“For Roosevelt, it was not superfluous to the country’s most exigent needs. And in a move that remained decidedly controversial with his conservative congressional adversaries, he made the radical decision to enlarge and augment cultural provisions across the country.” – ARTnews
Blog
How Did Writers Survive The Great Depression? They Organized
Jason Boog recounts how his experience as a (non-)working writer during the Great Recession moved him to rediscover the story of the publishing industry’s first strike. – Literary Hub
No Matter What The Governor Says, Most Movie Theaters In Georgia Won’t Be Reopening Next Week
Gov. Brian Kemp has said that cinemas in the Peach State may begin welcoming customers again beginning April 27. People actually in the business of showing movies say there’s no way things can ramp up that fast: there are issues of reassembling furloughed staff, actually getting films to show, developing and maintaining safety and distancing protocols, and liability if customers start getting sick. – Variety
Another Side Effect Of COVID: People Are Having Trouble Reading
This is especially true at (now-online) universities, reports Emma Pettit, for students and professors alike. And as professors find themselves unable to focus on the reading they need to do for their research, they’re becoming more understanding of their students’ difficulties — and their requests to ditch the textbooks for the rest of the semester. – The Chronicle of Higher Education
More Regional, Less Global, Fewer Massive Fairs: The Art Market Post-COVID
Tim Schneider: “An art market justifiably paranoid about frequent international travel is an art market incentivized to fracture into regional and local interests. Short distances won’t just be advantageous on the other side of this mess because of convenience. They’ll also appeal because of the greater protection they afford. It’s the same calculus driving distributors in so many other industries to consider restructuring from largely global supply chains to ones centered closer to their actual end consumers.” – Artnet
New York City Ballet Announces A Virtual Spring Season
“Less than a month after canceling its spring season because of the coronavirus pandemic, New York City Ballet is back with a six-week slate of online programming. The company announced on Monday that it would broadcast full ballets and excerpts twice a week, from Tuesday through May 29, for free on its YouTube channel, Facebook page and website.” – The New York Times
Kenneth Gilbert, Harpsichordist And Scholar, Dead At 88
In addition to performing and recording a great deal of early keyboard repertoire, he prepared and published a new edition of Domenico Scarlatti’s 555 sonatas, became the first North American given a full professorship at the Paris Conservatoire, and taught many of the leading harpsichordists and early music conductors working today. – Gramophone
Uffizi Prepares For Onslaught Of Crowds
Museum director Eike Schmidt recalled that after the Arno River in Florence flooded in 1966 and shuttered the museum, the number of visitors to the Uffizi jumped from 1 million to 1.5 million in 1968. – Washington Post (AP)
Viro-Skeptics: Why Are Some Having Trouble Taking The Crisis Seriously?
It’s not entirely irrational behavior. And it can be explained. It’s the product of several longterm trends that encourage hyper-skepticism. – Good Company
The Cult Of Celebrity… In Perspective
As Guardian columnist Arwa Mahdawi recently noted, both capitalism and celebrity rely on the “lie of meritocracy:” that working hard will lead to ultimate success. The grips of COVID-19, with its fallout of the millions who have lost their jobs and the thousands who have lost their lives, has shined light on the tenuous nature of the meritocracy myth. Now that we know what essential work is, it seems the perfect time to reflect upon the not-so-essential work of celebrities. – The Conversation