Washington State Close To Killing Arts Commission

“Gov. Chris Gregoire proposes eliminating the Washington State Arts Commission and slashing state funding for grants to hundreds of nonprofit arts organizations. Some lawmakers also want to scale back or repeal a separate program the agency runs that sets aside one-half of 1 percent from the construction of state-owned buildings to commission works of art.”

Diana Wynne Jones, Children’s Author, Dead At 76

“Her intelligent and beautifully written fantasies are of seminal importance for their bridging of the gap between ‘traditional’ children’s fantasy, as written by CS Lewis or E Nesbit, and the more politically and socially aware children’s literature of the modern period, where authors such as Jacqueline Wilson or Melvyn Burgess explicitly confront problems of divorce, drugs and delinquency.”

UK Film Study: Audiences Feel Stereotyped, Marginalized

“Its findings suggest most Black African/Caribbean individuals believe they are too often characterised as drug dealers and that a majority of Asian audiences feel Asian religious culture is not reflected authentically. Almost three-quarters of Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual audiences believe that film focuses on them as having problems rather than being everyday people, it continues.”