Low value? The right-leaning group says that some arts degrees offer poor income prospects for graduates and little economic return for the government that supports such degrees. This thinking, of course, assumes that “value” is purely economic… – The Stage
Author: Douglas McLennan
Women Writers: Busting The Preconceptions For Commercial Success
Ann O’Loughlin: “All women writers face an uphill struggle to have their work recognised in the same way as their male counterparts, but for those of us writing bestselling commercial fiction, there is a mountain to trudge up every time.” – Irish Times
How Did The Catholic Church Go From Being A Major Patron Of The Arts To… Meh
For centuries, the Catholic Church was one of the world’s most important collectors and patrons of art, but in recent decades, the Vatican’s holiday nativity scene has often been one of its most high-profile artistic contributions. This shift didn’t happen overnight—or even in a generation—but across centuries, and it is inseparable from the evolution of modern European nations, the secularization of public life, and the rise of the art market. – Artsy
UK Toughens Age Restriction Ratings On Movies
“It’s enough that a 12-year-old knows that a rape has taken place. They do not need to see it, no matter how discreetly it’s filmed.” – BBC
Ottawa’s National Gallery CEO Steps Down After Ten Years
“I’m especially proud of pumping up the volume on all things indigenous. We’re playing a leadership role in the world here in Canada [recognising indigenous work]. We talked about that since I first got here.” Mayer says it was an “emotional moment” when the museum opened its Canadian and Indigenous Galleries in June 2017, covering 5,000 years of creative output in the region, from First Nations art and objects to contemporary work. – The Art Newspaper
Inventing A Podcast To Bridge Different Cultures
Make-Believe is a new podcast company in Chicago, and is, as Jeremy McCarter likes to put it, a podcast that’s “one part live theater, one part TV production, one part social science… Chicago is multiple cities. The discourse becomes more authentic when you can bridge — let’s call it what it is — segregation.” – The New York Times
Is Amazon Killing Incomes Of Writers? No, Protests Amazon
Amazon is frequently blamed for not just disrupting the way people buy books, but for making it difficult for writers to make a living. Now the company is fighting back, taking aim at an Author’s Guild report last week that detailed a catastrophic drop in author incomes. – The Guardian
200-Year-Old Riverfront Gardens At The Taj Mahal Have Been Restored
These historic gardens, originally built for Agra’s nobility, are two of the city’s few riverfront gardens that survive today. The project of bringing them back to their original glory has involved restoring their original plantings, reactivating their water features, and creating a visitor center. – Atlas Obscura
New European Internet Content Law Will Be A Disaster For The Internet
“Taken together, these two rules will subject huge swaths of online expression to interception and arbitrary censorship, and give the largest news companies in Europe the power to decide who can discuss and criticise their reporting, and undermining public-interest, open-access journalism.” – Electronic Frontier Foundation
When Trees Are Part Of The Design, Is It Okay To Cut Them Down?
Milwaukee’s Marcus Center for the Performing Arts has a need to attract new audiences (and don’t we all). So there’s a plan to refresh the complex’s campus, including an idea to cut down a grove of trees and replace it with a lawn. But Mary Louise Schumacher wonders if destroying the trees – an important design element of the current campus – is really in the best interest of the community. – Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel