Author: Matthew Westphal

Venice, Toronto, Telluride And New York Film Festivals Join To Form ‘A United Platform’

“The prominent fall events, all positioned six weeks from each other, [will] collaborate rather than compete in a spirit of post-pandemic solidarity. The statement announcing this alliance provides scant details of what concrete form it will take. … But what appears clear is there will be a truce when it comes to the usual frenzied jockeying for world premieres.” – Variety

The One Kind Of Print Ad That’s Keeping Small U.S. Newspapers Afloat

“Government-required public notices have been published in newspapers since colonial times. … But the advent of websites operated by federal, state and local governments gave politicians a money-saving opening to redirect public notices to their own sites. Overwhelmingly, that simply hasn’t happened: … newspapers have managed to retain nearly all their public notice business. And for many, it has become indispensable to survival.” – Poynter

What Does The Public Want From Art In A Post-COVID World? Here Are Five Takeaways From A Massive New Study

“In what’s billed as one of the largest arts and culture studies ever done in the US, the new report Culture and Community in a Time of Crisis has surveyed some 124,000 people to take a look at their thoughts on the role of culture in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results don’t look good, but it’s good data to look at, to get a sense of the challenges the sector faces.” – Artnet

How To Make Performance Venues Safe In A Time Of Contagion: A Roadmap

For months now (starting before COVID), American Repertory Theater head Diane Paulus and professor Joseph Allen of Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health have been working on this issue, and they’ve now put a guide online for other venues’ use. “Although the Roadmap for Recovery and Resilience for Theater is not meant to be comprehensive or prescriptive, it offers several insightful factors to consider.” – Dance Magazine

ArtPrize 2020 Is Cancelled As Entire Staff Is Furloughed

What’s more, says artistic director Kevin Buist, “It’s not clear if there will be an event in 2021, and if there is, it’s not clear who will run it.” The largest contemporary art exhibition in the U.S., which takes place over three weeks in 160 spaces in Grand Rapids, Mich. and features two $200,000 grand prizes (one given by a jury, the other by public vote), ArtPrize typically draws about half a million visitors. – Artnet

Rodin Museum In Paris Will Sell Bronze Casts To See Itself Through COVID Crisis

“A measure of relief may come from a century-old system set up by Rodin himself allowing the museum to sell up to 12 replicas of select sculptures every year. The bronzes are cast in special workshops in a process overseen by the museum and bought by art galleries, private collectors or other museums. Rodin’s priceless originals are mainly carved out of marble.” – Yahoo! (AP)

Germany’s Largest Cultural Institution Is Dysfunctional And Should Be Dissolved: Commission

Never heard of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation? It’s the body that manages Berlin’s Museum Island complex and all the other state-run museums in the German capital, along with the Berlin State Library and archives. It is notoriously big, slow, cumbersome, and inflexible — and it can be stingy with building maintenance, too. A German federal government commission is now recommending that the Foundation be broken into four separate parts and its funding be overhauled. – Deutsche Welle

People Are Microwaving Library Books To Sterilize Them. Please Don’t Do This.

Librarians understand that patrons are nervous about catching or spreading the coronavirus. But not only will paper catch fire when it gets really hot, the scannable security tags on library books contain metal, and we all know what happens when metal gets microwaved, right? (Don’t worry: these days returned library books are being quarantined.) – Tampa Bay Times