The Grimms’ Fairy Tales Weren’t Published For Children, And The Originals Would Shock Many Parents Today

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm assembled their book of stories as folklorists, not children’s authors, and they intended their book for adult students of German culture, not for parents to read to the kiddies at bedtime. And the stories themselves could be violent: for example, “Cinderella” ends with white birds pecking out the stepsisters’ eyes. – National Geographic History

Searching Through The Myths (Some Of Them Her Own) For Zora Neale Hurston

“On February 4, 1960, the Associated Press ran her obituary. It read, ‘Zora Neale Hurston, author, died in obscurity and poverty.’ And with those words, syndicated in The New York Times and in papers from Jamaica to California, a new set of myths formed. Some listed her age at 57, others 58. After all, depending on what suited her, she told people she was born in 1901, 1902, or 1903 — in Eatonville, Florida. But as it turned out, none of this was true.” – The Bitter Southerner

California’s New Gig Economy Law Could Impact Arts Workers

In the cultural sphere, architects, graphic designers, grant writers, and fine artists are identified as exempt, as are photojournalists and journalists who contribute fewer than 35 times a year to a particular company or publication. But prolific freelance photographers and writers, and other art professionals not named in the law such as independent curators, catalogue researchers and art handlers, could be affected. – The Art Newspaper

New Queens Library As “Third Place”

“With this project, Steven Holl ran with the idea that architecture could sculpt the experience of bringing together a community in a free-of-charge, 22,000-square-foot “third place,”—reflecting the belief popularized by urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg that people need a place to socialize that is neither home nor the ubiquitous privatized realm.” – Architectural Record