“Although he managed to perform well despite his stage fright, [Seymour] Bernstein eventually decided to quit. He gave his final public concert in 1977, at the age of 50.” – The New York Times

The post The Pianist Who Cut Short His Career Because Of Stage Fright, And Then Became A Movie Star For Ethan Hawke, Has Died At 99 appeared first on ArtsJournal.

Competing studies find that Portland can support one performing arts center or maybe two performing arts centers, or not. And of course, “Portland has appointed a number of advisory committees to study the choices more closely before holding public hearings to make a final decision.” – Oregon ArtsWatch

The post Wait, Portland Has Another New Analysis Saying Two Concert Halls Would Be Just Fine appeared first on ArtsJournal.

“Each fence, bollard, and inch of blast-resistant laminated glass is a barrier between the people and their government. Virtually every modern presidency has understood this, leaning into discretion. … It was a bit of a fiction, but now we see the alternative, and it is grim.” – The Atlantic

The post The White House’s Potential New Ballroom Has Even More Issues appeared first on ArtsJournal.

“The lawsuit … alleges the Paramount-Warner deal will lead to increased prices, fewer consumer choices and reduce production of film and TV since a major rival in the entertainment business will be eliminated.” – Los Angeles Times (MSN)

The post Consumers Sue To Block Paramount Merger With Warner Bros appeared first on ArtsJournal.

“Even a book that I know I wouldn’t enjoy now would still be interesting to read, to figure out how both it and I had changed. And there is always the possibility that I would enjoy it after all. Books are always surprising you.” – The Guardian (UK)

The post How Booker-Nominated Author Katie Kitamura Reads appeared first on ArtsJournal.

Big, with a “Heroes Walk,’” and “accompanying the statues would be formal gardens, reflecting pools and plazas arranged in a style reminiscent of classical European planning traditions, according to renderings.” – The New York Times

The post Wait, Just How Big Is Trump’s Desired Garden Of Heroes Supposed To Be Now? appeared first on ArtsJournal.

In another rule change, “the Academy also requires screenplays to be ‘human-authored’ and said it reserved the right to investigate the use of generative AI in any submission.” – NPR

The post The Motion Picture Academy Says No AI Creation Will Win An Oscar appeared first on ArtsJournal.

“Vinyl sales peaked during the Covid lockdowns and are now, after returning to pre-pandemic levels, plateauing or even on the downturn, while production costs are going up.” Streaming actually … isn’t as bad? – The Guardian (UK)

The post Not Even Vinyl Is Winning As Major Labels Try To Scoop Up Every Last Indie Act Possible appeared first on ArtsJournal.

“The tea leaves are there — it’s time to start scrutinizing them.” – Vulture (MSN)

The post Way, Way Too Early Predictions For The Emmys appeared first on ArtsJournal.

“The major issues on the agenda included artificial intelligence and streaming residuals, both of which also featured prominently in the 2023 strike.” – Variety

The post Whew, Hollywood Actors And Studios Seem To Have Figured Out A Contract Without A Strike appeared first on ArtsJournal.

Actors from The Pitt, The Bear, and Hacks are taking their (in some cases, newfound) television fame back to where it all began for many of them: the stage. – The New York Times

The post So Many Actors Are Bopping Between HBO And New York’s Stages This Season appeared first on ArtsJournal.

The journey began in 2018. “Over time [the deer] became a landmark, a well-known feature of the city. It was a peaceable, delicate creature to replace a symbol of military domination and violence. Fast forward to the summer of 2024.” – The Guardian (UK)

The post The Epic Journey Of Ukraine’s Origami Concrete Deer To The Venice Biennale appeared first on ArtsJournal.

The Boston Symphony has been “living on borrowed time” for years, says Keith Lockhart (Boston Globe). The Jungle Theater in Minneapolis has put its building up for sale (Star Tribune). London’s National Gallery — in such precarious shape it has just hired an economist-in-residence — warns that “if they catch cold, the rest of us will get pneumonia” (Financial Times). Boston’s forward-thinking progressive mayor wants to cut the city arts budget by 27% (Boston Art Review). Hampshire College is selling off its campus to retire $25 million in debt (MassLive).

Wealthy amateurs are paying to “conduct” professional orchestras for an evening (The Baffler). San Francisco has named its first arts and culture czar with authority over three city agencies (SF Chronicle). Oxford has opened a billion-dollar humanities complex (The Guardian). The Guardian’s reader-funded American newsroom now has more U.S. readers than the Washington Post does (The Rebooting). And Banksy installed a marching man in Westminster overnight, flag obscuring the face (The Guardian).

So money, audience, and authority are all moving sideways out of the old vertical architecture into arrangements that don’t yet have institutional names. This week I looked into the relative size of non-profit culture and commercial culture, which helps put some of these issues in perspective. The culture universe is bigger than the structures that used to map it — which is the thread I pull in this week’s AJ Chronicles.

All this week’s stories below, organized by topic.

The post The Great Culture Schism: Money, Audience and Authority appeared first on ArtsJournal.

