Author: Matthew Westphal

Another Knotty COVID Mess The Art World Has To Untangle: Exhibition Planning

“Museum exhibitions take an exceptional amount of planning — from curatorial conception to filling out loan forms and insurance, to shipping, hanging, and displaying works. Getting a show on a museum’s calendar is no simple feat, let alone getting it on the gallery walls. So what happens when a global pandemic puts exhibitions and their scheduling on an indefinite pause?” – Artsy

Classical Music In The UK Is In Mortal Danger. Why Aren’t People With Clout There Publicly Fighting For It?

As the novel coronavirus spread, the machinery of live classical performance ground to a halt months ago, putting thousands out of work; the industry will be one of the last to return to full activity, and no one can yet agree on how or when that can happen; unlike continental Europe, Britain doesn’t provide nearly enough public funding to see classical music through the crisis. Many famous theatre folk are sounding the alarm for their art form, writes Charlotte Higgins; why aren’t well-known classical lovers doing the same? – The Guardian

Second City Co-Owner And Executive Producer Says He’ll ‘Step Away’ From Company Following Accusations Of Institutional Racism

Andrew Alexander, who helped launch the careers of dozens of prominent performers since he purchased Second City’s Toronto outpost in 1974 and the Chicago flagship in 1985, issued an apology saying, in part, “The Second City cannot begin to call itself anti-racist. That is one of the great failures of my life.” Second City artistic director Anthony LeBlanc, who is Black, has been named interim executive producer. – Chicago Tribune

When Public Libraries Reopen, Things Will Be Different (And Very Hard On Librarians)

Not only will library staff have to deal with a raft of new safety procedures and protective equipment, they will be faced with enforcing mask-wearing and distancing rules on potentially recalcitrant patrons. “And all of it will be done under the threat of job cuts, a potential second wave of Covid-19 infections, immense budget pressure, and worsening political dysfunction.” – Publishers Weekly

Texas Governor Finally Gives Performing Arts Groups Guidelines On Operating Under COVID

Gov. Greg Abbott’s Phase III reopening guidelines covering “performance halls,” effective June 10, allow audiences up to 50% of capacity at indoor venues; there’s no such limit for outdoor shows as long as no single group has more than 10 people and all groups are at least six feet apart. Performers and presenters themselves aren’t prepared to rush back to work all at once, though. – The Dallas Morning News

California’s Cinemas Could Reopen As Soon As This Weekend

Guidelines, issued on Monday by the state’s Dept. of Public Health and currently under review by the governor’s office, require spacing between seats, masks required of all customers when entering and leaving the building and in line for concessions or restrooms, and an upper limit of 100 attendees or one-fourth of the theater’s capacity, whichever is lower. – Variety

El Sistema Alum Will Be Next Chief Conductor Of Royal Liverpool Phil

Domingo Hindoyan will succeed Vasily Petrenko on the podium of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in September 2021. A former assistant to Daniel Barenboim at the Staatsoper in Berlin, Hindoyan began studying music in El Sistema in his native Caracas and went on to study violin and conducting in Geneva, where he now lives with his two children and his wife, soprano Sonya Yoncheva. – Gramophone

Poor Old Machiavelli Had ‘A Talent For Ending Up On The Losing Side’

His tenure as a senior administrator in the Florentine Republic saw many more failures than successes; he was bounced into prison and then exile after the Medici returned to power; when he finally got back into their favor, he was commissioned to write a great history of the city, only to see the family booted once again and die himself a couple of months later. “That hallmark of his work, Fortune, shined upon him only posthumously.” – History Today

How Did Ancient Australians Make Their Cave Paintings So Precise? A Team Of Archaeologists May Have The Answer

At a site in Limmen National Park in the Northern Territory are 17 paintings, stenciled on rock, that are far smaller than usual for such art, featuring detailed renderings of humans, kangaroos, turtles, boomerangs, and geometric figures. Researchers, working with the Marra people native to the area, think the painters may have used the same beeswax figures they used to make toys. – Artnet