment was unwarranted. – The New York Times
“Save The BBC” Petition Gets 100,000 Signers In First 24 Hours
The 38 Degrees petition is a response to a report on the front page of Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper The Sunday Times, in which sources close to prime minister Boris Johnson set out a blueprint for how the BBC should be dismantled when its current charter expires in 2027. – Deadline