“Taking an introductory class in painting or drawing literally alters students’ brains. What’s more, these training-induced changes didn’t only improve the fine motor control needed for sophisticated sketching; they also boosted the students’ creative thinking.”
Category: AUDIENCE
Tom Stoppard Says Audiences Are Now Too Ignorant To Get His Plays
“Sir Tom explained how he had to change a scene in The Hard Truth three times between the previews, making a particular allusion more and more obvious each time. … ‘And I must say that I was completely wrong [in assuming the audience would understand it] and I really resent it.'”
London’s Wigmore Hall Will Live-Stream Concerts Starting Next Season
“Music venue Wigmore Hall is to undergo a £2 million refurbishment that will see the creation of new rehearsal spaces and enable the building to stream and broadcast its work.”
“Outreach And Access” Will Be Conditions For Funding UK Arts Orgs If Labour Wins May Election
Harriet Harman, Labour’s shadow culture minister: “The money that goes into an arts organisation is taxpayers’ money. Outreach and access are not options, they must be part and parcel. … Taxpayers will not be happy to finance something if they think it’s not anything to do with them, especially in hard times.”
Judge Rules: Met Museum Can Charge Admission
Two separate lawsuits had been brought against the museum challenging its policy of charging a $25 “recommended” entrance fee, based on the Met’s original 1876 lease and a subsequent state law that provided city land and funds to establish the museum in return for free admission to the public during most of the week.
Think Libraries Are Dying In The Age Of The Internet? Au Contraire
“People under 65 years old are actually more likely to have visited a library in the past year than their older counterparts. In fact, those between 16 and 29 are just as likely to use a library as those older than 29. And those younger visitors also feel the library in an integral part of their neighborhood.”
How To Advocate For Your Art Form? (It’s Not Sexy, But It Works)
“As with any political issue, your inner Che Guevara might be telling you to organize a protest or to occupy a square on your campus. While that could be a good way to draw attention to an issue, it’s clearly not the best way to get lasting results.”
The Woman Who Runs The LA Phil
“Her key accomplishment has been to keep the Phil relevant — and prosperous — at a time when fewer people nationwide want to buy season tickets to the symphony, especially an on-demand young generation that prefers a la carte programming with a contemporary edge. Borda and Dudamel have kept the classics, but they have expanded the repertoire.” (This is the first in a week-long series of interactive stories about the Los Angeles Philharmonic.)
You Can Enjoy The Art Just As Well (Or Better) Without Your Dangerous Selfie Stick
“The museums making this audacious stand against our time say the sticks are dangerous to their works of art (imagine trying to take your picture next to Van Gogh’s Starry Night, swinging the stick a bit clumsily and tearing the sky a new comet), and they are surely right.”
As Audience Participation In Live Theatre Ramps Up, Is The Trend Cool Or Terrifying?
“To those who see aggressive audience participation as the cutting edge, even the future, of theatre—who talk about its emergence from video gaming and the digital revolution, etc.—it might be instructive to point out that audience participation is as old as English Pantomime.”