The data, which look at the economic role of the arts at the federal level, show that the arts and cultural sector contributed nearly $730 billion to the U.S. economy in 2014, the year for which the agencies evaluated data. That is roughly 4.2% of the U.S. economy for that year. (The NEA’s annual budget, as a point of comparison, is $148 million.)
Tag: 04.19.17
Meet The Dancer With A Prosthetic Arm Who’s Making Herself A Mainstream Career
“Annie Hanauer, 30, has achieved what many thought impossible for a performer with a disability: a thriving career in the mainstream dance world. After performing with the UK’s Candoco Dance Company from 2008 to 2014, she is now an in-demand freelancer.” (includes video)
Canada Has Produced Numerous Global Stars. Alas, It’s Unsustainable
“The paradox in Canadian music is that we have so many superstars and very few developmental channels to build future superstars. We cannot expect to continue to have globally relevant Canadian pop stars without examining (or creating) the mechanisms needed to sustain pop chart ascension.”
Looks Like Hackers Might Be Able To Break Our Strongest Encryptions. So now Quantum Cryptography. But…
“Cryptographers think that a new kind of computer based on quantum physics could make public-key cryptography insecure. Bits in a normal computer are either 0 or 1. Quantum physics allows bits to be in a superposition of 0 and 1, in the same way that Schrödinger’s cat can be in a superposition of alive and dead states. This sometimes lets quantum computers explore possibilities more quickly than normal computers. While no one has yet built a quantum computer capable of solving problems of nontrivial size (unless they kept it secret), over the past 20 years, researchers have started figuring out how to write programs for such computers and predict that, once built, quantum computers will quickly solve ‘hidden subgroup problems’. Since all public-key systems currently rely on variations of these problems, they could, in theory, be broken by a quantum computer.”
The Theatre Designer Who Designed Modern America
“While older utopias often were predicated on returning to the virtues of an imagined past, a key figure behind this utopia of the new was Norman Bel Geddes, a theatre designer turned industrial designer. Bel Geddes is best known for designing the General Motors Futurama exhibit at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, a huge and hugely celebrated vision of the world of 1960, full of towering modernist skyscrapers in new cities and lots and lots of cars.”
Wagnerian Tenor Manfred Jung Dead At 76
“[He] is perhaps best known for taking on the role of Siegfried in Götterdämmerung for Bayreuth’s centennial Ring cycle … He also garnered fame for being one of the few tenors to sing every single tenor role in Wagner’s Ring.”
Was This The Most Influential Music Teacher Of All Time?
We should raise a cheer to the woman who contributed so much, with so little fanfare, to the history of 20th and 21st Century music. Don’t take my word for it. “Nadia Boulanger,” says Quincy Jones, “was the most astounding woman I ever met in my life.” And he’s met a few.
Why Are London’s Museums Royally Overhung?
“Here’s an exhausting irony: Tate Modern’s room dedicated to Minimalism is so packed with works that it looks more like an industrial warehouse than a museum … [It] is just one of the countless London exhibitions stuffed full of art like a trussed turkey.”
An Arts Festival For, And About, Refugees
“As an arts festival with an explicit social change mission, Refugee Week faces some unique challenges. Emily Churchill Zaraa discusses how it tackles them head on.”
Using The Arts To Brighten Up Scotland’s Oil Capital
The director of the independent regional agency SMART writes about the cultural renaissance taking place in Aberdeen and the differences it has made.