“Who gets to decide how cultural districts – areas of a city with a concentration of cultural production and consumption – are designed and run? How do you ensure the right voices are heard: artists and cultural organisations, citizens and civil society groups, property developers and corporates, and urban planners and authorities? Whose interests should districts seek to serve, for what purpose, and how is the appropriate balance of power maintained?” Global Cultural Districts Network director Beatrice Pembroke offers some ideas.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Filmmaker Todd Solondz Brings His Jet-Black Humor To The Stage
As A.O. Scott once noted of the man behind Welcome to the Dollhouse and Wiener-Dog, “We don’t turn to Mr. Solondz for warm affirmations of human decency.” Elisabeth Vincentelli talks to Solondz about his debut as a playwright and stage director, Emma and Max.
Teens Are Using Dance To Protest School Shootings
“Tackling social justice causes has typically been the territory of mature dance artists and brainy college students. Not anymore. This year, teenage dancers throughout the country have started getting involved to highlight an issue that directly affects them in the worst way possible: gun violence. And they’re doing it through dance.” Jennifer Stahl presents some examples.
With The Merger Of PRI And PRX, What’s Coming Next?
“Behind the scenes, executives are reviewing departments and evaluating staffers’ expertise to determine ‘the most efficient merger’ and to ‘match people to the right roles based on our priorities,’ said Kerri Hoffman, the former PRX CEO who holds the same position in the new entity. … The merger, announced last month, will also bring a combined board, free services for stations, and new experiments with PRI’s The World, the network’s flagship newsmagazine.”
Can You Mix Bach And Community Engagement? Yo-Yo Ma Can
“Over the next two years, he will visit 36 cities — winking at the fact that each of the six [Bach cello] suites has six sections — on six continents. In each city, he will pair a performance of the full cycle … with what he’s calling a ‘day of action’ that brings Bach into the community. It’s a small and glancing, but also deeply felt, attempt to suggest that this music, with its objectivity and empathy, its breathless energy and delicate grace, could, if heard closely by enough people, change the world.”
How A Pioneering Woman In Silicon Valley Became A Classical Music Philanthropist
“The Chamber Music Society (CMS) of Lincoln Center recently received a $5 million gift from Ann S. Bowers of Palo Alto, earmarked for its CMS Two residency program, which develops the next generation of young musicians. … Bowers’ gift is the largest individual gift in the society’s 48-year history. If that wasn’t newsworthy enough, consider the source of the gift. Bowers has the distinction of being the first woman to hold a vice president title in Silicon Valley while working for Apple. In a giving space where tech donors remain less than enthusiastic about the arts, Bowers’ gift is a notable outlier — and an encouraging one.”
Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Budget-Cutting Pays Off
“The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, which two years ago had to cut costs after reporting a $200,000 operating deficit, posted its second consecutive year with a surplus, … thanks in part to cutting more than $500,000 in expenses compared with the previous season. The company also reported less revenue, taking in $268,689 less than the 2016-17 season, thanks to a shortened touring schedule.”
Art Dealer Sentenced To 18 Months In Prison For Fraud
“Ezra Chowaiki, who was the face of Chowaiki & Co. Fine Art Ltd. on Park Avenue before its bankruptcy last year, … ripped off at least a half dozen art dealers with sham transactions in which some victims were led to believe they were buying stakes in fine art earmarked for quick resale. Other victims left works at his gallery on consignment and never got them back.”
Pussy Riot’s Pyotr Verzilov Released From Berlin Hospital After Suspected Poisoning
Verzilov, who took part in the protest at the World Cup final and runs an independent news website in Russia, was rushed to the hospital on Sept. 11 after losing his ability to see, speak, and walk and was later airlifted to Berlin for specialized treatment. Doctors says there are now no traces of toxins in his system but that poisoning is the most likely explanation for his illness; Verzilov believes he was poisoned by the GRU (military intelligence agency).
21 Years After Fire Nearly Destroyed It, Turin’s Chapel Of The Shroud Reopens
“A masterpiece of Baroque architecture, designed by the mathematician priest Guarino Guarini, it was commissioned in 1668 by the Savoy ducal family … The origin of the fire that raged throughout the night of 11 April 1997 remains a mystery. It burned especially fiercely because the chapel, which had just been restored, was still full of wooden scaffolding.”