Author: ArtsJournal2

Not To Be Hyperbolic, But Writers Save Lives

Just ask author Alex Wheatle, the (fictionalized) subject of one of Steve McQueen’s new Small Axe series of films. Wheatle served time in prison after the Brixton riots of 1981. A cellmate told him to read Black British history and books by Black authors. “Wheatle, now an author with 15 books to his credit, says the fiction novels which gripped him most in jail were those of Chester Himes.” – BBC

Video Games Are Now Playgrounds For Designers – And Brands

This is what happens with a pandemic shutdown of everything outside the house: Video games, which is a small market compared to apparel, shoots up in numbers. People start recreating brand ads in Animal Crossing. And the brands follow. “Many so-called hypebeasts who obsess over fashion are also gamers. … ‘The prototypical nerds have evolved to a point where they are very style-conscious. It’s cool to play games now.'” – Los Angeles Times

The Nutcracker As More Than Just A Show

That is, Nutcracker, but make it about touch and sound. Blind and visually impaired students in these classes, now via video from the students’ homes, each receive “a package of Nutcracker artifacts: a pointe shoe, a candy cane, a long stretch of tulle (from which tutus are made), a story synopsis and glossary in large print or Braille, sheet music with sections of Tchaikovsky’s score, and, of course, a nutcracker.” – The New York Times

By The Numbers, Gender Inequities In Opera Are ‘Staggering,’ Says New Study

The numbers are truly, deeply bad for women in opera. “Approximately seven out of 10 voice and opera graduates are women, but since the most popular operas in the canon have many more roles for men, female singers are much less likely to be given career opportunities, and more likely to go into debt. Female classical performers also earn on average 29 percent less than their male counterparts.” – Boston Globe

Will Publishing’s Latest Merger Kill Off Small Presses?

Literary diversity is in jeopardy with the proposed Penguin Random House/ Simon & Schuster merger, or so small publishers claim (with numbers to back them up). “This lack of competition doesn’t inflate consumer prices; it decreases labor costs. In other words, it disadvantages writers. Nowadays, the Big Four might not even make an offer for those big literary debuts. These are not guaranteed hits, after all.” – Los Angeles Times

Cliff Joseph, Artist And Advocate For Black Artists And Multicultural Art Therapy, 98

Joseph led protests in the 1960s and 1970s, telling museums they needed to include Black artists in their collections. Later, he entered the field of mental health, and taught art therapy at The Pratt Institute. He is credited for “helping to introduce concepts like racial sensitivity and cultural competency to the profession.” – The New York Times

How Much Art, Hidden Beneath Wallpaper Or Paint, Is Lost To Renovation?

Or, as the paper calls it, a renovation “craze” in Britain. “Radical home makeovers are increasingly common, reflected by all the TV shows on the theme. This often results in damage and loss of wall paintings, particularly as wattle and daub panelling may be in poor condition. It is usually stripped out and replaced rather than preserved.” – The Observer (UK)

Naomi Long Madgett, Longtime Poet Laureate Of Detroit And Champion Of Black Poets, 97

Madgett was 17 when her first book was published. “Her elegant, exacting and lyrical poems — which invited comparisons to Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson — addressed a breadth of themes: social justice, romantic love, women’s histories, religious devotion and the craft of poetry itself. Yet she was almost as well known as a publisher and editor of poetry.” – The New York Times