“The artist will be embedded in the city’s Department of Transportation, to focus on how to save bike riders and pedestrians from being maimed or killed by automobiles.” Says the department’s general manager, “I want somebody who can understand the issues and think of them in different ways.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
A ‘Moth’ Champion Shares The Tricks For Telling Riveting Stories
Matthew Dicks, a former teacher who became a professional storyteller after winning The Moth’s StorySLAM 18 times, says that the secret is in the stakes. (podcast)
Now *Here’s* How A Cop Should Deal With A Defiant Teen – Dance With Her
Perhaps the (ex-)policeman in Columbia, SC who threw a high school student across the classroom should have followed the example of this officer in D.C. (video)
Plan For Ground Zero Arts Center Has Changed Again
“The performing-arts center planned for the World Trade Center complex is shifting shape yet again, as its leaders work to deliver a slimmed-down project that can be built for roughly half the cost.”
Small Towns Using The Arts To Attract New Business And People? It’s Working In Wisconsin
“The arts are playing an increasingly important role in stimulating the local economies of small towns and rural communities throughout Wisconsin.”
The Root Of All Evil: The Original Jack O’ Lanterns Weren’t Pumpkins, They Were Turnips
“Jack-o’-lanterns originated in Ireland, ‘where people have been carving turnips and other root vegetables for centuries, to ward off evil spirits.’ Irish legend holds there was an actual man named Jack …”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 10.29.15
Maybe they should be interested, but …
I have to admit I’m a little surprised by the comments on my last post, which was about the way we in classical music grasp for relevance by programming concerts built around things in history — Shostakovich and Stalin, for instance — that not many people care much about. And thereby showing how not relevant we are. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2015-10-29
The chance and cost of being wrong
I’ve been reading a lot lately about data-informed decision making…more than is likely healthy for me. And so much of what I read begins and ends with the assumption that more data is always better. … read more
AJBlog: The Artful Manager Published 2015-10-29
Seeking a Blue Ocean
Once you have freed yourself from being chained to a place, and granted yourself permission to see what you want to do as not only important to you but also important to others as well, … read mor
AJBlog: Creative Insubordination Published 2015-10-29
The Real Vladimir Horowitz
Sony’s new 50-CD compilation, “Vladimir Horowitz: The Unreleased Live Recordings 1966-1983,” is a startling exercise in candor three times over. … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question Published 2015-10-29
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Lucerne Festival 2016 To Feature 11 Female Conductors
“Emmanuelle Haïm will conduct the Vienna Philharmonic, which, more than any other top orchestra, has been criticized for its slow pace of adding women to its ranks. Marin Alsop will make her debut in Lucerne conducting the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, and Barbara Hannigan will conduct the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Susanna Mälkki will conduct a new work by Olga Neuwirth, the festival’s composer in residence.”
This Week In Misguided Schools Censoring Books: ‘Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close’
“Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel … was suddenly pulled from the honors English curriculum at Illinois’s Mattoon High School because of ‘several passages that were ‘extremely’ vulgar detailing sexual acts’.”
Ai Weiwei’s True Medium Isn’t Legos, It’s Twitter And Instagram
“On Twitter, he puckishly retweets affirmations and condemnations alike, apparently more interested in sustaining debate than in simply winning the day. At such moments he seems less like a source of controversy than its stage manager.”