As The Atlantic runs a story for the end of Pride Month with the headline claim that “The Struggle for Gay Rights Is Over,” perhaps the author needs to chat with Khalid Abdel-Hadi, a Jordanian whose magazine, created in a place where only 7 percent think LGBT people should have equal rights, is blocked in his own country. (video) – BBC
Tag: 06.24.19
A Creepy Way Of Thinking About Art: Investing In It
Both of these reservoirs of dark matter—trophy works destined for museum accession or philanthropic donation and unsold inventory—serve to keep prices afloat and maintain artificial scarcity for the thinly traded population of works that do come to market each season. – Artsy
Novelist Michael Chabon Will Be Showrunner Of Next ‘Star Trek’ Series
The Pulitzer-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Moonglow, Wonder Boys and The Yiddish Policemen’s Union will be in charge of Star Trek: Picard, the upcoming CBS All Access series that will revisit Patrick Stewart’s character from The Next Generation. – Deadline
Principal Of ‘Fame’ High School Is Out After Pushing Too Hard For Academics
After six years in charge of LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts in Manhattan, Lisa Mars has resigned. “For years, Mars’ leadership … has been criticized for what students, faculty, parents, and alumni have described as a shifted focus to academics. Last month, students staged an hours-long sit-in at the school to protest Mars.” – Chalkbeat
This Museum Wants To Repatriate Its Benin Bronze. That’s More Complicated Than They’d Expected
A Q&A with two curators at the museum at the Rhode Island School of Design about the issues of provenance, law, and diplomacy around the future return of the museum’s 18th-century sculpture of the head of a traditional Edo king. – Hyperallergic
Webster Vs. Worcester: America’s Dictionary Wars
As the desire for an authoritative dictionary of American English developed in the first half of the 19th century, there was a serious battle between the partisans of Noah Webster — who was passionate and devoted, yes, but whose definitions could be, well, idiosyncratic, and whose ideas about spelling reform were mocked — and the more scholarly Joseph Emerson Worcester. Who won? Not Webster, though it may look otherwise. – Aeon
Marvel Comics Moves Into Theatre With Series Of Plays For High Schools
“As if dominating movie theaters weren’t enough, Marvel is about to move into high school theater as well. The publisher has announced a partnership with theatrical publisher Samuel French to offer three one-act plays featuring Marvel characters created specifically for the high school market under the umbrella banner Marvel Spotlight.” – The Hollywood Reporter
Joyce Pensato, 78, Artist Who Gave Cartoon Characters De Kooning-Like Intensity
Robert Smith: “She subverted both sides of the high-low equation, ridiculing and exaggerating Abstract Expressionist technique while imbuing popular culture characters with raw, uncontrollable feelings that were more real and gripping than the angst of the Abstract Expressionists.” – The New York Times
Now Even Britain’s House Of Lords Thinks West End Tickets Are Too Expensive
“Liberal Democrat peer Patrick Boyle started the debate, in which he asked the government what ‘assessment they have made of the operation of the theatre market in London’ and what steps it had taken to ‘ensure theatre is accessible to as wide an audience as possible’. He used his speech to demand greater transparency from the theatre industry about where money from ticket sales went.” – The Stage
Two Houston Ballet Dancers To Lead Estonia’s National Ballet
First soloist Linnar Looris, a native son, has been named artistic director; Jared Matthews, who was a longtime soloist at ABT before coming to Houston as a principal dancer, will be assistant to the artistic director. – Pointe Magazine