“The chairman of the ballet’s board of trustees, David Hoffman, said he was sorry the company was losing them but added: ‘I wish them well. People should take opportunities when they get them.'”
Author: ArtsJournal2
Jane Jacobs Versus The Point Zero One Percent
And, of course, versus Robert Moses. A new documentary shows how “through a combination of grassroots activism, fundraising and persistence, Jacobs blocked Moses and successive city overlords from running Fifth Avenue through the historic Washington Square, tearing down much of SoHo and Little Italy to make way for a billion-dollar expressway, and building a six-lane highway up Manhattan’s west side.”
So You Want A Streaming Service That’s Filled With The Light Of Christ (And Jeff Foxworthy)? Pure Flix May Be Your Jam
Whoa. “PureFlix.com offers bingeable programming like ‘The American Bible Challenge,’ a game show hosted by Jeff Foxworthy; ‘Family Affair,’ a sitcom starring Brian Keith that ran from 1966 to 1971; ‘The Encounter,’ a Pure Flix original scripted series about people who are visited by Jesus; and stand-up comedy from Sinbad and Louie Anderson. Next up is ‘Hilton Head Island,’ a soap opera starring Antonio Sabato Jr.”
Remember The Ghost Light Project? What Have Theatres Actually Done?
Theatre artist Daniel Park wondered, so he asked: “As a queer person of color and member of Philadelphia’s theater community, I’m invested in and directly affected by your participation in the Ghostlight Project. The movement called itself a chance for organizations to ‘make, or renew, a pledge to stand for and protect the values of inclusion, participation, and compassion for everyone.’ On the movement’s website, it listed a large number of potential, actionable, ongoing actions for participants to take after the event on 1/19. I’m writing to find out what movements and plans your organization has begun since 1/19/17 to put this commitment into effect, outside of producing art.”
A Director Prepares To Step Down, After 37 Years, From A Dance Institution
Deborah Riley, longtime co-director of Dance Place, steps down in August, and finding the next director is hectic. “‘It’s been my family,’ she acknowledges. But she won’t miss the constant worries that go along with managing morning-to-night classes for adults and children, after-school programs, summer camps, visiting artists and performances nearly every weekend — and always, always, the funding concerns.”
Taking The Art Outside
There’s a “growing global trend among arts institutions that are trying to make an artistic statement while engaging visitors, both returning and new.” And that’s just the authorized projections.
The UK’s Music Industry Is Bracing For Brexit
It is, as a matter of fact, already affected: The pound has fallen, and Apple Music is considering raising the cost of a subscription. Then there’s the little issue of touring, and who’s allowed where.
The Path To Success For A Ballet Company That Has Lasted 20 Years On The Border Between Iowa And Illinois
So this is how it started, two decades ago: “Joedy Cook was a 40-something stay-at-home mother in 1996 when she decided the Quad-Cities needed a professional ballet company. She went to the board of directors of the Cassandra Manning Ballet Theatre, where she volunteered at the time, and got the go-ahead. Ballet Quad-Cities kicked off with one paid dancer and a $25,000 budget.”
Magdalena Abakanowicz, Sculptor Who Wrestled with the Trauma of WWII, Has Died at 86
The Polish sculptor “came up with a visual language that was unlike that of her European colleagues, many of whom were inclined toward the Pop-inflected use of commercial imagery and, later, conceptually rigorous objects. Her formalist sculptures relied on rumpled, crumpled, and distressed surfaces that became metaphors for the effects of violence on human skin and land turned up by bombings and battles.”
Two Big Architecture Schools, Two Outgoing Deans, One (Neutral Territory) Meeting
Christopher Hawthorne interviews UCLA’s Hitoshi Abe and USC’s Qingyun Ma. One of the amusing exchanges:
“Dean Ma, you’ve been at USC during the presidency of C.L. Max Nikias, who’s been ambitious about raising money and building new facilities in a very consistent and conservative architectural style, which he calls Collegiate Gothic.
“Ma: This is where I made the decision not to bring my own personal design agenda to the job.”