“I find the field to be rather bad at evaluating the quality and usability of research. Often desperate for another advocacy hook, arts leaders at all levels have historically misused research results and, by doing so, have made themselves targets of criticism by those who know better.” – Barry’s Blog
Blog
Emmys Follow Oscars – No Host For This Year’s Awards
How is the decision going down with people who’ve hosted awards shows in the past? Pretty well, apparently. – New York Magazine
Why Haven’t Museums Embraced Street Art More?
“The exponential expansion of the culture sector rests entirely on a quite narrow demographic of white, middle class, educated staff and visitors who have signed a social contract on what and who constitutes value in the field of visual art. Until there’s radical change in the makeup of institutional bureaucracies and boards, that’s unlikely to change.” – Artnet
The Arts World Still Isn’t Good At Making Accessible Spaces For Art
“In 2019, inclusive spaces that are comprised of voices from the neurodiverse and disabled community are still extremely rare. Despite the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 29 years ago, neurodiverse and disabled communities continue to face collective discrimination from failures to accommodate in access, transportation, employment, education, and many other arenas. Unfortunately, the art world is no exception.” – Hyperallergic
How, And Why, ‘What The Constitution Means To Me’ Works
“In the play’s first few moments — its preamble, really — [Heidi] Schreck lays out the elements for its perfect union of form and function: direct address, displayed enactment, meta-theatrical distancing, contemporary commentary, droll humor, and a disarmingly cheery demeanor that is both absolutely genuine and deployed for maximum comedic and critical effect.” Alisa Solomon examines each of those elements and how they fit together. – The Nation
Benefits (Yet Again)
It’s been two years since I posted my effort at categorizing the benefits of the arts. The subject is an urgent one because of both the social and political pressures to justify funding and our need to be able to articulate the inherent value of the arts to a disbelieving (or at least bemused) public. So, again, here goes. – Doug Borwick
Library Of Congress Puts Out A Call For Help Transcribing Suffragist Stories
Nearly 16,000 pages of letters, speeches, newspaper articles and other suffragist documents are now available on By the People, a crowdsourcing platform launched by the library in 2018. The project seeks to make the library’s collections fully word searchable and easier to read, for both scholars and lay historians alike. – Smithsonian
Using Theatre Games To Teach Police Officers And Civilians To Communicate With Each Other
Brooklyn director Terry Greiss worked with the NYPD to develop a program called To Serve, to Protect, and to Understand, which brings officers and civilians together with meals and acting games and ultimately gets them to tell and act out each other’s stories. In New Jersey, a similar program called Walking the Beat involves police with high school students. – American Theatre
Dance-As-Job-Creator
In Nigeria, 65 percent of the population is under the age of 18. Unemployment is endemic. One community organization created a jobs program through dance. “At the end of the day, dance is a business.” – BBC
‘Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark,’ Beloved By Two Generations Of Kids (And Hated By Their Parents)
Laura Miller: “For many kids, reading the Scary Stories books represented a first tentative step toward growing up and into independence. … Unlike, say, a Playboy magazine, they weren’t absolutely forbidden. But one glance at Gammell’s hollow-eyed ghouls, shrieking skeletal brides, and gibbering specters told any kid that here was something that danced right on the edge of taboo. … To claim your right to deliberately scare yourself (even if it gives you nightmares) is to make a bid for self-determination.” – Slate