“The Czech Museum of Music presented on Tuesday a rare piece of music composed in three parts by Mozart, Salieri and an unknown composer, Cornetti, that was considered lost for more than 200 years.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
England Proposes Overhaul Of Arts Funding Process
“Arts Council England has proposed a major overhaul of its funding strategy that could lead to major theatres getting four-year funding deals, and a separate grants budget for individual artists. Funding pots for museums and arts organisations could also be merged, meaning groups would have to directly compete for funding for the first time.”
Should Taxpayers Even Be Funding The Arts At All? Michael Lind Makes The Case Against
“The NEA Literature Fellowships program, for example, offers $25,000 grants in poetry and prose …Why should writers get $25,000 for ‘travel, and general career advancement’ but not janitors, or home health aides, or car mechanics, all of whom could use the money more than ‘creative writers,’ a group drawn mostly [sic] from the upper middle class and the rich?”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.16.16
Funding Is Not an “Issue” Title got your attention, didn’t it? Recently Doug McLennan wrote about ArtsJournal’s survey of readers about issues in the field: We Asked: What’s the Biggest Challenge Facing the Arts? By far the most cited was… …read more
The Arts: By The (National) Numbers
A few years ago, when the National Endowment for the Arts said it would join with the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis to determine how much the arts contributed to the economy, I applauded. When the … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-02-16
Bill Evans And Camera Three
Last month’s Rifftides post titled “Evans After LaFaro” included video of the Bill Evans Trio in a 1962 performance that I credited to Italian television because of its imprint RAI DUE, the name of an Italian … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-02-15
Maillot’s Botchy Look at American Dance in Choré
Though inspired by and decorated with 20th century American dance styles, Jean-Christophe Maillot’s 2013 work Choré for Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, shows integrity only … read more
AJBlog: Fresh Pencil Published 2016-02-16
The “One New Thing” Rule
Adam Grant, in his new book, Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World writes about the necessity of anchoring new ideas in familiar things. To generate creative ideas, it’s important to start from an unusual place. But … read more
AJBlog: diacritical/Douglas McLennan Published 2016-02-15
Pee-Wee Herman Makes A Comeback – And So Does Paul Reubens
Both the character actor and his most famous character vanished for a while after a notorious 1991 arrest. But Reubens never lost all his fans – among them Judd Apatow, who helped get a new Pee-Wee Herman movie made. And Reubens has been getting plenty of gigs under-the-radar work as well; when not playing Pee-Wee, he’s unrecognizable.
As Bad As The News Is These Days, Our World Is Better Than It Was Even A Century Ago, Let Alone A Millennium
“The 20th century marked an inflection point – the beginning of humanity’s transition from its ancient crises of ignorance to its modern crises of invention. Our science is now so penetrating, our systems are so robust, that we are mostly endangered by our own creations. … Most people around you now do not want to kill you to get your phone, torture you until you profess their religion, or prey on your credulity until you join a racist gang. Some may – but not many.”
There Won’t Be Just One Serpentine Pavilion In London This Summer – There’ll Be Five
“Not content with having just one pavilion on its Kensington Gardens lawn this summer, [the Serpentine Gallery] has commissioned four more architects … who range in age from 36 to 93 … to design a series of summer houses to go with it.”
Kafka Wasn’t Just A Tortured Neurotic
“He loved beer and slapstick. He undertook a fitness regime popularized by a Dutch exercise guru. He tried to cheat on his high-school exams. He used his desk as a metaphor for self-parody and waxed lyrical about the Paris metro.”
‘Father Of Quebec Cinema’ Alleged To Have Been Pedophile
“A new biography about Claude Jutra – an actor, writer and director who is considered one of the founding fathers of Quebec cinema – says he was a pedophile who had sexual relations with boys as young as 13.”
Eiko’s First Dance Project Without Koma Is Transforming Her Career
“Two years ago, after Koma injured his ankle, Eiko, the other half of the husband-and-wife dance duo – treasured for their stark, startlingly slow excavations of stillness and shape while time gradually passes – struck out on her own. The pair are likely to perform together in the future, but for now, Eiko is consumed with a solo project that has transformed her career.”