“Music teachers in Canada are being forced to improvise. Choir classes, for example, either must meet outdoors to rehearse or they simply hum and chant their way through class. Host Marco Werman speaks with Toronto-based Anita Elash about how music teachers are managing to keep music programs alive during the pandemic.” (audio) – PRX’s The World
Author: Matthew Westphal
This Movie Theatre Is Closed. It Still Costs $25,000 A Month To Run
What are the owners of the Dominion cinema in Edinburgh paying £20,000 for each month? “Heating bills so the four-screen cinema does not get damp, water rates, insurance, monthly servicing projector costs, card reader machine contracts, IT costs and staff tax and national insurance have all contributed to the huge monthly outgoings.” – BBC
The 25 Most Influential Works of American Protest Art Since World War II
The list includes comments on each work by the panelists who did the choosing: artists Dread Scott, Catherine Opie and Shirin Neshat, journalist Nikil Saval and Whitney Museum of American Art assistant curator Rujeko Hockley. (First on the list, which is in no particular order, is the now-graffiti-bombed and co-opted statue of Robert E. Lee on Richmond’s Monument Avenue.) – T — The New York Times Style Magazine
This Dance Company Director Thinks The Shutdown Has Done Some Good
Zenetta Drew, executive director of Dallas Black Dance Theater: “The arts were dying as far as how you reach new audiences, how you create new revenue streams and how you reach underserved communities. Being forced to deal with COVID has changed all that.” And she doesn’t think audiences seeing dance for free online will keep them from coming to the theater later. Why? Look at football on TV. – SMU Data Arts
40 Black Playwrights Talk About The Confounding Racism They Face In American Theater
Theatermakers from Lynn Nottage and Robert O’Hara to Jocelyn Bioh, Radha Blank and Dominique Morrisseau “share their own experiences with insidious racism — sometimes subtle, other times blatantly cruel even amid the Black Lives Matter statements issuing forth industrywide.” – Los Angeles Times
San Francisco Will Give Shutdown-Affected Artists ‘Universal Basic Income’
“The policy, billed as the Basic Income Pilot for Artists, outlines details including directing almost $6 million in funding to arts organizations, artists, art teachers, and cultural workers, in addition to a Universal Basic Income program. Under the basic income, 130 artists will be selected to receive the [$1,000] monthly stipend for at least six months, beginning in early 2021.” – Artnet
Philadelphia Orchestra Musicians Accept Further Pay Cuts
“The deal, approved this week by the orchestra’s members, ties pay in part to the fortunes of the organization. Compensation for musicians will be reduced to 75% of normal pay retroactively to Sept. 12 and through the middle of March. Then, between March 15 and Sept. 12, 2021, pay could be lowered or slightly increased depending on the condition of the orchestra’s COVID-battered finances.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Baltimore Museum Of Art Stakeholders Ask State Of Maryland To Stop Sale Of Artworks
“Former trustees, committee members, donors and docents of the Baltimore Museum of Art have asked Maryland officials to halt the institution’s plans to sell paintings by Andy Warhol, Clyfford Still and Brice Marden, and to investigate what they describe as irregularities and conflicts of interest surrounding the sales.” – The Washington Post
Arts Groups Say UK Gov’t Requires Them To Advertise Bailout Program In Order To Get Funds
A formal complaint filed with Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority charges that Boris Johnson’s government is insisting that all organizations receiving rescue money from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund promote the Fund on their social media accounts. – The Independent (UK)
Mahmoud Yassin, Star Of Egyptian Cinema’s Golden Age, Dead At 79
“[He] had over 150 films to his name, with diverse roles ranging from romantic to serious, and from emotionally disturbed to upbeat and patriotic. His films included several based on stories by renowned Egyptian novelists, such as Nobel Prize laureate Naguib Mahfouz and Ihsan Abdel Quddous.” – AP