So is Boston’s MFA 150. Both institutions are hemorrhaging money: a projected $100 million at the Met; $12 million to $14 million at the MFA by the end of June. Thousands of events, including long-planned 150th-anniversary celebrations and fundraising galas, have been canceled. – Washington Post
Tag: 04.13.20
Italian Cultural Leaders Petition For A National “Save Culture” Fund
The museum chiefs have signed a petition launched by the culture advocacy group Federculture which states that “we have to make Italian culture live, to give it oxygen… the repercussions of the coronavirus crisis on the vast world of cultural enterprise are extreme and could be fatal”. – The Art Newspaper
How Andrea Bocelli’s Easter Concert In The Empty Milan Cathedral Became A Worldwide Megahit
“Roughly 5 million people around the world logged on to YouTube to view the half-hour sacred music concert as it was happening. By Monday night the archived performance had 32 million views. Clearly, it transcended religion, nationality, age demographic and even music preference on its way to becoming perhaps the signature cultural event of the pandemic.” – Variety
The Arts Helped Build The Berkshires’ New Economy. Now It’s Gone
For a region whose economy was rebuilt on the most hopeful of things — a social economy, based on the gathering of people — the level of cruelty feels almost farcical. Mass MoCA sees around 300,000 annual visitors, which it says generates about $52 million every year to the local economy. – Boston Globe
How To Reopen Museums – Quickly And Safely
Andras Szanto: “Museums could offer people who have experienced weeks of isolation a safe place to go, or a reprieve from cramped quarters. Their opening would signal the beginnings of a return to normalcy. What’s more, once the public is back, museums can serve as hubs of education, information-sharing, and collective reflection as we work together to surmount this crisis.” – Artnet
How Small Non-Profit Arts Organizations Are Slipping Through Cracks
“In this country we don’t have national infrastructure that supports individual artists the way that would be effective in a crisis.” said Laura Zabel. “That said, every disaster is local,” noted Cerf+ Executive Director Cornelia Carey. – Hyperallergic
Teaching Choreography Lessons Over Zoom (It Can Be Done)
Marina Harss writes about Jessica Lang teaching principles of dance composition to participants — all socially isolating at home — in David Hallberg’s ABT Incubator program. – Dance Magazine
How Fear Has Shaped (And Built) New York
Justin Davidson: “New York has been a scary place for most of the past 400 years. Fire, flood, attack, crime, rebellion, drugs, and disease have shaped it. I find that an oddly reassuring thought, because all through its litany of misfortunes and bouts of exodus, the city’s magnetic force field has strengthened. Fear and pain are crucial human responses — without them, we die. At every desperate juncture, New York has grown and transformed as it healed.” – New York Magazine
Rio Lights Up Christ The Redeemer Statue To Honor Healthcare Workers Treating Coronavirus
“The striking scene included messages of thanks in many languages, along with images of nurses and doctors smiling in protective gear. The word ‘hope’ was also projected onto the statue, along with the Portuguese phrase Fique Em Casa or ‘Stay at Home’.” – NPR
Disney-On-Broadway Coronavirus Benefit On Again After Musicians’ Union Relents
A benefit concert from last November, in which 79 stage performers did songs from Disney musicals, was going to be streamed online to benefit the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund — until, less than a day ahead of time, the international president of the American Federation of Musicians demanded that the pit band be paid extra for streaming rights. (Equity and SAG-AFTRA had waived such payments.) On Sunday, the musicians involved, backed by the union’s New York local, said publicly that they didn’t want the additional money; in less than 24 hours, the AFM president changed his position. – The New York Times