Category: AJBlogs

Attention Deficit Disorder: Our Walled-Garden Problem
As the digital world pummels us with more information and choice, many of us react by walling off the things we simply won’t pay attention to. It’s a survival strategy. … read more
AJBlog: diacritical/Douglas McLennan Published 2016-08-01

Evanescent Permanent Collections: Warhol Museum’s & Fisk University’s Stealth Deaccessions
Recent revelations of secret disposals of artworks held in public trust by a museum (the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh) and a university (Fisk in Nashville) suggest that the AAMD and the AAM need to offer periodic refresher courses on professional ethics regarding deaccessions. …read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-08-01

Die Kunst der Gadgets
A few weeks ago, I wrote about my Ten Wind Gadgets, a set of trios for every possible combination of flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon, all based on a single motif. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the question of why I would embark on such a project, … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2016-08-01

Just because: NBC Opera’s 1952 production of Billy Budd
A very rare kinescope of the NBC Opera telecast of scenes from Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd, originally telecast on October 19, 1952. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-08-01

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This Week In Audience, When Fans Feel They Own The Art Edition
This Week: Are artists now a weapon for developers?… When fans as creators believe they own the artists’ work… It’s getting tougher to figure out which music is popular… Bots increasingly compete with audiences for … read more
AJBlog: AJ Arts AudiencePublished 2016-07-31

East-West Mash-Up, Hokusai Meets Wright
Not many people know that Richard Wright, renowned for his 1940 novelNative Son, and his 1946 autobiographyBlack Boy, wrote thousands of haikus — about four thousand actually — all of them in France, … read more
AJBlog: Straight|UpPublished 2016-07-31

Dancing Alone and Together
Wendy Whelan, Brian Brooks, and Brooklyn Rider at Jacob’s Pillow, July 7-31   Brian Brooks and Wendy Whelan in Brooks’s Some of a Thousand Words. Photo: Hayim Heron “Adventuress” isn’t a word I’d use to … read more
AJBlog: DancebeatPublished 2016-07-30

 

August: Medium Finds Message
Tom Hull has a dense roundup of political thought surrounding the Republican hatefest, and continues to update with think pieces and canon fodder. Also, maintains an ongoing annual list. Light-bulb joke springs to life Iggy Jackson-Cohen … read more
AJBlog: blog rileyPublished 2016-07-30

 

Community of place
(CC) Tim Lumley via Flickr When I think about what community means to me, I return to the definition set forth by the organization Alternate ROOTS. ROOTS defines community as communities of place, tradition, and … read more
AJBlog: Field NotesPublished 2016-07-29

 

Deferring to Digerati: What Didn’t I Get About SFMOMA’s App?
Although I was expecting some pushback when I published my Wall Street Journal review of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s technological transformation, I’ve been taken aback at how my Twitter “Notifications” feed has been … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrlPublished 2016-07-29

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Community is natural. But we’re losing it.
We talk about community a lot. The word gets thrown around so much that it begins to lose its meaning. It begins to sound like just another empty word … like sustainability … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-28

Family
To me community means family. It means we’re in this together no matter the outcome. Community is unity, love, compassion. Community is dancing with your tribe just because your happy. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-28

A practice of commitment
I’ve been noticing a trend that many of my friends and colleagues will, after having children, attend church or participate other memberships and meetings so their developing family has … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-28

Community: A Poem
Community is beautifully imperfect. Community is acceptance, not tolerance. Community is the past, present, and future. Community is innovation, an open door. Community is a space where all voices are heard. Community is  … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-28

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Recent Listening In Brief: Zeitlin On Shorter
Denny Zeitlin, Solo Piano: Early Wayne (Sunnyside) Over the years, Zeitlin has made clear his affinity for Wayne Shorter’s compositions. In previous Sunnyside albums he explored … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-07-27

Community within
As a community artist, I operate with the philosophy that creativity is a pledge to embrace and value one’s own existence and self-reflection is a process for changing awareness and behavior. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-27

A misshapen Venn Diagram
Erin Salazar, is an artist, muralist, seamstress, public art curator and Creative Community Fellow. She shares what community means to her in this time lapse video: … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-27

