When director Philippe Vergne sacked chief curator Helen Molesworth last week, he reportedly told a board member that Molesworth had been “undermining the museum”. “One avenue that has gone largely unexamined thus far in the conjecture over Molesworth’s alleged ‘undermining’ are statements that she herself made in public during her time at MOCA. In general, she has been critical of museums and institutions – but, particularly in the past year, she aimed considerable criticism directly at MOCA itself.” So Sarah Douglas does some examining.
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Being A Museum Guard In New York City Is Even Harder And More Poorly-Paid Than You Think
“Guards in New York City’s museums spend most of their shifts on their feet – usually four to eight hours at a time. They should also be able to carry as much as 25 pounds, trudge up and down flights of stairs several times during their shifts, and jump, bend, and run into action if a situation occurs. … These days, many guards must also learn to use complex digital technologies to observe hallways and crevices and communicate with other guards quickly.” And their pay is less than half of New York state’s median wage.
Comedian Howie Mandel Buys World’s Largest Comedy Festival
“Montreal’s Just For Laughs Group has been acquired by a group of investors led by ICM Partners and Howie Mandel. The acquisition covers the annual comedy festival held in July in Montreal and its offshoot events in Toronto, Vancouver and Sydney. The deal is said to be valued in the mid eight-figure range.”
Frank Avruch, Who Played Bozo The Clown, Dead At 89
“Avruch played Bozo the Clown [on the eponymous children’s television show] from 1959 to 1970, a clown character particularly popular in the U.S. in the 1960s because of widespread franchising in television. Avruch became the first nationally-syndicated Bozo.”
Censorship Or Good Inventory Management? UK’s Three Big Bookstore Chains Pull Racist Books And Hate Literature Off Their Websites
Hope Not Hate, Britain’s largest anti-racism organization, undertook an investigation and campaign calling attention to racist and anti-Semitic tracts, Holocaust denial books, bomb-making manuals and the like that are for sale on the websites of Waterstones, Foyles, and WH Smith (as well as Amazon). So the booksellers have begun removing those items from their sites.
Dutch Poets And Stonemasons Are Carving A Never-Ending Poem Into A City Street
“Called De Letters van Utrecht, the ‘social sculpture’ is constantly evolving and continues to expand every Saturday afternoon when one of 22 stone carvers from a local guild chisels a single letter into the stone. As the weeks, months, and years pass by, the poem evolves, continuing indefinitely so long as the city and community members support it.”
Daniel Hope Named New Century Chamber Orchestra Music Director
With the appointment, Hope, a virtuoso soloist who also directs other ensembles as concertmaster, becomes New Century’s fourth music director, following Stuart Canin (1992-99), Krista Bennion Feeney (1999-2006) and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg (2008-17.)
Top Posts From AJBlogs 03.21.18
Getting Picasso Right: You Think It’s Easy?
In London a few weeks back, I was fortunate to be there on the day of the press preview for Picasso 1932: Love, Fame, Tragedy at the Tate Modern. You might think. at first, that doing a Picasso show is easy, … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2018-03-21
Why Did the Attorney General Cave in Berkshire Museum Case? My Q&A with the Rockwells’ Lawyer
Those, like me, who were caught off-guard by the astonishing deal (now awaiting court validation) cut last month by the Berkshire Museum and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey feel justifiably blindsided by the AG’s about-face. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2018-03-21
Maija Kauhanen sings about Child Brides
As you might have noticed from my last posting, this past year’s WOMEX had some pretty powerful women performing. Among them was most certainly Finland’s Maija Kauhanen, whose day case was exceptionally compelling. … read more
AJBlog: OtherWorldly Published 2018-03-21
Kill The Optimist! Steven Pinker Argues Things Are Getting Better (Backlash Ensues)
Pinker is an evangelist for Enlightenment values, arguing that the philosophers of that era laid the groundwork for the scientific and social breakthroughs that have lifted millions out of poverty and created a healthier, wealthier world. At a time when it often feels like we’re backsliding, his argument has found a receptive audience.
Will Democracy Die When Newspapers Shutter?
Social media platforms make the sharing of information ubiquitous and nonstop, but where will that information come from in the first place when all the reporters have been let go? What will happen when the newspaper model — what the government-commissioned report published by Public Policy Forum called “the model of journalistic ‘boots on the ground’ backed up by a second platoon in the office upholding such hallowed standards as verification and balance” — no longer generates that content at all?