Now that the CMA’s $320 million renovation and expansion is broken in, director William Griswold – having already said that he wants to boost attendance to one million annually – has a strategic plan to acquire $1 billion worth of art and increase the endowment by two-thirds, to $1.25 billion.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Play About Lenny Bruce Gets Cancelled After Anti-Racism Protests; Backlash Follows
“Half a century after Bruce’s death, the social satirist and free-speech champion is a character in a drama unfolding at Brandeis University, where theater and arts faculty decided to postpone the planned fall staging of a script by a distinguished graduate, playwright Michael Weller, after some students and alumni complained the work vilified its black characters and the Black Lives Matter social movement. Weller then withdrew the work, entitled Buyer Beware, to premier the play with professional actors ‘elsewhere,’ according to a Brandeis spokesman.
In The Age Of Trump, Should The Arts Be Refuge Or Resistance? (Why Not Both?)
Peter Dobrin: “The good news is our Facebook news feeds have made it nearly impossible to ignore injustice. The bad news is injustice is inexhaustible, and we are not. So turning it off and looking for escape in the theater, gallery, library reading room, or concert hall has greater appeal than ever. The best news of all, though, is that sitting in the presence of art is both escape and an act of confrontation with the barbarians, however you might define them.”
Philanthropist Joan Tisch, 90
“[Her] causes ranged from people with AIDS to the Museum of Modern Art and the 92nd Street Y” – not to mention the school of the arts at NYU and the Central Park Zoo.
GOP Tax Plan Could Cause A Big Problem For Art Museums
Eliminating the estate tax could mean fewer gifts of art.
21st Century Fox Is Trying To Sell Most Of Itself To Disney
“The talks have taken place over the last few weeks and there is no certainty they will lead to a deal. The two sides are not currently talking at this very moment, but given the on again, off again nature of the talks, they could be revisited.”
Disney Blacklists L.A. Times, So Journalists Start Boycott Of Disney
“The studio last week banned the LA Times from access to its screenings and talent, citing “biased and inaccurate” coverage, only to trigger a boycott on Monday by several media outlets in solidarity with the LA Times. … The company behind the so-called ‘happiest place on earth’, Disneyland, now finds itself accused of bullying and press censorship.”
For Edinburgh’s Planned New Concert Hall, They Picked The Acoustician Before *Anyone* Else
“And this is key: [Yasuhisa] Toyota” – known for Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Hamburg’s new Elbphilharmonie – “played a leading role in choosing the team that will make it possible, as [former Edinburgh International Festival director Jonathan] Mills puts it, ‘to build from the inside out rather than the outside in.'”
Director Who Resigned From Amsterdam Museum Insists She Did Nothing Wrong
“When Beatrix Ruf abruptly stepped down as artistic director of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam three weeks ago under a cloud of suspicion, the art world reacted with shock and disappointment. … In her first interview since resigning, Ms. Ruf told The New York Times by email that the private consulting work at the center of the accusations against her had been approved by the museum’s board, and that claims of a conflict of interest were baseless.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 11.06.17
Take A Look At Folk Art Masterpiece(s) in We The People
It is John James Trumbull Arnold’s Portrait of Mary Mattingly (1850). She is, as many people have told me since Saturday, after reading my piece, just adorably cute and well as beautifully executed. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-11-06
Ballet Up Close and Personal
New York Theatre Ballet’s Legends and Visionaries series at Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2017-11-06
Comedian Dick Gregory and The Wallis in Beverly Hills
When I moved back to Los Angeles about a year ago, I was not surprised that the cultural life was rich and wide-ranging. But one spot surprised me: The Wallis Annenberg in Beverly Hills. … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2017-11-06
Lost Music
My head is always whirling with music. For a long time, I assumed that was true for everyone, but it’s really one of those phenomena we can describe to one another without ever being sure we are experiencing the same thing. … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2017-11-06