Actively making a place better
I’d like to share these images of what Community means to me. These images were taken recently outside the Old Dutch Church in Kingston, New York.  The Reformed Protestant congregation hung 49 rainbow flags along … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-27

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The size of the arts sector is not a rationale for public funding of the arts sector
All sectors in the economy, if they are a sector at all, employ people. Not all sectors warrant public subsidy, which is only called for in the case where there are benefits to society beyond the activity as measured in the market. … read more
AJBlog: For What It’s Worth Published 2016-07-26

Diane Arbus, The Met and “The Envelope”
Maybe it was the heat, or the humidity. Maybe it was the artist – Diane Arbus, and the fact that diane arbus: in the beginning is focused on her early works, … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-07-26

How to write a press release
As a footnote to my posts on classical music publicists, and how they could do better, here’s a post I did in 2005 — wow, 11 years ago! —  about how to make press releases better. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2016-07-26

Twitter Swarm: My Storify on Reactions to My WSJ Review of SFMOMA’s New Tech
When I published today’s Wall Street Journal piece on the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s technological transformation – Golden Gate Gigabytes (this hardcopy headline is much catchier than the online one) – I knew from the heated tweets … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-07-26

Claude Williamson 1926-2016
Claude Williamson, a piano mainstay of jazz in California for seven decades, died on July 16 in Los Angeles. He had been in decline since he fell in his home in 2015 and broke … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-07-26

A Piece of Zen Music Called ‘Pond’
When I heard it for the first time, I didn’t know what to make of it. I thought of it as a demonstration of the trombonist’s virtuosity. Then I read the composers’ general description of the piece … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2016-07-26

On Community
Let it be known that my initial response to this prompt detailed the intertwining life stories of the colorful personalities who lived within my grandmother’s nursing home. In Prairie Home Companion style, I waxed poetic …read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-26

Community: A song
Torres Hodges, a musician and Creative Community Fellow describes what community means to him in this original song.  … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-26

It’s about passion
Growing up, I was part of many different communities. Among them were Girl Scouts, youth group, writing club, a small city just south of Akron and … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-26

Another word
Before forming the Wormfarm Institute, my partner Jay and I ran a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm. As newly rural, beginning farmers, our shareholders (the community) were all from Chicago, … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-26

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Does arts policy require quantification?
The NEA has posted a very interesting interview between their Sunil Iyengar and the critic Leon Wieseltier. It raises interesting questions about the role of measurement in arts policy, and so here is something of … read more
AJBlog: For What It’s Worth Published 2016-07-25

non-majority rules
We live in a democratic culture – in so many aspects of our day-to-day existence, there is at least the perception that the majority should rule.  This goes for our elections, it goes for artistic trends, it goes for interpersonal interactions – at least in theory. … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2016-07-25

Willful Wilsey Wilts: Regime Change at Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
The long overdue wresting of control over the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco from a bejeweled socialite and consummate fundraiser, Diane “Dede” Wilsey, is finally occurring under the museums’ new director, Max Hollein, who … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-07-25

Monday Recommendation: DeJohnette, Coltrane, Garrison
Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane, Matthew Garrison, In Movement (ECM). Drummer DeJohnette leads John Coltrane’s saxophonist son Ravi and Jimmy Garrison’s bassist son Matthew in an album that has majesty, reflection, calm and flashes of fire. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-07-25

Community: An etymology of sorts
Being happily nerdy, I immediately went for the etymology of the word community. I got comuner, “to make common, share”; comun, “to talk intimately”; and commun, “free city, group of citizens.”  Also, … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-25

Community is:
Awkward beers shared at a high school reunion, the Reddit thread I visit to share research about Game of Thrones episodes, an annual yelling match whose origins no one remembers each Thanksgiving, … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-25

Complexities that make us whole
Community, as a singular plurality, encompasses the people who, and places that I endear and embrace as an extension of my identity. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-25

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This Week In Audience, Virtual Versus Real Edition
This Week: Is it possible that the virtual museum experience could beat the in-person visit?… After ten years, mixed verdict on whether HD streaming builds arts audiences… We need a new definition of selling … read more
AJBlog: AJ Arts AudiencePublished 2016-07-24

