“As the US economy has picked up steam in the last few years, falling oil prices and a stronger dollar have left the peso floundering. Last month, the Mexican currency hit its lowest value since 1993 … The tumble has the federal government here drawing blood from public funds, especially the arts and culture sector.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
CBC Management ‘Condoned’ Jian Ghomeshi’s Workplace Behaviour, Inquiry Finds; Two Execs Fired
“CBC management is squarely to blame for allowing disgraced radio host Jian Ghomeshi to get away for years with inappropriate behaviour that included sexual harassment,” concluded an independent investigation by two employment lawyers.
Cirque Du Soleil Is About To Be Sold
“Co-founder [and owner] Guy Laliberté sent an email to staff on Thursday saying that he had not yet wrapped up the company sale, after CBC/Radio-Canada and other media outlets reported American private equity firm TPG Capital and China’s Fosun will buy majority shares in Cirque du Soleil.”
Tennessee Williams On His Women, His Writer’s Block, And Whether It All Mattered
“[The playwright] tasked James Grissom with seeking out each of the women (and few men) who had inspired his work – Maureen Stapleton, Lillian Gish, Marlon Brando and others – so that he could ask them a question: had Tennessee Williams, or his work, ever mattered?” Here Grissom recounts his first meetings with Williams.
Occupy The Whitney Museum! (And The New Place Hasn’t Even Opened Yet)
“At 11 p.m. [Tuesday], activists from groups including Occupy Museums and Occupy the Pipeline gathered on the street in front of the museum for a performance art-style demonstration about a natural gas pipeline that is adjacent to the $422 million building and its vast art collection. A corner of the Whitney’s building became a canvas for their slogans, projected in light over the glassed-in lobby.”
They Gave The Nelson-Atkins Museum Their Collection Of Impressionist Art, Now They’re Giving The Money To Display It
“The Bloch Family Foundation will finance a nearly two-year, $11.7 million renovation … The new space will bring into public view 29 works from the personal collection of Henry and Marion Bloch, a gift of paintings promised by the family in 2010 in connection with the museum’s 75th anniversary.”
Dictionary Of American Regional English, Short Of Funding, Faces Shutdown
“DARE, as the dictionary is known, has announced that it will shutter most of its operations this summer unless it can find new sources of funding to cover its roughly $525,000 annual budget. The print dictionary had been supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, among other sources. More recently, the budget was covered in large part by stopgap grants from the university, which are set to run out.”
Misty Copeland Makes Cover Of Time Magazine
“For the first time in a generation a dancer has made the cover of Time magazine: Misty Copeland, the American Ballet Theater soloist, was chosen as one of the magazine’s ‘100 most influential people,’ and is featured on one of the five different covers for its upcoming issue.”
UK’s Royal Ballet Starts New Residency For Young Choreographers
“Called the Royal Ballet Young Choreographer Programme, the scheme is a year-long position in which the chosen choreographer will be mentored by Royal Ballet director Kevin O’Hare and choreographer Wayne McGregor. They will also shadow the company and create new work.”
A Syrian Civil War ‘Romeo And Juliet’, Performed Via Skype
“Under the eaves of a hospice for Syrian refugees in Amman, Jordan, a wounded young Romeo reaches out to the blurred image of a girl on a screen. From the besieged and bombed-out city of Homs, Syria, Juliet gazes back. Her head is covered because of her religion; her face is masked to protect her identity from the watchful regime of Bashar al-Assad. This is Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, performed by young people separated by war and reunited, in real time, via Skype.”