Category: issues

The five-week furloughs, announced days after all National Symphony musicians were laid off with a week’s notice, cover administrative employees in education, marketing, and development as well as the NSO and Washington National Opera. Said CEO Deborah Rutter, “My hope is that we won’t have to do too many more.” – The Washington Post

Facing serious criticism for the furloughs — one congressman introduced a bill to rescind the $25 million, saying “if an organization is receiving assistance from the federal government, we expect them to take care of their workers” — management offered a breakdown of how the grant would be spent and said that, even with the extra money, the Center could run out of cash by July. – The New York Times

So far, the best Indigenous-authored texts about Indigenous art are not reviews but catalogue and academic-essays, which are critical in that they explicate the context, intent and meanings of Indigenous artworks, but do not offer evaluations. They do not ask, for instance, if one work is better than other work, nor why considering a work as art is a more productive approach than considering it as a work of culture, an elaborate utility, or a trade good. – Momus

ACE was faced with an impossible choice. Unlike the German government, which has announced a €50 billion package of support for artists and the cultural sector, recognising that it is characterised by a high proportion of self-employed people whose livelihoods have disappeared overnight, the UK government has been slow even to recognise the problems faced by the self-employed in any sector, let alone the arts. – The Stage

Since many of us are having to use Zoom for work and choosing to use it for seeing family and friends, that’s a good change. And we’ll take good news right now, honestly. – Vice

Daniels, once a leading countertenor and now facing a separate criminal charge for sexual assault in Texas, “was deemed not eligible for severance pay. According to the university, Daniels is the first tenured faculty member to be dismissed since it adopted its current bylaws in 1959.” – NPR

The rise of night mayors after 2012 followed the recognition by many cities that they largely ignored what many called their nighttime economies. Those who worked in the nighttime entertainment sector had long argued that their contributions to employment and city tax coffers went unrecognized. – The Conversation

“There’s a symbolism and communications problem if you’re starting to inflict loss and suffering on your staff. If Peter Gelb or Deborah Rutter start to, and need to, lay off lots of people and calling the people they have contracts with and saying they going to invoke force majeure . . . it doesn’t look great or feel great if they’re not making a sacrifice themselves.” – Washington Post