Tag: 07.28.20

Here’s How The UK’s £1.5 Billion Arts Rescue Package Will Work

“Of the total amount, the government has currently released £880 million ($1.14 billion), which has been split into two funding rounds. The first round of £622 million ($805.3 million) will be distributed immediately, while the remaining £258 million ($334 million) will be reserved for a second round of funding later in the financial year to meet the developing needs of organizations.” – Variety

The Big Sort: All Fiction Can Be Organized In Four Categories

Tim Parks: “All of narrative fiction, I’ve suggested, can be sorted into four grand categories. Each presents a rich world of feeling in which any number of stories can be told and positions established, but always in relation to, or rather, driven by, a distinct cluster of values and consequent emotions. My claim is that it really is worth being aware which of these worlds we are being drawn into. We read better. We know where we are. And what the dangers are.” – New York Review of Books

The Man Who Invented The 8-Hour Workday Had An Even More Radical Idea For Money

Introduced in 1832, the radical idea was called the National Equitable Labour Exchange – a system of currency built on the idea that labour is the source of all wealth, and that goods should be bought and sold based on the time it took labourers to produce it. While the Exchange lasted only a few years, the idealistic project helped to lay the groundwork for some of Owen’s more successful later reforms, such as shorter working days, with the ultimate goal of a workday based on the principle of ‘eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest’. – Aeon

UK’s Sky Arts Channel Goes Free, All Arts

The move to Freeview, the digital network free to all UK residents, has been under discussion for years and is motivated by “a passion to get as much content to as many people as possible and make it more accessible”. But Sky Arts “isn’t a ratings-driving channel. We’re there to be a bit more experimental. We’re there to help nurture new talent and find new voices; new creative voices… The call out that we’re doing today, as we’re launched as free to air is: ‘Artists, what would you do if I gave you the channel for 24 hours to do with what you will?’ – The Art Newspaper

Regal Cinemas Says It Will Reopen In August

Along with AMC and Cinemark, Regal closed down U.S. sites in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic — which profoundly altered the spring and summer slate. “Wonder Woman 1984” was moved to October and James Bond title “No Time to Die” has been slotted for November while many major titles have been taken off the schedule, gone out on streaming services or dated for 2021. – Variety

Why Bob Ross Is Still Hugely Popular

If you’re somehow not familiar with the name, Bob Ross is probably America’s most famous painter. With his distinctive hair, gentle voice, and signature expressions like “happy little trees,” he’s an enduring icon. Even 25 years after his death, he’s popular not only with viewers who remember him fondly, but also with kids who weren’t even born when his show was originally on the air. – The Atlantic

What’s The Last Hurdle For Getting Theatres Open Again? Insurance

“There is real concern that at a time when the need to insure for [COVID risks] is even greater, venues and organisations will not be able to obtain or afford appropriate coverage. This is not just limited to cancellations, but a host of insurance products normally taken out by organisations, for which there are currently limited or no offers available from providers.” – The Stage

Rhiannon Giddens Named Artistic Director Of Silkroad, Yo-Yo Ma’s Cross-Cultural Project

“Silkroad has to exist outside of Yo-Yo, but Yo-Yo is an inalterable part of Silkroad,” said the singer/banjo player/fiddler/opera composer. “Both of those things have to exist at the same time, and it has to take some thought about how to do that in a way that feels good to everyone involved.” Ma, for his part, said of Giddens, “She lives Silkroad’s values.” – The New York Times