Author: Matthew Westphal

Investigation Clears Detroit Institute Of Arts Director Of Conflict Of Interest

“The inquiry by Crowell & Moring, hired by the DIA board, came after a June complaint by the nonprofit legal organization Whistleblower Aid was sent to the Internal Revenue Service and the Michigan attorney general. The complaint alleged conflict-of-interest violations tied to the loan of an El Greco painting to the museum by [director Salvador] Salort-Pons‘s father-in-law, Dallas businessman Alan M. May.” – The Detroit News

After Seven Dark Months, India’s Cinemas Are Open Again

“Nearly 10,000 theaters closed in mid-March following coronavirus restrictions. Now, they will become one of the last few public places to reopen outside high-risk areas. But they still pose some of the biggest infection risks: the virus can spread easily in closed spaces. To minimize the danger, seats are separated. Show timings will be staggered and digital payment encouraged. Masks and temperature checks are mandatory.” – The Hollywood Reporter

The 200-Year History Of The Accordion

Inspired by the sheng, a bowl-shaped mouth organ that a French Jesuit missionary brought back from China in 1777, various hand-powered free-reed instruments that became the accordion and concertina were being developed in Europe by the 1820s. They made it to the New World in fairly short order and, by the 1880s, had reached Japan. For about half a century, there were even “player accordions” that used rolls of punched paper the way pianolas did. Laura Stanfield Prichard offers a brief history of the much-loved and -hated instrument. – Early Music America

This Indigenous Australian Actor Puts A New Spin On The Archetypal TV Cop

“It’s something that hits close to home for [Aaron] Pedersen, who is of Arrernte-Arabana descent and grew up poor in the Northern Territory town of Alice Springs. His childhood with an alcoholic mother was chaotic and even violent, and Pedersen and his seven siblings bumped around in foster homes as wards of the state.” – The New York Times

All These Hit Documentary Series — Are They Just Reality TV Gone Highbrow?

Basically, yes, argues Kathryn VanArendonk, and the docuseries boom we’re seeing now couldn’t have happened without “a television landscape primed by decades of reality TV.” What’s more, the qualities the two genres share “are key to why [a docuseries can be] so delicious.” (Besides, “Anglo-American culture has yet to meet something lowbrow that it didn’t find a way to repackage as classy and valuable.”) – New York Magazine

First-Ever National Award For Disabled Artists Launched By Ford And Mellon Foundations

“After a yearlong research study in conversation with disabled people, the initiative” — called Disability Futures — “has named 20 artists, filmmakers and journalists in its first class of fellows, each of whom will receive a grant of $50,000 administered by the arts funding group United States Artists. The 18-month initiative not only pledges financial support, but aims to foster a creative community across mediums and generations.” – The New York Times

Why Do Certain Artworks Get Stolen Over And Over Again?

Munch’s The Scream has been carted off by thieves twice, there are three Dutch Old Masters paintings that have been stolen three times each in the past 50 years, and the poor old Ghent Altarpiece has been taken an unlucky 13 times. Such works become famous, and thus very hard to fence, so why would they be repeat targets? Because, say two experts, stealing them can get the thieves clout — clout of more than one kind. – The Art Newspaper

Publishing Insider Joins A Books-To-Prisons Pipeline

“When he isn’t promoting books for W.W. Norton, Peter Miller, publicity director of Norton’s Liveright imprint, moonlights as the owner of Freebird Books, a small used bookstore he operates in Brooklyn. … A year after buying the store, Miller heard that Books Through Bars, which donates books to prison inmates around the country, needed a space for its collection operations.” – Publishers Weekly

Why Kathryn Morgan Quit Miami City Ballet A Year After Her Triumphant Return To The Stage (It Isn’t Pretty)

Once a very promising young soloist at New York City Ballet, Morgan had to stop performing for years due to hypothyroidism (with its attendant weight gain) and an autoimmune disorder. In 2019, by then a social media star, she was hired by Miami City Ballet in a move that got both dancer and company plenty of positive news coverage. Last week, in a 33-minute video that went viral, she recounted difficulties at the company that culminated in her being humiliatingly cut from a role (she’d be “an embarrassment”) in front of her colleagues. – Pointe Magazine