Australia’s Restless Dance Company Faces A Funding Crisis

When the Australia Council announced its latest four-year funding winners in 2020, Restless was a shock omission, as were La Mama Theatre in Melbourne and The Blue Room in Western Australia. It means a $1.2 million shortfall over three years — a nightmare scenario at any time for an arts company, let alone during a pandemic. – ABC News (Australia)
Tags: Art, Australia, Dance, Melbourne, Western Australia, Australia Council, 02.21.21, Restless Dance Company Faces

Philip Guston’s Daughter Speaks Out On Postponement Of Her Father’s Show

To Musa Mayer’s dismay, her father, an antiracist and the son of immigrants who had fled antisemitic persecution, was now having his complex images misrepresented and their subject matter rendered simplistically provocative. – The Guardian
Tags: Art, Visual, Philip Guston, Musa Mayer, 02.21.21

New Possibilities As Classical Music Explores Music By Black Composers

Somewhere, in an attic or a music library or maybe hiding in plain sight, are pieces by non-white-male composers that, with the right kind of attention, will open our ears to genius. – Philadelphia Inquirer
Tags: Art, Music, Black Composers, 02.21.21

Jazz Is Dying During The Pandemic

The pandemic has wrecked an already vulnerable jazz industry by forcing live music shows to halt. Musicians and club owners have turned to online fundraisers for survival, and point to the music’s connection to civil rights as a need to keep its legacy alive. – Axios
Tags: Art, Music, 02.21.21

Who Wrote A Mysterious Inscription On Munch’s The Scream?

Looks like the mystery’s been solved – and the writer was (drumroll) … the artist himself. “The text, ‘Could only have been painted by a madman,’ isn’t large enough for most people to notice, especially when it’s presented in the museum behind glass, Guleng said. To study it, the researchers needed to use infrared photography to make it more legible.” – The New York Times
Tags: Art, Visual, Guleng, 02.21.21

Monopoly Place Names Are Just As Redlined As Real Life Cities

To wit: Cyril and Ruth Harvey, “who played a key role in popularizing the game, lived on Pennsylvania Avenue (a pricey $320 green property on the board); their friends, the Joneses, lived on Park Place. … The Harveys employed a Black maid named Clara Watson. She lived on Baltic Avenue in a low-income, Black neighborhood, not far from Mediterranean Avenue. On the Monopoly board, those are priced cheapest, at $60.” – The Atlantic
Tags: Art, Ideas, Cyril, Pennsylvania Avenue, Joneses, Harveys, Baltic Avenue, Mediterranean Avenue, 02.21.21, Ruth Harvey, Clara Watson

Arturo Di Modica, Sculptor Of New York’s Charging Bull Sculpture, Has Died At 80

Di Modica was a “Sicilian-born sculptor best known for Charging Bull, 3.5 tons of bronze belligerence that he illegally deposited in Lower Manhattan one night in 1989.” But this wasn’t the first time he pulled such a stunt. Disappointed by a lack of interest in his first solo show in 1977, “Mr. Di Modica rented three trucks, and he and a group of friends drove eight of his enormous sculptures uptown to Rockefeller Center, where they deposited them in the dead of night. He was ordered to pay a s...
Tags: Art, New York, People, Rockefeller Center, Lower Manhattan, Arturo Di Modica, Di Modica, 02.21.21

Dali Was A Surrealist With Absolute Discipline And Scientific, Renaissance Style Perspective

Dalí, art historians say, was “very deliberate” in his art – and sketches of unfinished works also show how he combined complex mathematical calculations with artistic license in his finished paintings. – The Observer (UK)
Tags: Art, Visual, Dali, 02.21.21

Bringing The Joy Back To New York, Through Pop Up Music

As the leader of “NYPopsUp” explains, “This is what I like to call ‘social music.’ … You can use music to minister to so many sectors of society.” This summer, that means 100 days of scattered, mostly unannounced street performances across the state. – Washington Post
Tags: Art, Music, New York, 02.21.21

Certain ‘Muppet Show’ Episodes Get A Disclaimer At Disney Plus

The disclaimer, which runs on 18 episodes of the show (re-relased on Disney+ last week): “This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together.” The rest of the disclaimer sends viewers to Disney’s website to “learn more about how stories have impacted societ...
Tags: Art, Media, Disney, 02.21.21

Did The Post-Earthquake Rebuild Of Central Christchurch Fail?

Pretty much, yes. “Downtown Christchurch isn’t empty because of COVID. It’s empty because of twin catastrophes: Ten years ago an earthquake leveled much of the city—and then the local and national government botched the rebuild, squandering a golden opportunity to transform Christchurch.” Here’s what happened. – Slate
Tags: Art, Visual, Christchurch Here, 02.21.21, Downtown Christchurch

Black Ballerinas In Utah Are Helping Change Ballet Culture

In the wake of George Floyd’s killing and the Black Lives Matter protests that swept the country, Ballet West’s Black dancers were asked by their artistic director what needed to change. They weren’t shy about the list. “When performances resume after the coronavirus shutdown of live events, Ballet West will no longer use makeup to lighten dancers’ skin or make them appear to be an ethnicity other than their own. Dancers will wear tights and toe shoes that match their skin color.” – Salt Lake T...
Tags: Art, Utah, Dance, Ballet West, George Floyd, 02.21.21, Ballet West s Black

Black Ballerina In Utah Are Helping Change Ballet Culture

In the wake of George Floyd’s killing and the Black Lives Matter protests that swept the country, Ballet West’s Black dancers were asked by their artistic director what needed to change. They weren’t shy about the list. “When performances resume after the coronavirus shutdown of live events, Ballet West will no longer use makeup to lighten dancers’ skin or make them appear to be an ethnicity other than their own. Dancers will wear tights and toe shoes that match their skin color.” – Salt Lake T...
Tags: Art, Utah, Dance, Ballet West, George Floyd, 02.21.21, Ballet West s Black

The Golden Globes’ Parent Organization Is A Mess, Including Accusations Of Corruption And Tax Evasion

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has some issues, with members describing monthly meetings as battle zones. The HFPA includes zero Black members. It’s “an embattled organization still struggling to shake its reputation as a group whose awards or nominations can be influenced with expensive junkets and publicity swag.” And it may be running afoul of tax law. – Los Angeles Times
Tags: Art, Media, Hfpa, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, 02.21.21

Shifts In How Kids Play Mean Playground Design Needs To Follow

A new emphasis has also changed how design firms feel about commissions. “For the new guard of playground design, the boundary between play equipment and public sculpture is blurring. … Playgrounds are increasingly seen as ‘some of the top projects to get’ – public projects which are on full display and allow landscape architects and designers to test their craft.” – The Guardian (UK)
Tags: Art, Visual, 02.21.21