Rugged Norwegian Art Show by War Vets
While traveling recently in Norway, I came across “Camouflage,” a group exhibition by military veterans of wars and other armed conflicts that doubled as a form of therapy. It was presented in Bergen, Norway’s … read more
AJBlog: Straight|UpPublished 2016-07-24

Re-thinking a life well-lived — in two minutes
Earlier this year, I received a letter from Siena Heights University. When I opened it up you could have pushed me over with a feather. I had been nominated to receive a Doctorate of Humane … read more
AJBlog: Creative DestructionPublished 2016-07-23

Speaking of Bill Mays…
After posting (see the previous exhibit) last night’s piece about Bill Mays and our impending visit to Sweden, it occurred to me that I failed to include an example of Mr. Mays’s prowess as a … read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2016-07-22

What’s in your box?
(CC) Christopher Paquette via Flickr If you’re part of a CSA, or community supported agriculture program, you receive a box of fresh fruits and vegetables from a local farm every week. What would you say to … read more
AJBlog: Field NotesPublished 2016-07-22

Why I’m talking about publicists (second take)
I trust this will be my last post about classical music publicity, at least for a while. Well, wait…I’m tempted to reprint one from long ago, about how to write press releases.  But let that be. …read more
AJBlog: SandowPublished 2016-07-22

 

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You need a community, not a network
What’s the difference between a community and a network? Networks focus on getting, communities focus on giving. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-21

Rural communities and the artists strengthening them
“Once a rural area hosts a population of artists, they can help the region attract non-artist residents who value the arts as an amenity, and they can engage all residents in relationship-building through cultural activity.” … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-21

Community on Community
It seems we’ve been here before. Yes, it is true, we’ve asked this question to Creative Community Fellows and many others throughout the years. This conversation is not new, but it is one that … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-21

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“The Keeper” Sleeper: The New Museum Displays the Harrowing “Sketchbook from Auschwitz”
“Start on the fourth floor, but make sure not to miss the second floor,” New Museum director Lisa Phillips advised me when I arrived with only an hour to spare … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-07-20

Chicago’s free summer music cornucopia – Deutsch, PoKempner photos
It’s hard to find a comparable wealth of beautiful sounds available to all comers, at least west of the Hudson River … In how many American cities does Sunny Adé’s audience, unbidden, sing along in Yoruba? … read more
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz Published 2016-07-20

Near, Far, Wherever you are
Do communities have to be tied to geography? Locality? Your Youtube Cat Video Appreciation community might have something to say about that. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-20

Community development in the age of social media
Today, more than ever before, artists, individuals, and organizations are using social media to make connections and spark conversations with each other. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-20

The Art of Attachment
The Knight Foundation recently shared the results of a 3 year study, “Soul of the Community” (SOTC) looking at what factors played a role in ‘attaching’ residents to their communities. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-20

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Is This A Portrait If I Say So? A Gutsy Exhibition
But enough about the Met, for the time being at least. Let’s let a little dust settle there. Can we talk about art for a day? Specifically, … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-07-19

Community Engagement Training? – Request for Assistance
I have also observed that significant numbers of young professionals and pre-professionals in the arts are individually passionate about making the arts meaningful to their communities. They sometimes feel frustrated by the nature of their organization’s commitment to community engagement. … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2016-07-19

Why I’m talking about publicists (first take)
What’s in this post: Classical music press releases have to bring the music vividly alive, because they’re going to be read — crucially read — by many people who aren’t classical music specialists. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2016-07-19

From Chicago to Massachusetts
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago appears at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2016-07-19

Why the arts?
How do the arts fit into the many definitions of community? … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-19

Arts as Ends, Means, and Everything In Between
In this article, Lyz Crane, Deputy Director of ArtPlace America, dives into the field of arts-based community development – from the practitioner and researcher point of view. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-19

Choosing the path
The question of whether the arts can truly contribute to community building is still widely debated. Diane Ragsdale concludes that the path between the two does not have to split, and that arts organizations have long worked to use arts and culture to bring people together. What are your thoughts? … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-19

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