Union Arts Center, home of ACT Contemporary Theatre & Seattle Shakespeare Company, is excited to announce an opening for a Director of Production (DOP). Union Arts Center (UAC) has successfully launched our inaugural season, which includes both contemporary and classical works. This is a momentous opportunity to join our merged organization within a collaborative and creative work environment. See more details about responsibilities and qualifications at https://www.unionartscenter.org/about/work-with-us/

The Director of Production is the head of the Production Department and an integral member of UAC’s senior leadership team. The DoP is responsible for the realization of UAC’s artistic vision, accountable for the quality of production values, and the efficient management of all production and artistic resources.

As Head of the Production Department, the DoP is responsible for developing, planning, budgeting, scheduling, implementing, and supervising all production activities. An essential component of this position is being a consistent role model of inclusive leadership, incorporating performance management best practices such as routinely thoughtfully receiving and delivering feedback.

The DoP reports to the Artistic Director. Direct reports include the Technical Director, Costume Department Manager, and Associate Production Manager. Indirect management of all shop staff. Position requirements include working onsite and managing an irregular schedule, including nights and weekends.

The annual salary for this full-time, exempt position is $110,000. The role is a primarily onsite position. UAC provides comprehensive benefits, including access to medical insurance, with UAC paying 92% of monthly deductible for the HMO plan, and dental and vision insurance with
employee contribution. Long term and life insurance premiums are fully covered by UAC. We offer 11 paid holidays, access to a 403b plan and $6 downtown Seattle parking and free tickets to UAC productions. PTO begins at 20 days per year and employees accrue sick time per Seattle Paid Sick
and Safe Time (PSST).

Please apply by email your resume and a cover letter outlining your interest in the position and your qualifications at work@unionartscenter.org. If accommodations may be needed for the application process, please contact work@unionartscenter.org.

MORE

The post Director of Production – Union Arts Center appeared first on ArtsJournal.

Depth hasn’t disappeared. Perhaps it’s gone lateral. The vertical architecture that produced “official” cultural memory has cracked, but the appetite for tradition — for context, for lineage, for the why — has migrated to wherever audiences and individuals can build their own context and throughlines. Sometimes those lines are deep obsessive sturdy. Sometimes they are skimming across the surface of micro-videos and news of the day.

The post AJ Chronicles: Are Our Attention Spans Killing Culture or Reassembling It? appeared first on diacritical.

The post AJ Chronicles: Are Our Attention Spans Killing Culture or Reassembling It? appeared first on ArtsJournal.

Kaneza Schaal, Theater & Opera Artist & Director, talks about the extraordinary upcoming America at 250 season at Detroit Opera and its impact for audiences and community.

The post Kaneza Schaal talks about America 250 at the Detroit Opera appeared first on ArtsJournal.

One became a kindergarten teacher and social worker; another became a midwife. One lucky fellow got to be artistic director of a company; another studied music and started conducting ballet orchestras. One got appointed to Britain’s House of Lords. And one, of course, became a consultant. – The Guardian

The post Six Elite Ballet Dancers On What They Did After Retiring From The Stage appeared first on ArtsJournal.

Chinguetti developed as a trading post on the trans-Sahara caravan route to Timbuktu — and, as in Timbuktu, over the centuries Chinguetti families came to amass important collections of medieval manuscripts on religion, law, and science. Now, as the population dwindles and the desert sand encroaches, preserving these collections is a challenge. – The Dial

The post The Struggle To Protect Mauritania’s Medieval Library Town appeared first on ArtsJournal.

The sculpture depicts a man marching forward off a plinth while carrying a large, billowing flag that obscures his face. A video Banksy posted on social media shows the statue being towed to Westminster in the dead of night, alongside shots of the nearby statue of Winston Churchill. – The Guardian

The post London’s New Banksy Statue Appears In The Middle of The Night appeared first on ArtsJournal.

Three months after pausing its programming because of financial hardship, the Jungle Theater has put its south Minneapolis home up for sale. The company announced April 30 that it is actively looking for a buyer of its Lyndale Avenue S. building. – Minneapolis Star Tribune

The post Troubled Minneapolis Theatre Puts Its Building Up For Sale appeared first on ArtsJournal.

Keith Lockhart, longtime conductor of the Boston Pops, said Wednesday “there is a lot of blame to be spread around” for the turmoil that has engulfed the Boston Symphony Orchestra, noting that the BSO for years has been “living on borrowed time.” – Boston Globe

The post Lockhart: Boston Symphony Is Living On Borrowed Time appeared first on ArtsJournal.

“These experiences allow people with money but little musical ability to roleplay composer and conductor — for a price. This development flows naturally from this era’s extreme inequality as well as classical music’s precarious state, even in such historically generous countries as Germany. It risks reshaping the art itself to align with the whims of wealthy dilettantes.” – The Baffler

The post Pay-To-Play: Rich People Are Hiring Themselves Orchestras To Conduct appeared first on ArtsJournal.

According to results from a 2025 Harris Poll, 62 per cent of American kids aged eight to 12 have never walked or biked somewhere without an adult. Roughly the same percentage have never made plans with friends without adult assistance, and almost half have never walked in a different aisle than their parents at a store. – Psyche

The post Are Online Worlds The Only Place Children Have Unsupervised Freedom? appeared first on ArtsJournal.