It may be true that nothing unites the U.S. like avocados: “In the early 2000s, the low-carb craze gave avocados a boost, with fat suddenly deemed more acceptable. But it was nothing compared to the looming beast on the horizon, the monster trend no one could predict: avocado toast.”
Category: issues
MoMA Joins The Resistance, Hangs Art From ‘Travel Ban’ Countries
Damn, MoMA: “Alongside each painting, sculpture, or photograph is a text that makes no bones about why it has suddenly surfaced: ‘This work is by an artist from a nation whose citizens are being denied entry into the United States, according to a presidential executive order issued on January 27, 2017. This is one of several such artworks from the Museum’s collection installed throughout the fifth-floor galleries to affirm the ideals of welcome and freedom as vital to this Museum, as they are to the United States.'”
UK City Says Cutting All Its Art Funding Will “Help” Arts Groups
Grants to arts organisations in Bath are to be phased out completely by the local council, with campaigners claiming it will lead to financial support for emerging and mid-scale companies being “killed off”.
Ten Percent Of UK Teachers Polled Say Arts Education Has Been Cut In Their Schools
“The Guardian Teacher Network polled more than 1,000 teachers, with 80% claiming their schools had been making general cutbacks or were planning to. Nine percent of respondents reported that their schools had already scrapped art, music or drama, with a fifth claiming that one or more of these subjects had been given reduced timetable space.”
Revolving Auditorium To Be Part Of New Creative District In Liverpool
The theatre and music venue would be the first in Britain (and only the third in the world) with a rotating seating area in the center of the hall and stages/performing spaces against the walls. The hall is part of the proposed Ten Streets creative district, plans for which have just been revealed.
Verona’s Ancient Roman Amphitheatre To Get Retractable Roof
A winner has been chosen from among 87 designs submitted for roofing the Arena di Verona, which dates back to 30 AD and is still regularly used for concerts and other events, as well as for one of the world’s most famous (and financially precarious) opera festivals.
Mississippi Arts Commission Survives Attempt By Republican Legislature To Offload It
“Yesterday, two bills intended to fold the duties of the Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) into the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) died in both the Senate and House Appropriations Committees due to the fact that they were not brought up by either chairman. January 31 was the deadline for bills to come out of committee.”
After The Ghost Ship Fire, New Efforts To Get Funds To Victims And To Make Spaces Safer
Artist live/work compounds are fireproofing and upgrading where they can, and crowdfunding efforts for victims are looking not to make the mistakes that plagued such funds after previous tragedies.
In These Days The Arts Need Advocacy. This Is A Problem In Most US States
A large number of states (roughly a third) either have “no real functioning arts advocacy organization, or the existing organization was barely operational. That finding is particularly distressing as the sector now gears up for actions that may come – both on the Federal and on the State levels – that will impact the sector.”
Improving Cities Through Culture – The Evidence
“It’s about democratising the arts, taking culture away from the idea that it’s about elitism, and showing that there’s something for everyone. It’s also about encouraging, for places like Liverpool and Hull, a local sense of pride. For the first time in many years in 2008 Liverpool started to get positive media coverage, and that has a huge effect on people living here. There’s a renewed confidence in the city that we still feel today.”