Tonie Marshall, First Woman Director To Win A French Oscar, Dead At 68

“[She] won the top directing prize at the Cesars in 2000 for her movie Venus Beauty Institute, a romantic comedy starring Nathalie Baye and Audrey Tautou that recounts the quest for fulfillment of three female employees in a Parisian beauty parlor. After that, she became a prominent figure in the fight against sexism in the French film industry.” – Yahoo! (AP)

SCAD Hong Kong Will Close Permanently This Spring

SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) Hong Kong, which has been in operation since 2010, has a $4 million financial deficit due to low enrollment. The tuition fee of $38,440 per year for full-time undergraduate students is considered unfeasible for most local students, while students from mainland China who would be able to shoulder the financial cost of the institution often prefer to go abroad for their educations. The school only recruited eighty-eight students, or 40 percent of its target, in 2010—last year only half of its target, 156 students. – ArtForum

Mighty Powell’s Books Goes Down

“We have been forced to make the unthinkable decision to lay off the vast majority of you in the coming few days. Many people have spoken publicly demanding we pay our employees and extend health insurance for the duration. No one can possibly know how much I wish I could make that happen. We are simply not that kind of business – we run on duct tape and twine on a daily basis, every day trading funds from one pocket to patch the hole in another.” – Powell’s

Right Now Boring Online Social Sharing Is Comforting

It’s not just Americans broadcasting their living spaces to the world in the hopes of finding digital company. In the midst of a pandemic, kids with smartphones and wireless access and unlimited free time are showing us what a room looks like globally. American teenagers are watching TikTok videos from countries that are two or three weeks ahead of the United States in quarantine measures, peering into the life they will soon be living. – The Atlantic

Some Practical Suggestions For Arts Organizations Struggling To Survive

Michael Kaiser: “For many, it is a lack of clarity on the duration of the crisis that causes the most anxiety. Should we proceed with rehearsals for a new production scheduled for May? Do we issue next season’s subscription brochure? Should we move forward with our capital campaign? Will our reserves outlast the downturn, or are more drastic measures necessary? These are some of the sensible and challenging questions we have heard from arts leaders across the nation.” – DeVos Institute