“[He] was one of a group of artists who … blew past utilitarian definitions of what clay was good for and made experimental, often very large works that ended up in galleries and museums rather than craft shows. A dramatic example was Blue Wall, an abstract clay wall piece 21 feet by 7 feet, created in 1959. – The New York Times
Blog
The Atlas Of Endangered Alphabets
The founders are quick to point out that the word alphabet is used as a shorthand for many different writing systems. Abjads, abugidas, syllabaries, and pictographic systems are also included. Through the Atlas, it’s possible to take a world tour and understand more about how these systems developed. – MyModernMet
Ron Hutchinson, Who Restored Sound To Early Films, Dead At 67
“[This] ebullient film buff … led a campaign to restore scores of largely forgotten short sound films from the 1920s and ’30s that featured comedians, vaudevillians, opera singers and musical acts. … Those early shorts used Vitaphone, a Bell Labs technology, which synchronized the speeds of the film projector and a turntable that played 16-inch sound discs.” – The New York Times
Decade-Long Study: Students Who Study The Arts Get Better Overall Grades
“It found students who took an elective arts class in sixth, seventh, or eighth grade had significantly higher grade point averages (GPAs), and better scores on standardized reading and math tests, than their peers who were not exposed to the arts. This held true after the researchers took into account “all the ways that students who did and did not take the arts in middle school were initially different.” – Pacific Standard
Why We Keep Falling For Lying Memoirs
“While [Dan] Mallory’s story seems remarkable — a con man using a sob story to sashay his way to literary power — it’s actually extremely common. … The reason these frauds happen is because of the publishing industry’s and the audience’s hunger for authentic voices, particularly voices of suffering. Apologies to Barthes, but the author didn’t die; she became the text.” – The Outline
How Did The Shed Raise Nearly Half A Billion Dollars For A Building That Has Never Been Done Before?
The takeaway? Raising money in an arts philanthropy climate focused on issues like equity and access is not a zero-sum game. You can build a modern and expensive new building and roll out programming aligned with the pressing issues of the day. – Inside Philanthropy
What Language Do They Speak In The Balkans? The Birth, Life, And Death Of Serbo-Croatian
“Imagine a situation in which an American defendant hires a British lawyer for a trial in an American courtroom. The accused then demands that a British interpreter be found. British-American legal interpreters are hard to find, so the demand could delay the case for years, … despite the fact that, obviously, a British lawyer is perfectly capable of being understood in an American courtroom. This actually happens on a regular basis in the countries that once made up Yugoslavia.” – Atlas Obscura
Abridge Too Far — Is It Ever Okay To Perform An Opera Cut Down By Half Or More?
Taking as a jumping-off point an 80-minute Idomeneo in Pittsburgh last month, Jeremy Reynolds and several opera professionals discuss whether and when cutting an opera to half its length or less is a good way to serve 21st-century audiences. (“Never in Verdi, of course, no one’s that barbaric.”) – San Francisco Classical Voice
What You Get When You Cross A Dancer With An Acrobat
“In Non Solus, a dancer becomes an acrobat, and an acrobat becomes a dancer. Recirquel Company Budapest may be a circus company, but its meditative, evening-length production is no circus spectacle. It’s more like ballet in the air.” – The New York Times
How Social Media Got ‘Be More Chill’ To Broadway
“The origin story of Be More Chill is already one of musical theater legend. After a month-long run at the Two River Theater [in New Jersey], the creative team … thought the show’s lifespan had unjustly passed. About two years later, … fan art [began] popping up on Instagram. … By the spring of 2018, the album had been streamed over 100 million times.” – Dance Magazine