Scott Cantrell: “Thirty years later, week after week, I still marvel at the acoustics of my favorite modern symphony hall — maybe my favorite of any age. The sound seems a physical, tactile presence in the room; one senses it moving around, expanding and exploring and inhabiting spaces both seen and unseen.” – Dallas News
Blog
LA’s Bunker Hill Is Now Home To Cultural Icons. But What About The Neighborhood That Used To Be There?
What does it mean to “revitalize” something that we had a hand in extinguishing? Bunker Hill was a vital neighborhood that was dismembered by city, state and federal policies, then reassembled into corporate superblocks by private developers. – Los Angeles Times
How I Found An Old Lady’s Diary In The Trash And Turned It Into A Hit Novel
Kathryn Scanlan found the journal in a bin of unsold items at an estate sale; it covered the years 1968-72. “Over the years, Scanlan ‘edited, arranged, and rearranged’ the contents, the product of which is Aug 9 — Fog. [In this essay,] Scanlan traces the discovery of the diary through the crafting of the finished, fictional volume.” – Publishers Weekly
Bunch Crunch: How Will Smithsonian Institution’s Secretary-Elect Navigate DC’s Political Minefields?
The elephants-not-in-the-room at this morning’s press conference celebrating the appointment of Lonnie Bunch III as the Smithsonian Institution’s new secretary were the man currently occupying the Oval Office and conservative members of Congress — politicians not known to be sympathetic towards federal cultural support in general and politically sensitive exhibitions in particular. – Lee Rosenbaum
Why Do Artists Get Exploited? (Hey – Work For Free!) New Study Explores The Causes
On one hand, passion for one’s work can lead to greater satisfaction. But the researchers’ new paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, “Understanding Contemporary Forms of Exploitation: Attributions of Passion Serve to Legitimize the Poor Treatment of Workers,” lays bare the unique ways passionate workers can be taken advantage of in a culture that encourages us to find our life’s calling at work. – KQED
How ‘The View’ Became A Genuinely Important Political Television Show
When Barbara Walters launched the show in 1997, it was seen as mildly scandalous that someone with her journalistic prestige would go to daytime TV; when President Barack Obama appeared on it in 2010, there were sniffs about the “dignity [of] the presidency.” Now ambitious politicians see The View as a must-do. Why? Because “it offers the tantalizing promise of reaching the unconverted.” – The New York Times Magazine
Lutz Bacher, Secretive And Contrarian Conceptual Artist, Dead At 75
She began her career in the Bay Area in the 1970s; adopting the masculine pseudonym was one of her first Conceptual works. She never revealed any personal info and almost never explained her art. “She worked primarily with everyday found materials — objects (snapshots, baseballs), words (interviews, men’s room graffiti), sounds (film clips, rock songs) — from which she drew resonance by editing them, combining them or uncovering half-hidden details.” – The New York Times
Founding Director Of The National Museum of African American History Is Named New Smithsonian Secretary
Considered a giant in the museum field, Lonnie Bunch, 66, becomes the 14th secretary of the quasi-federal institution, responsible for a $1.5 billion annual budget that supports 19 museums, nine research centers and the National Zoo. He is the first Smithsonian director to ascend to the secretary’s post in 74 years and starts his new job June 16. – Washington Post
Can A Big Orchestra Learn From A California Orchestra A Fraction Of Its Size?
The tiny California Symphony is 1/25th the size of the Pittsburgh Symphony. But the smaller orchestra has seen the size of its audience and its support explode in the past few years. The growth is based on research and data. So what could an orchestra like the Pittsburgh Symphony learn from the success? – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Circulation Rates At College Libraries Are Plummeting – Why Aren’t Students Checking Out Books?
Figures indicate that the number of books checked out at college libraries accross the U.S. has fallen by as much as two-thirds over the last decade, even as use of the library buildings has increased. Northeastern University Dean of Libraries Dan Cohen explains what’s going on. – The Atlantic