The American Guild of Musical Artists, which represents opera performers and staff, has launched its own investigation into the sexual harassment and abuse allegations against the singer. The claim: This investigation will go beyond any individual company and will “examine the systemic failures within the industry that could have allowed this conduct, if substantiated, to continue unchallenged for decades.” – Billboard (AP)
Category: issues
Many New Accusers And Sources In Book About Harvey Weinstein
The Weinstein Company’s accountant was one of the key sources in the reporters’ investigation, for one thing. “It was Mr. Reiter who provided the reporters with an explosive internal memo from an employee who described Weinstein’s routine harassment of junior female employees and actresses. Mr. Reiter also alerted Ms. Kantor and Ms. Twohey, who were investigating financial settlements for sexual harassment from decades ago, to other recent accusations against Mr. Weinstein, bringing new urgency to the investigation.” – The New York Times
What Did The Venice Film Festival Just Say To Women And The MeToo Movement?
About the fest’s awards. The Daily Beast headline is “Child Rapist Roman Polanski Wins Venice Film Festival Award,” so there’s one point of view. A more reportorial version comes from Variety, which soberly says the wins for The Joker and the Polanski movie An Officer and a Spy capped “a festival marked by debate over gender representation and the impact of #MeToo in the industry.” You don’t say. – Variety
Claim: Arts In UK Rural Areas Are Disappearing
Ralph Lister, Director of the Somerset-based NPO Take Art, believes that England’s rural arts infrastructure could disappear entirely within the next five years unless ACE takes steps to address the funding imbalance. – Arts Professional
In Trial For Oakland’s Ghost Ship Fire, One Defendant Acquitted, One Gets Hung Jury
Three years after three dozen people died in the flames at the warehouse-turned-artist-colony, Max Harris, the 29-year-old resident caretaker, was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter; jurors deadlocked 10-to-2 over Derick Almena, the 49-year-old master tenant and organizer of the derelict warehouse’s informal transformation into a live-work complex. – San Francisco Chronicle
Arts Council England Defends Its New ‘Relevance’ Funding Requirement
Simon Mellor, the Council’s deputy chief executive: “To be clear, of course we’re not going to be asking organisations to justify the relevance of individual works of art. We do, however, think that it is not unreasonable to expect organisations in receipt of the public’s money to be relevant – to ensure that the way they work, including their public programmes and other activities, is valued by their communities and stakeholders.” – Arts Professional
An Overhaul In Leadership At Portland Oregon’s Major Arts Organizations
A massive overhaul is happening at the top of Portland’s biggest artistic institutions. Six of Oregon’s major arts organizations—including NW Film Center, Portland Center Stage and Chamber Music Northwest—have recently undergone changes in leadership, or are about to. It’s not just generational turnover, either: In many cases, the white men in charge are being succeeded by women and people of color. – Willamette Week
A Higher Education Crisis
Higher education is in the middle of multiple, massive disruptions—and it isn’t clear that the leaders of the sector grasp the magnitude of the waves of change breaking on their ivy-covered gates. – The Atlantic
V&A Director Defends Accepting Sponsorship From Fossil Fuel Companies
Tristram Hunt: “I think that the pre-history of fossil fuel companies in muddying the science about climate change, in lobbying, in their political acts, have been pretty criminal and they will be judged on that. But, I also think they will be part of the solution to dealing with climate change and they are engaged with it. … So, I don’t have a problem with having relationships with those organisations, like for example BP who are thinking very carefully about a zero-carbon future.” – The Art Newspaper
Boris Johnson’s Government Promises 4.1% Increase In UK Culture Funding
According to the government’s spending review for 2020-21, “the budget of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will increase by 4.1% in real terms to £1.6bn, after inflation is taken into account.” The Treasury announcement said that there will be “over £300m to support the UK’s world-class national museums and galleries … [and] over £500m for Arts Council England and Sport England.” (Guess it’ll come out of all that money Britain will no longer be sending to Brussels, right?) – The Art Newspaper