Category: issues

“We want to make sure the [tourism] industry has a more positive impact on a broader group of locals, not just a few big companies, to improve environmentally friendly mobility and consumption and long-term economic investment. We want a sustainable visitor economy that doesn’t harm the liveability of our city.” – Huffington Post

Levels of trust in social media companies to make the right decisions about what people can say or post on their websites and apps are low, with more than 8 in 10 Americans saying they trust the companies “not much” (44%) or “not at all” (40%). – Knight Foundation

“Could repurposed coal-mining sites in the Appalachian mountains of Eastern Kentucky become an art-world destination and hub for a burgeoning arts scene? That is the ambitious proposition underpinning Somewhere Appalachia, an initiative spearheaded by Brook Smith, a Louisville-based entrepreneur, philanthropist and contemporary art collector.” – The Art Newspaper

“Restoration work funded by Germany has begun on the Al-Aghawat mosque, houses are being refurbished with the aid of the European Union, and the rehabilitation of the Dominican Al-Saa’a church is under way with funding from the United Arab Emirates. Brendan Cassar, the head of UNECSO’s culture unit in Iraq, says the projects grouped under its ‘Revive the Spirit of Mosul’ initiative are ‘modest attempts’ to rehabilitate the devastated city, whose full reconstruction would cost hundreds of billions of dollars.” – The Art Newspaper

Many on Twitter and Instagram voiced surprise at—but also saw the funny side of—the results of a 1,000-person survey published in the Singaporean newspaper the Straits Times. The publication listed the top five essential jobs, with doctors and nurses coming out top, and the top five non-essential jobs with artist pipping telemarketer to the top position. Cold calls are seemingly more essential than art, in the eyes of those surveyed. In the poll, 71% of people listed artist as a non-essential job, while 86% listed doctor or nurse as an essential job. – The Art Newspaper

“We found that 25-to-34-year-old college graduates were among the most likely to move of any demographic group, and that they were systematically moving toward some places and away from others,” states to the report, Youth Movement: America’s Accelerating Urban Renaissance. “To an apparently unprecedented degree, those moves seemed to be motivated by a desire for urban living.” – CityLab

With the cost of tickets ranging from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars, calling for ticket donations is a strategy many performing arts organizations are using to stay afloat amid coronavirus-related show cancellations and postponements. But are audiences actually donating tickets? And if so, what impact does that have on venues? – Los Angeles Times

The currency of fame has always been deeply unstable. But, with movie theatres and live venues closed and the devices in our pockets quickly becoming our primary media machines, it can feel as though famous people are suddenly on the same footing as everybody else. Despite this illusion of a level playing field, many people are still holding on to stardom as a meaningful category, as something that validates their experiences of isolation. – The Walrus

The app, founded in 2007, is credited with playing a central role in opening up higher education to the public. Institutions such as Stanford University; the University of California, Berkeley; Duke University; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology all shared free educational content on the app in audio, video or ebook format. – InsideHigherEd

“It’s not a festival in the same way a live festival is, since the conditions are completely different, our ability to present work in so many of the ways we normally do is nonexistent, our audiences can’t come out and be with us in public…I mean, most of the people who work at the festival have long careers in performing arts. We’re used to creating work for crowds of people to experience in close quarters. But it didn’t feel right to not do anything.” – Broadway World