Category: issues

“These were folks doing really impressive work to address racism in the arts and outside of the arts. But a discomfort crept up for me in that discussion that has been a bit of gadfly in my life for some time now. In talking about my own work as an arts administrator, I was borrowing the language of activism. I also have noticed others in the field — artists, curators, administrators, philanthropic organizations — do the same thing. How might the use of activist rhetoric be a bit…complicated?”

“His gift, through his charitable organization Bloomberg Philanthropies, helps solidify what promises to be New York’s first new cultural institution in recent memory, to be completed in spring 2019, that will present performances, concerts, visual art, music and other events. With Mr. Bloomberg’s donation, $421 million will have been raised toward a $500 million capital campaign that includes start-up costs.”

“The arts centre, expected to open in mid-2018, is located in the Prinzessinnenpalais at 5 Unter den Linden – the boulevard leading up to the Brandenburg Gate. … The building will house both permanent and temporary exhibitions as well as hosting concerts, readings, talks, workshops, sporting events and a café.”

“The human contender, a 19-year-old Chinese national named Ke Jie, and the computer are only a third of the way through their three-game match this week. And the contest does little to prove that software can mollify an angry co-worker, write a decent poem, raise a well-adjusted child or perform any number of distinctly human tasks. But the victory by software called AlphaGo showed yet another way that computers could be developed to perform better than humans in highly complex tasks, and it offered a glimpse of the promise of new technologies that mimic the way the brain functions.”

“William D. Adams, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, will be stepping down effective Tuesday, the endowment announced, ending a three-year tenure. Mr. Adams cited ‘personal reasons,’ as well as the Trump administration’s decision to appoint a new liaison to the endowment.”

“Protest art is not going to stop a bullet, but it does stir the mind and the heart. Artists want to create something pleasing but that also gets a rise out of people. A still life is not going to make you change your voting pattern.” And the artists who create this kind of art often find the ways and the means to keep working, despite the dire circumstances they may find themselves in.

“Over the last four years, the California Symphony has gone from not even having a professional development line in the budget to investing more and more in talent and their development. And the growth in revenue we’ve seen far outpaces the expense. In other words, it’s an investment that’s paying off.”

Some of the guidelines are, well, a little unexpected: “‘Generally, imagery of animal abuse can be shared on the site. Some extremely disturbing imagery may be marked as disturbing.’ Photos of animal mutilation, including those showing torture, can be marked as disturbing rather than deleted. Moderators can also leave photos of abuse where a human kicks or beats an animal.”

Yes, comics. Comics “tap into fundamental aspects of human cognition,” and kids who are having problems concentrating, analyzing, and understanding academics – and kids who are having anger issues – learn to stay calmer, analyze plots, write stories and more.

“Because this year has not brought an improvement in art criticism, I forbid once and for all the continuance of art criticism in its past form, effective as of today.”