Just as some of the Boomers and Gen-Xers first encountered opera on Tom and Jerry, and just as some Millennials first found memorized U.S. presidents or learned the nations of the world from Animaniacs, younger generations have Arthur, and that’s why it was important for Rep. John Lewis, civil rights icon, to appear on the animated show. “Arthur decides to organize a cafeteria sit-in to force the school to hire an assistant for Mrs. MacGrady, and Lewis joins in the demonstration.” Of course he did. – Los Angeles Times
Author: ArtsJournal2
Why Did Much Of Human Communication Move From Gestures To Oral Language?
Hands convey meaning, and they have for eons, but they’re not our primary means of communicating to each other. “People gesture, but their gesture is clearly a secondary supplement. People also sign but, outside of deaf communities, they favour speech. So, if language did get its start in the hands, then at some later stage it decamped to the mouth. The vexing question is: why?” – Aeon
An Open Letter To Congress About The Arts
The argument to Congress: “We are over 675,000 small businesses and organizations in every town, city, and state, employing 5.1 million hard-working Americans who are now desperately struggling to stay above water. Our influence reaches across every sector, because the arts economy is a jobs multiplier. … If you lose us, we lose the economy. We need your help.” – American Theatre
A Volunteer Church Assistant At The Nantes Cathedral Has Admitted To Setting Last Week’s Fire
The volunteer’s lawyer: “He bitterly regrets his actions … My client is consumed with remorse,” after admitting he set three small fires that destroyed the organ and stained glass dating back to the 16th century.. – The Guardian (AFP)
Glenda Jackson On Life, Quarantine, Brexit, The Arts, And Everything
What does she think of how the British government is doing? What’s she doing during the pandemic? How will the arts recover? And so much more (including the fact that yes, of course she could play Queen Elizabeth II). – The Observer (UK)
The Director Of Philly’s Free Library Resigns Over Her Mistreatment Of Black Staff
This isn’t a new issue at the library, but protests and action finally got the staff some of what it’s been asking for for a very long time. “Workers have raised concerns about racial discrimination in the library system for years. But their efforts gained heightened visibility in late June after they formed a group called the Concerned Black Workers of the Free Library of Philadelphia and sent an open letter to management, saying they face discrimination on a regular basis, are paid less than white colleagues, and were being asked to return to work without a plan to keep them safe from the coronavirus.” – Philadelphia Inquirer
Can We Have Class Outside?
No, seriously: Can we? Landscape architects say yes. – Fast Company
Small Music Venues In Britain Are Getting A Tiny Influx Of Survival Cash
The BBC isn’t mincing words about the money: “The amount available for grassroots music, worth 1/700th of the total relief package, will go to venues at ‘severe risk of insolvency’ and can be spent on ongoing costs like rent, utilities, maintenance contracts and other bills.” – BBC
Jane Austen’s Politics Of Walking
Since quarantine, a lot of us have been doing a lot more walking in our neighborhoods or wherever we can find to go outside without a bunch of people nearby. Austen would understand. “A special awareness flows through a body as it propels itself through the world—the motion, whatever form it takes, is habitual and characteristic for us as we move, but in a way that seems at the same time to make us more able to notice a bug on the sidewalk, the hat of someone approaching. Walking, we draw ourselves and our world together.” – LitHub
San Francisco Art Institute Can Eke Out At Least One More Year
The school said in March that it was likely to close, but after more than $4 million in donations, the 149-year-old institution says it can open in the fall for one more full year. But it will need to raise money, specifically from the sale of art by faculty and alumni, to keep afloat after years of declining enrollment. – Hyperallergic