Ark Encounter, which unveiled the 510-foot-long model in 2016, says that heavy rains in 2017 and 2018 caused a landslide on its access road, and its five insurance carriers refused to cover nearly $1 million in damages.In a 77-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Ark Encounter asks for compensatory and punitive damages. – Louisville Courier-Journal
Category: issues
Tubman $20 Delay Is A New Front (But The Same Old) In The Culture Wars
Alumni of the Obama administration say the symbolism of the Tubman decision is hugely significant. Dan Pfeiffer, Obama’s White House communications director, told me last night: “It has all the hallmarks of Trumpism — racism, misogyny, pettiness and whatever the opposite of virtue signaling is.” – Washington Post
In Praise Of Attending The Arts By Yourself
When it comes to fun activities done in public – having a drink in a bar, going to the opera – being alone becomes socially loaded. And it runs deep: entire Reddit forums are dedicated to the question of going to the movies alone. – The Guardian
‘Eat The Problem’: Art, Environmental Activism, And Gastronomy Unite
As one of her projects as artist-in-residence at the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania, Kirsha Kaechele has created a cookbook called (yes) Eat the Problem, full of recipes that turn Australia’s “invasive species from something hated into something delicious … that is, transforming a flaw into a feature.” – The Guardian
Are The Arts Relevant? First Let’s Define Relevant
In a world where customers determine what’s relevant — not grantmakers, not executive directors, not board members, not staff members, and not artists — there is good news. Entertainment is relevant. – Medium
Should Rio De Janeiro Commemorate Its History Of Slavery Or Move On From It? No One Seems To Be Able To Decide
“For some, commemorating slavery is a vital part of addressing contemporary injustices. For others, it is a distraction [from those injustices]” and other pressing problems. The debate is playing out (again) over the remains of the wharf where slave ships arrived. – The Economist
Washington DC’s Mayor Wants Her City To Be An Arts Mecca. The City’s Artists Aren’t Happy
The mayor has instrumentalized culture as an economic driver of the capital’s fortunes ever since taking office in 2014 and embarking on the creation of her Cultural Plan one year later. Deference to what she has described as “the cultural economy” has earned Bowser few fans from the arts community, which has characterized the mayor’s proposals as siphoning funds away from the fine arts and into the pockets of small businesses. – Hyperallergic
How Walt Disney Concert Hall Changed Both Its Orchestra And Its Neighborhood
Justin Davidson: “In 2003, [Frank] Gehry gave the Los Angeles Philharmonic its new home and showed that, every once in a while, a work of architecture can transform all it touches — in this case, the orchestra, the audience, music itself, the neighborhood, and the city beyond.” – Los Angeles Times
The Amazing Hidden City Beneath Paris
This invisible city follows different laws of planning to its surface counterpart. Its tunnelled streets often kink and wriggle, or run to dead ends. Some of them curl back on themselves like whips. At junctions, three or four tunnel-streets might spray out. There are slender highways running almost the length of the tiled map, from southwest to northeast. There are inexplicably broken grids of streets, or hubs where the spokes of different tunnels meet. Coming off some of the tunnels are chambers, irregular in their outlines and with dozens of small connecting rooms. – The New Yorker
We Applaud The Philanthropist Who Says He’ll Pay Student Loans. But This Is A Policy Failure
Students are saddled with crippling debt. And generations will be encumbered by it. The generous philanthropist who says he’ll pay the Morehouse College graduating class’s student debt has done a great thing. But it points to a glaring failure of public policy. – The New York Times