“Although psychologists have long recognized the benefits of art therapy, … few American museums have devoted resources toward creating programs. But the demands of a grief-stricken public are now compelling cultural institutions around the country to create trauma-aware initiatives that put their art collections and educators at the forefront of a mental health crisis created by the pandemic and the worldwide protests over police brutality and racism after George Floyd’s killing.” – The New York Times
Blog
Vera Lynn, Britain’s Singing Sweetheart Of World War II, Dead At 103
“At the start of the second world war, Vera Lynn … was an up-and-coming dance band singer. By 1945” — thanks to her hits “We’ll Meet Again” and “The White Cliffs of Dover” — “this working-class young woman had become a symbol of the British wartime spirit, with a status comparable to that of the patrician prime minister, Winston Churchill. After the war, her friend Harry Secombe liked to joke that ‘Churchill didn’t beat the Nazis. Vera sang them to death.'” – The Guardian
Cash-Strapped British Air To Sell Off Its Art Collection
The airline is known for its collection of at least 1,500 pieces that includes esteemed works by artists such as Richard Deacon, Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, Callum Innes, Anish Kapoor, Chris Ofili, and Fiona Rae. – Artnet
What Should Be Done With Toppled Statues?
As statues fall around the world in symbolic revolt against the histories of slavery and colonialism, city and town leaders, museum officials and historians faced with these toppled monuments are asking, Now what? Should they be cleaned up and moved into the safety of a museum? Should their scars be kept or cleaned off? Or should we make new artworks out of them? – The New York Times
A Conservative Reckoning In Book Publishing?
Publishing such authors was once uncontroversial. The conservative publishing industrial complex has been a mainstay ever since Allen Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind topped the bestseller lists. Free speech has always been a slippery concept in book publishing. At times it is presented as a badge of honor—we stand by Salman Rushdie!—but mostly, it is an excuse to publish something that is profitable but otherwise valueless. Beleaguered publishers have understandably cast themselves as slaves to the marketplace: They publish whatever it is people want to buy. – The New Republic
Rebuilding An Indigenous Dance Culture Post-Soviet
This is part of the traditional dance of the Mari, the region’s indigenous nation. Its sudden intrusion into an otherwise classical production is no coincidence. It is part of an experiment that seeks to tackle the some of the most crucial challenges facing the post-Soviet provincial stage: how to use Soviet traditions to create art for a new Russia, while still standing on par with global artistic developments. – Calvert Journal
The Socially-Distanced Orchestra – What’s The Repertoire?
Schott/EAM, a publisher of contemporary composers, recently posted an inspiring list of works from its catalog appropriate for social distancing. Universal Edition put out an intriguing selection of opera and symphonic reductions. In a livestreamed panel discussion on Thursday, several innovative chamber orchestras will share repertory ideas. – The New York Times
‘Dracula’ Wasn’t Inspired By Transylvania — It Was Inspired By Ireland
The town of Sligo, specifically, and the dire cholera outbreak there in 1832. Dracula author Bram Stoker’s mother lived through that epidemic, and there’s evidence, circumstantial but convincing, that it was her memories of the pestilence on which Stoker built the original vampire novel; Transylvania, which the author never visited, was simply a stand-in location. – Atlas Obscura
Drillosophy: Using Drill Music To Teach Philosophy, And A Million Young People Sign On
“Young people who break the rules, who don’t want to conform, are natural social scientists. They’re natural philosophers, questioning what’s around them. You might not be channelling that in the right way right now – but I bet you’ve got the type of mind that we can talk to.” – BBC
Martha Graham’s Lost Spanish Civil War Solo, Reimagined Twice
The choreographer created Immediate Tragedy in 1937 as Franco’s Fascist campaign raged on. Before the COVID-19 shutdown, the Martha Graham Dance Company had been working on a reconstruction of the piece, using photos, a written description by José Limón and other archival material. But once the studio was closed and the dancers were quarantined, company artistic director Janet Eilber decided to reconceive the re-creation for multiple dancers working remotely. Gia Kourlas finds out how she and the company did it. – The New York Times