Natalia Dashan, who was a full-scholarship student at Yale and witnessed such imbroglios as the Halloween Costumes fiasco up close, looks at the underlying dynamic by which, among a very privileged group of young people, genuinely worthy and well-meant ideas get aggressively pushed and distorted in counterproductive ways. – Palladium Magazine
Category: issues
Can Arts Organizations Become Engines For Economic Justice In Their Communities?
The “anchor institution approach” for nonprofits — using their purchasing decisions, hiring, and other business practices to actively affect their communities’ economic well-being, especially that of historically marginalized groups — is usually thought of as applying to large universities and health-care institutions. But, argues a new report, arts and culture organizations can also serve as such “anchor institutions” — and many do, from Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center and the Cleveland Museum of Art down to smaller groups such as Houston’s Project Row Houses and the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio. – Nonprofit Quarterly
Study: Republicans Are Turning Against Higher Education
As the Pew Research Center finds in a new survey, there’s been a sharp increase in dissatisfaction with America’s colleges and universities among Republicans in recent years, and it makes perfect sense for right-of-center policy makers to want to do something about it. – The Atlantic
Kennedy Center’s New “Reach” Is Great Counterpoint To The Original Building
Justin Davidson: “The Kennedy Center’s new complex is not just more fluid, usable, and versatile than we had any right to expect — it is also the rare project that improved on its way from concept and digital renderings to final construction.” – New York Magazine
Silicon Valley: What If We’re Not Making The World A Better Place?
For a long time, the prevailing posture of the Silicon Valley élite was smugness bordering on hubris. Now the emotional repertoire is expanding to include shame—or, at least, the appearance of shame. – The New Yorker
Protest In Moscow Is Becoming ‘Celebritized’
After weeks of Sunday protests in the Russian capital against the disqualification of opposition candidates for the city council, on August 10 famous actors, artists, and rappers started to join the demonstrations. While the participation of well-known artists in protests is hardly unknown in Russia (e.g., Pussy Riot), some observers say that there’s a new level of “celebritization” indicating that demonstrations against the Putin government are becoming fashionable. – The Moscow Times
Belgian Festival Could Be Removed From UNESCO Cultural Heritage List For Use Of Blackface
A character called Le Sauvage, covered in black face makeup, is featured on one of 22 floats in a traditional parade as part of the Ducasse d’Ath, held in late August in a small town in Wallonia. A letter from 14 anti-racist groups as well as academics and activist asking UNESCO to de-list the festival describes Le Sauvage as “adorned with all the humiliating signs that our racist societies have projected on to black people throughout history.” Some locals in Ath are reportedly puzzled, as they consider the character one of the parade’s most popular. – The Guardian
Busting Convention: Boomers Had Almost Nothing To Do With The 1960s
Louis Menand: “There are many canards about that generation, but the most persistent is that the boomers were central to the social and cultural events of the nineteen-sixties. Apart from being alive, baby boomers had almost nothing to do with the nineteen-sixties.” – The New Yorker
Why Is There So Much Weird Stuff In English Cathedrals These Days?
Rochester Cathedral has mini-golf (okay, an “educational adventure golf course’). Norwich Cathedral has a “helter-skelter” (a tarted-up sliding board), ostensibly so that visitors can get a better look at the exquisite medieval ceiling before sliding down. Derby Cathedral got in hot water last year when its free movie series got a bit too racy. What’s going on? Well, last fall the Archbishop of Canterbury said that people should “have fun in cathedrals,” but, in fact, some serious structural and governance issues are in play. – The Economist
England’s Arts Funding Agency May Have To Cut Commitments Already Made To Largest Institutions
A group of about 800 so-called National Portfolio Organisations — from giants like the Royal Opera House and Southbank Centre and its residents such as the National Theatre (who receive tens of millions of pounds a year) to smaller regional institutions — are guaranteed funding from Arts Council England on a rolling multi-year basis. But ACE is warning that proposed in the Conservative government’s next budget would mean that those funding guarantees couldn’t be met. – Arts Professional