Don’t be lulled into false complacency, art-lings, on the theory that Congress will again resist the President’s call to ax support for NEA, NEH, IMLS and CPB. Contact your Congressional representatives. – Lee Rosenbaum
Author: Matthew Westphal
How Dorothea Lange Changed America
“[Her work] did nothing less than heighten the stakes of what we expect from a photograph, expectations that persist. … She was an artist under the guise of a journalist and an activist under the guise of a dispassionate civil servant, and it would be impossible to think of any of these roles today without her influence.” – T — The New York Times Style Magazine
What’s An ASL Interpreter’s Most Difficult Job? Stand-Up Comedy
Obviously, the challenges of rendering timing, tone of voice, and wordplay into a silent medium are daunting. Worse (since comedians aren’t exactly known for respecting boundaries) is when a comic starts directly interacting with the interpreter. – Vulture
The Problems With Re-Enactments Of Slavery And The Underground Railroad
Over three decades, “millions [of Americans] have undergone an experience that can range from a board game to an immersive nightlong ordeal, complete with horseback-riding paddy rollers and an armed Harriet Tubman. … Do fugitive lives belong to everyone, as models and martyrs of democracy? Or are they victims of appropriation, their stories warped by repetitive reconciliation myths and kitsch entertainment? Can ’embodying’ the past empower the living, or does it trivialize history and traumatize its inheritors?” – The New Yorker
Bay Area Theatre Folk Are, Well, Ambivalent About Little Clapping Man In SF Chronicle’s Reviews
One local company head says that the “wild ovation” man can be very helpful, as can the step below, but anything lower stops single-ticket sales dead. The Chronicle‘s arts editor grants that some critics and theatermakers have mixed (at best) feelings about it, but that many readers love it. Critic Lily Janiak worries that it can encourage readers to stop reading. And ACT artistic director Pam McKinnon says the little guy is “a white supremacist icon.” – American Theatre
Facing Storm Of Criticism And Boycott Threats, France’s Motion Picture Academy Promises Reform
“The César Academy has been under fire since announcing the 12 nominations for Roman Polanski’s An Officer and a Spy, as well reportedly shutting out feminist personalities such as the [filmmaker] Claire Denis and author Virginie Despentes from one its gala events preceding the ceremony. Many in the industry have pointed out the lack of gender parity, diversity and transparency within the César’s voting body, as well as within the academy itself.” – Variety
Bizarre Twist In Case Of Stolen Klimt Found In Museum Wall
The 1916-17 Portrait of a Lady, stolen from an art gallery in Italy in 1997, was discovered hidden in a wall of that very museum this past December. Now an entry in the diary of the gallery’s director at the time of the theft raises the possibility that the painting’s disappearance could possibly have been a publicity stunt gone wrong. – The Guardian
Surprise: There’s Been A Rembrandt In Allentown, Pa. For 59 Years
The 1632 Portrait of a Young Woman was attributed to Rembrandt van Rijn when it was given to the Allentown Art Museum in 1961, but during the 1970s the attribution was changed to a student from the master’s studio. But after the painting was sent to a high-tech NYU lab in 2018 for “routine conservation,” scholars reconsidered. – Smithsonian Magazine
Baltimore Symphony Board Adopts Five-Year ‘Master Plan’ To Solve Its Financial Crisis
No details about money or the length of the season have been announced yet; the first will probably come out later this month, and the second will be addressed in this year’s contract negotiations. But there are plans to live-stream concerts and give performances in Baltimore neighborhoods and around Maryland. – The Baltimore Sun
Varna International Ballet Competition Postponed Indefinitely
The world’s oldest ballet competition, held every second year on an outdoor stage in the Bulgarian seaside resort town of Varna, simply hasn’t raised enough money to go ahead this summer. – Dance Magazine