“A new study [commissioned by Arts Council England] has quantified just how much arts offerings influence people’s choice to relocate or stay in a particular city. And as it turns out, the presence of arts and culture overwhelmingly affected respondents’ sense of well-being and satisfaction, their attachment to a place, and their sense of community.” – Artnet
Blog
Louvre May Return Parthenon Frieze To Greece, At Least Temporarily
A proposal discussed by the French President Macron and Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis would see a “temporary exchange,” timed for the 2021 bicentennial celebration of Greek independence, of a 5th-century BC frieze removed from the Parthenon in the 1780s for a collection of ancient bronze artifacts. – The Art Newspaper
A First: Edinburgh Fringe Ticket Sales Pass Three Million Mark
“A record overall tally of 3,012,490 for Fringe events was announced as the international and book festivals also reported a surge in business at the box office. The combined audience for cultural events in the city has topped four million when the 217,000 attendees at the Tattoo and the 290,000 estimated attendees at visual art festival shows and exhibitions are taken into account.” – The Scotsman
Banksy’s Famous Brexit Mural Is Painted Over
“The side of a building that had borne a famous painting of a worker chipping away one of the golden stars from the European Union’s flag — symbolizing Britain’s impending exit from the bloc — was covered in white paint Monday. Scaffolding had been erected over the weekend at the building in the southern British port city of Dover.” – Washington Post (AP)
Tech Giants Are Hiring Philosophers. Will It Help?
“Tech companies seem to be recognizing that they need advice on the unprecedented power they’ve amassed and on many challenging moral issues around privacy, facial recognition, AI, and beyond. Philosophers, who contemplate these topics for a living, should welcome any interest in their work from organizations that are set on shaping humanity’s future. But they need to be wary of the potential conflicts of interest that can arise from these collaborations, and of being used as virtue-signaling pawns for ethically problematic companies.” – Wired
Placido Domingo Performs To Standing Ovations, Cheers
“In Domingo’s first performance since sexual harassment allegations surfaced against him, the crowd cheered every one of his big moments. He had to stop the standing ovation at the final curtain call, not wanting to take away love from the other performers.” – Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles’ LACMA Is Kind Of A Ghost Town Now
California is famous for its ghost towns, but you don’t expect to find one where L.A.’s major art museum once was. Or pay up to 25 bucks to see it. – Los Angeles Times
The Comic Books About Great Artists (A Good Idea?)
“There’s something inherently odd about using one artistic tradition to depict the life (to say nothing of reproducing the work) of an artist from a different tradition. And yet, not only are a growing number of cartoonists creating books about famous artists, but their approaches are dizzyingly varied. When is a comic book a fitting tribute to an icon?” – NPR
Why I Teach High School English
“Teaching is not for everyone, and that is a good thing. We need great teachers. We need people with patience and passion. High school teaching is entertainment. Erudition is worthless if you can’t communicate with kids. And kids—like everyone else—like to be entertained. To do this job right, you need to put on one hell of a show, back to back, for different audiences. That show needs to be genuine—and it needs to have substance.” – LitHub
Watching The Chief Lighting Technician Of ‘Hamilton’ At Work
“Brian (Rizzo) Frankel, … a veteran of both the Air Force and Broadway — he’s been in the business since 1980 — is long-haired and goateed, with necklaces, bracelets, a wildly patterned shirt, and a genial, easygoing manner. Since 1994, hes worked at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, on West Forty-sixth Street, Hamilton’s home for the past four years. He’s in charge of the show’s spotlight, and also all of its electricity.” (video) – The New Yorker