“Carol Ann Duffy, appointed this month to replace Andrew Motion, told pupils at a Manchester school today that she had already started work on a poem about recent national events. To laughter and applause, the Glasgow-born poet declaimed: ‘What did we do with the trust of your vote? Hired a flunky to flush out the moat.'”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
With Rose Museum’s Future Murky, Visitors Note A Closure
“Yesterday marked the closing of the Rose’s temporary exhibitions on 20th-century abstract expressionist Hans Hofmann and a second show, ‘Saints & Sinners.’ The day had special significance because on July 22, when the museum’s doors reopen, the Rose will probably not have a proper director or curator. That’s the result of the university’s still-developing plans to change the Rose’s mission and sell some of its art.”
Science Suggests Arts Are Good For Students’ Brains
“For years, school systems across the nation dropped the arts to concentrate on getting struggling students to pass tests in reading and math. Yet now, a growing body of brain research suggests that teaching the arts may be good for students across all disciplines. … Much of the research into the arts has centered on music and the brain.”
Michelle Obama Talks Up Importance Of Arts Education
“The first lady, Michelle Obama, visited New York City on Monday to promote the arts, celebrating opening night at the American Ballet Theater and the reopening of part of the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” Among her audience at the museum were “dozens of public schoolchildren. ‘This is your place, too,’ she told the children.”
Uruguayan Author Mario Benedetti Dies At 88
“Uruguayan author Mario Benedetti, whose bestselling poems and novels helped launch Latin America’s postwar literary boom, has died. … Benedetti’s more than 60 volumes of poems, prose, essays and drama helped secure a prominent place for Latin America in global literature, along with the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Carlos Fuentes and Mario Vargas Llosa.”
Oxford Elects Its First Female Professor Of Poetry
“A descendant of Charles Darwin became the new professor of poetry at Oxford University this weekend, and the first woman to be elected to the role. Ruth Padel was chosen on Saturday night to succeed Christopher Ricks in the prestigious position, which was created in 1708. It came after the battle for the post was mired in controversy.”
Sher Leaving Intiman For NY (First, A Bit Of Power Sharing)
“After keeping one foot on each coast in recent years — as artistic director of Intiman Theater in Seattle and directing shows on Broadway — Bartlett Sher is preparing to plant both feet more firmly in New York. Intiman today will announce the first details of an unusual, multiyear succession plan that allows Sher to share leadership of Intiman through the end of 2010 with a replacement already selected but not due to be named yet.”
Police: Stolen Henry Moore Sculpture Melted For Scrap
“One of the most audacious British art thefts, the disappearance of a two-tonne Henry Moore sculpture worth £3m, has been solved by police, who believe that the internationally revered Reclining Figure sculpture was melted down and sold for no more than £1,500.”
What It Looks Like When Google Stops Working
A graph tells the tale of what happened when Google “messed up and routed traffic through an Asian network that couldn’t handle the flood,” causing a two-hour outage.
Nonprofits Lure More Online Donors, But Donors Give Less
“The total amount of money that charities raised online rose in 2008, as charities attracted more donors to their Web sites, according to a new study. … But the average size of those contributions decreased by 17 percent, from $86 in 2007 to $71 in 2008.”