07.31.14 – ArtsJournal Wayback

David “Pig Pen” Sedaris Gets A Garbage Truck Named After Him

Fans of the bestselling author/public radio legend will know that he is obsessed with picking up the litter along the roadsides near his West Sussex home. Now the local council has honored him in the most fitting way possible.

Australian Gov’t Orders Review Of Opera Funding

“No-one should be too surprised by the National Opera Review which promises to take a good look at Opera Australia, Opera Queensland, State Opera of South Australia and West Australian Opera. Governments want to know their money is well spent, and the conservatives have shown that they are not afraid to be radical in their approach to arts funding – and opera in particular.”

The New Fandom – It’s All About The Fans

“A lot of fans are basically fans of fandom itself. It’s all about them. They have mastered the ‘Star Wars’ or ‘Star Trek’ universes or whatever, but their objects of veneration are useful mainly as a backdrop to their own devotion. Anyone who would camp out in a tent on the sidewalk for weeks in order to be first in line for a movie is more into camping on the sidewalk than movies.”

50,000+ Artists Apply for 89 Affordable Studios In Harlem

“Developers for the space, known as El Barrio’s Artspace PS 109 and located between Second and Third avenues, fielded 51,313 online applications via a city website by the July 14 deadline, officials said. That’s on top of more than 2,000 paper applications filed.”

Maria Abramovic Raised A Ton Of Money For Her New Project. So Why Is She Staffing With Unpaid Interns?

“Abramović raised over $660,000 for her institute on Kickstarter in June and recently “collaborated” with Adidas. Yet somehow she cannot afford to pay people to work for MAI.”

Met Opera Extends Contract Deadline At Last Minute

“The Metropolitan Opera postponed a threatened lockout late on Thursday night, saying that it had done so at the request of a federal mediator who was brought in at the 11th hour to try to salvage its contract negotiations with the unions representing its orchestra and chorus.”

ABT’s Misty Copeland Is Now A Major Underwear Spokesmodel

“[Copeland] will become the new face of Under Armour’s ‘I Will What I Want’ campaign, which focuses on the apparel giant’s women’s business. To appreciate Under Armour’s out-of-the-box thinking in tapping a ballerina to front its national ads, one has to grasp the complexity of Copeland’s story.”

Big Data Reveals How Cities Beckoned The Brainy For 2,000 Years

“How do you keep them down on the farm, once they’ve seen Paris? You don’t, suggests a study of 150,000 historical figures that shows cities have … acted as cultural magnets” for many centuries.

Look What They’ve Done To St. Ignatius Loyola: They’ve Made Him Twee

“A Catholic publishing house” – Loyola Press, naturally – “is encouraging the people of the Internet to ‘find your inner Iggy’ and explore Ignatius’s vision of spirituality. In doing so, it appears that they have created the first-ever twee saint.”

Tag: 07.31.14