Missions are squishy; buildings and bottom lines are not. Judgments about art are subjective. Human beings are often self-interested. The nonprofit form lends itself to manipulation and to serving the interests of a few rather than the general public. Arts organizations need to be aware of these dynamics and can’t hang their hats on mission statements and values statements as enough to keep them moored to their purposes. – Diane Ragsdale
Author: Matthew Westphal
Why Spotify Has Successful Artists Named ‘White Noise Baby Sleep’ And ‘Jazz Therapy For Cats’
“You’ve probably never heard of them, but Relaxing Music Therapy has had a pretty damn successful music career. At least, on Spotify. This ‘artist’ has more than 500,000 monthly listeners on the platform, all thanks to One Simple Trick: optimizing their name to show up prominently in Spotify’s search results.” – OneZero
Artemisia Gentileschi’s Life Story Is So Much More Than The Rape Everyone Focuses On Today
“The turmoil of Artemisia’s early life — and the remarkable evidence of it that survives — has inevitably overshadowed the less sensational, and less documented, narrative of what followed. Nevertheless, her later career was extraordinary, and it is reasonable to conclude that the fact of having been raped was less significant to Artemisia’s sense of self than some of her modern champions have suggested.” – The New Yorker
Here’s One Book Publisher Getting Through The Pandemic On Sales Of (Believe It Or Not) Poetry
Well, one kind of poetry in particular — that of Rupi Kaur, who is so popular that her most recent collection knocked Dr. Seuss off the top of Amazon’s poetry bestseller list. (Her two previous books are no. 5 and no. 8.) “For Kaur’s publisher, Andrews McMeel Publishing, this kind of immediate market impact has become customary.” – Publishers Weekly
The BBC Anchors The Entire British Media. Now It May Be In Real Danger.
“The world’s largest broadcaster, the BBC has remained iconic through the generations — criticized regularly, of course, but nonetheless capturing the trust and attention of Britons like nothing else. Now, though, it’s facing a remarkable array of new private-sector competitors — and public-sector overseers — that all seem to have Auntie Beeb, in various ways, in their sights. And that puts one of the core purposes of a public service broadcaster — serving as a central, trustworthy anchor in a country’s media ecosystem — at a new level of risk.” – Nieman Lab
Turns Out Edward Hopper’s Earliest Paintings Are Copies Of Others’ Work
“Most grad students in art history dream of discovering an unknown work by whatever great artist they are studying. Louis Shadwick has achieved just the opposite.” – The New York Times
America’s 100 Most Banned And Challenged Books Of The Decade
Each year for Banned Books Week, the American Library Association releases a list of the books that offended parents or patrons tried most often to have removed from schools and libraries; for 2020, the ALA has compiled a list covering the 2010s as a whole. As usual, Huck Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird are there, as are Fun Home and the kids’ book about the gay penguins in Central Park, but top of the list is Sherman Alexie’s award-winning The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. (The runner-up is Captain Underpants.) Right in the middle of the list, at no. 52, is The Holy Bible. – The Guardian
Minnesota Orchestra Musicians Accept 25% Pay Cut
“In a deal announced Monday, the orchestra’s board and union musicians ratified [a two-year contract extension] outlining work rules and compensation cuts during a pandemic that has taken a financial toll, nixing live audiences through at least the fall. If, after a year, the whole orchestra returns to performing for full audiences, those pay cuts would be reversed.” – The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Judge Tosses Out Suit Against New York City Ballet Over Sexting Scandal
In 2018, after now-former City Ballet principal Chase Finlay sent nude images of his ex-girlfriend, Alexandra Waterbury, to two of his colleagues, Waterbury sued all three men as well as the company and its ballet school, where she had previously been a student. The judge on the case has now dismissed all claims against the company, the school, and the other two dancers as well as six of Waterbury’s seven claims against Finlay, allowing to proceed only the charge that Finlay violated “a city administrative code prohibiting unlawful disclosure of an intimate image.” – The New York Times
Is Putin’s Plan To Build Cultural Centers All Over Russia About To Fall Apart?
“Russian president Vladimir Putin’s 120bn ruble ($1.6bn) project to build a string of regional cultural centres with branches of leading federal museums and theatres has come under fire after … two dozen former staff members of the National Cultural Heritage Foundation, which is building the centres with funding from Russian state oil and gas profits, said that 120 contracts had been terminated in June with no notice, no severance pay and four months of salary arrears.” – The Art Newspaper