John Yau: “Being dispossessed must have haunted him his whole life, as did the endless bureaucracy involved with getting the documents you need to travel from one country to another, to settle into a new place. … What saved Steinberg and gave him a place in the world is drawing. All he needed was a pencil and paper. It enabled him to be mobile, to set up wherever he had a flat surface.” – Hyperallergic
Author: Matthew Westphal
It Wasn’t Mine: Why I Had To Stop Dancing Alvin Ailey’s ‘Revelations’
In an essay that won Brown University’s Barbara Banks Brodsky Prize for Excellence in Real World Writing, undergrad Jamila Wilkinson writes about how, as a young girl, she studied for years at Ailey’s school and danced in his masterpiece with the adult company several times — and how, later, she came to realize why she couldn’t connect with the work. – Guernica
Are Arts Orgs’ Diversity Initiatives Just A New Form Of Paternalism?
That’s the charge made by a few leading arts figures, among them Madani Younis, creative director of London’s Southbank Centre: “This paternalism on the one hand allows institutions to co-opt the concerns of diversity, of gender, of class and so on. On the one hand, you say: ‘That’s super good. These guys are on it, they hear the cry and they are looking to change something’. But on the flip side of that new paternalism, those very institutions then get to decide what the pace of change is. And for me that is perverse.” – Arts Professional
The New York Times Asked Readers All Over What They Want From Their Local Theaters. Here’s What They Said.
For instance: “I’m looking for inspiration in three ways: quality, intimacy and creativity.” “New Work, New Work, New Work.” “I want ideas. I want debates, opinions. I want words that move us forward, using phenomenal storytelling, and engaged, committed professionals with a variety of voices. I want it all, and I intend to have it.” – The New York Times
In Its Biggest Deal Ever, BBC Sells Streaming Rights To Its Nature Docs For $391 Million
The ten-year, £300 million agreement will allow a new worldwide streaming service operated by the Discovery Channel to stream both new and archived natural history shows by the BBC to viewers everywhere but the UK, Ireland, and China. – BBC
The Arts Power 50: New York Observer’s List Of Top ‘Changemakers’ For 2019
“Here, in our second edition of this list, we bring you a group of individuals each working to strengthen the impact, reach, social responsibility or financial stability of a field that is seemingly in a constant state of flux.” (While not all 50 are involved in the visual arts, there does seem to be a bias in that direction.) – The New York Observer
After General Manager’s Ouster, WBUR Radio Considers Separating From Boston University
“Discussions began immediately after the group, known as WBUR’s Board of Overseers, learned that General Manager Charlie Kravetz” — credited with building the station into a public radio powerhouse that distributes numerous programs nationally — “would no longer oversee daily operations of the station and would leave, officially, at the end of June. Members of the board, which has no direct decision-making authority, say they felt blindsided by the decision and ignored by BU when they protested.” – WBUR (Boston)
Arts And Culture Add More Than $800 Billion A Year To U.S. Economy: Report
That adds up to more than 4% of the entire nation’s GDP. “That figure is based on detailed data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (part of the Department of Commerce) and the National Endowment for the Arts, summarized in a report released earlier this month. The report tracks the aggregate performance of 35 key arts-and-culture fields, including broadcasting, movies, streaming, publishing, the performing arts, arts-related retail, and more.” – CityLab
Chicago Symphony Strike Drags On As Talks Come To Standstill
“The strike — started on March 10 — is going into its fourth week, with no solution in sight. There is continued deadlock in negotiations for a new labor agreement over salaries and pension benefits. What’s worse, there are no active negotiating sessions, only a series of cancellations.” – San Francisco Classical Voice
Polish Priests Burning Harry Potter, Twilight Books
If only this were an April Fools joke. As part of “spring cleaning,” the clergy of a parish in Gdańsk asked their faithful to bring objects “linked to the occult and magic” to a bonfire after Mass on Sunday. They brought books from the popular children’s series about student magicians and the young adult romance series about a chaste vampire — as well as (among other items) a Hindu figurine and a Hello Kitty umbrella. – Yahoo! (AFP)