“Culture programs are budgeted at $235 million this year, down from nearly $295 million last year, including cutting ‘arts sector support’ from $18.5 million to $6.5 million. Additionally, the Ontario Arts Council, which awards grants, is receiving $10 million less from the government this year. And a $5 million Indigenous Culture Fund that the council administers, and was only established last year, has been discontinued.” – Yahoo! (Canadian Press)
Author: Matthew Westphal
Can The New Website ‘3Views On Theater’ Change The Trajectory Of Criticism?
“The plan is to have monthly rotating chief editors, who will help curate the content — slated to comprise around 15 pieces a month — with the help of ongoing editors Michelle Tse (one of Stage & Candor’s editors) and Penny Pun, a playwright. What kind of content, and for whom? [Rob Weinert-Kendt] spoke recently with Tse and Pun, who were joined by two of 3Views’s founders, playwrights Sarah Ruhl and Julia Jordan, about the new magazine’s ambitions and focus.” – American Theatre
‘I’ve Always Been An Outsider To This World’: Pam Tanowitz On Choreographing For Ballet Companies
“‘I’ve always been attracted to those ballet steps, and using them as a framework, or form, but then changing stuff within that,’ she says. Nevertheless, breaking into the ballet world wasn’t a clearcut goal of hers. … When asked when she became interested in working with ballet companies, Tanowitz answers, laughing, ‘When they hired me!'” – Pointe Magazine
Founding Director Of Dallas Neo-Classical Ballet Steps Down
“[Emilie] Skinner launched DNCB in 2011 after dancing with Contemporary Ballet Dallas and carved out a niche re-staging groundbreaking examples of early modernist ballet, particularly pieces by the influential Ballet Russes such as The Afternoon of a Faun, Le Train Bleu and Parade.” – Dallas Morning News
Please Don’t Boycott Us, Georgia Democrats Tell Hollywood, Which Will Probably Boycott Anyway
As a Change.org petition (with about 3,000 signatures so far) puts it, “We [pro-choice people in Georgia] now share the burden of condemnation for actions we fought from the beginning — with our time, energy, talents, and contributions. In spite of being part of the resistance, we’ll suffer the actions of our elected officials twice over.” – Pacific Standard
Grammy-Winning Jazz Drummer Lawrence Leathers, 37, Found Dead In Apparent Murder
“Leathers is best known to the global jazz audience for his affiliations with pianist Aaron Diehl and singer Cécile McLorin Salvant. He won two Grammy awards backing Salvant, as a member of the Aaron Diehl Trio; the most recent was in 2017 for Dreams and Daggers.” – WBGO (Newark, NJ)
Art Institute Of Chicago Is Auctioning Off More Than 300 Pieces Of Chinese Artwork
Museum management said in a statement that “this auction allows us to deaccession a number of works in areas where we have significant breadth and depth and the proceeds will return to the Asian Art department’s acquisition fund.” – Chicago Tribune
Glenda Jackson ‘King Lear’ On Broadway Is Closing A Month Early
Despite high praise for Jackson’s performance, reviews for the show have been ambivalent at best, and initially robust sales have slowed considerably. The final performance, originally scheduled for the close of the Fourth of July weekend, will now be this Sunday, just hours before the Tony Awards (for which this production garnered only a single nomination, and not for Jackson). – The New York Times
Iraq Wants To Recover Thousands Of Antiquities From The U.S.
“The Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Antiquities, Abdul Amir Al-Hamdani, … intends to visit Washington ‘to recover 5,500 artefacts from the Hobby Lobby company and 10,000 clay figurines from Cornell University as well as artefacts from the University of Pennsylvania’.” – Middle East Monitor
The First Oscars Of The Season Go To Geena Davis, David Lynch, Wes Studi, Lina Wertmüller
Lynch, Studi, and Wertmüller will receive honorary Academy Awards for lifetime achievement, while Davis will receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in recognition of her work toward gender equity in the media industries. – Variety