“Arts and culture organizations across the country are estimated to have lost a combined $4.5 billion because of the health crisis so far, according to an ambitious new survey conducted by the Americans for the Arts. And that’s just the start.” – Artnet
Category: issues
Emergency Aid To Artists (Without Lots Of Paperwork)
The emergency package has an initial pot of $10 million for 2,000 grantees. The funds are culled from the operations budgets of the seven US-based organizations: Academy of American Poets, Artadia, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, MAP Fund, National YoungArts Foundation, and United States Artists. With most of the arts programming cancelled, the grants-giving organizations formed a group to design a mechanism that will allow them to give money to artists directly. – Quartz
TicketMaster Does It Again: Infuriates Fans With Its Refund Policy
Online, fans are fuming about being unable to get refunds for concerts that have been postponed, often with no rescheduled dates in sight. As they see it, ticketing outlets are being greedy at a time of crisis, holding billions of dollars in consumers’ cash that people now need for essentials. Their anger is being stoked by the sense that some vendors switched their refund policies mid-crisis to avoid repaying consumers. – The New York Times
NEA Releases Guidelines For Distributing Its $75 Million In Coronavirus Relief To Arts Organizations
“A wide variety of non-profit organizations can apply for a share of the money, including ‘arts organizations, local arts agencies, statewide assemblies of local arts agencies, arts service organizations, units of state or local government (and) federally recognized tribal communities or tribes.’ But all applicants … must be previous NEA award recipients from the past four years.” – Chicago Tribune
Australia’s Arts Funder Slashes Grants, Leaving Companies In Shock
The Australia Council for the Arts’ four-year funding program for 2021-24 has reduced the number of organizations included by a quarter, from 128 to 95, and has cut the planned grants for the first of those years by 30%. Because of the current COVID-related shutdowns, the Council is extending for one year funding for current grantees dropped for 2021-24, but even that extension will be cut by 30%. – Limelight (Australia)
How To Suspend Live Events Without Wrecking The Human Talent?
Live events and entertainment are people-based businesses that rely on the creation of emotional experiences and human interactions. Shedding too many employees, or the wrong employees, may impede the ability to resume operations when the crisis ends. – The Conversation
Hungarian Strongman Uses Virus Emergency To Seize Control Of Museums, Theatres
As the undemocratic features of the Orbán regime became increasingly obvious, the cunning liberal directors would choose productions that, with even minimum sensibility, could be interpreted as critical of Viktor Orbán’s illiberal regime. Thus, these theaters became irritants to the Fidesz officeholders. And, after “Budapest fell” in October 2019, the government wanted to rein in “rogue” theaters. – Hungarian Spectrum
As Schools Move Online, Less Than Half Of Their Students Log In
The absence rate appears particularly high in schools with many low-income students, whose access to home computers and internet connections can be spotty. Some teachers report that less than half their students are regularly participating. – The New York Times
Zoom Seemed Too Good To Be True
And, turns out, it was. This is why New York just banned it as a tool for teachers: “Zoom contains a number of critical privacy and security flaws, as educators have been learning the hard way. Anyone with a Zoom meeting link can ‘Zoombom’ attendees and broadcast inappropriate content, including pornography, depending on settings established by the meeting creator. In some cases, intruders have been able to hijack Zoom users’ webcams. In addition, Zoom’s iOS app has been sharing data with third parties including Facebook, in a potential violation of children’s privacy regulations.” – Fast Company
After The Kennedy Center Laid Off Many Of Its Employees, Congress May Ask For That $25 Million Back
But much of the money is earmarked already, and may benefit furloughed employees: “About $7.5 million of the bailout will cover six months of benefits — pension, social security and health care — for all employees, including those furloughed. The center continues to negotiate with its insurance company to fund health-care benefits after May 31. Another $1.75 million is for future artists’ contracts and fees.” But both Republicans and Democrats have some issues with the way this has shaken out. – The Washington Post