Arts news

• Opera As Mountains To Be Summited

  22-11-2021 20:15 via newyorker.com
  
  Matthew Aucoin finds impossibility to be a constant in the history of opera. “The art form’s first practitioners, in seventeenth-century Italy strove to re-create the effect of ancient Greek drama, which of course they had never heard.” – The New Yorker
  
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• Good Morning,

  19-02-2026 01:42 via artsjournal.com
  Documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman died yesterday at 96 — forty-seven films in fifty-six years, most of them about institutions under stress. The New Yorker makes the case that no one in his generation comes close (The New Yorker). He would have had plenty of material today.The Fresno Arts Council is under investigation for $1.5 million in alleged embezzlement, and the city has stripped it of its grant-making authority (The Fresno Bee). The UK’s National Gallery — 4 millio
  
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• THE BLACK SCHOONER Amistad Slave Rebellion Retold in New Graphic Novel

  18-02-2026 23:01 via artsjournal.com
  Before Black History Month runs out, let’s note that David Lester has a new graphic novel in the works: THE BLACK SCHOONER. “It tells the true story of the 1839 uprising aboard the Amistad,” Lester says, and is one of a “growing number of titles depicting history from below.”
  
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• For The First Time In Its 167 Years, This Newspaper’s Reporting Is 100% Paid-For By Subscriptions

  18-02-2026 21:02 via pressgazette.co.uk
  The Irish Times (like most outlets) always depended on advertising to fund its operations. This year, thanks to the strategy followed by its leaders (and the fact that it’s owned by a trust rather than an asset management firm), the paper’s 150,000 print and digital subscribers cover the newsroom’s expenses. – Press Gazette (UK)
  
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• Recent US Post Office Delays Are Hitting Publishers Hard

  18-02-2026 20:31 via niemanlab.org
  Recent USPS service problems aren’t exclusive to newspapers. But for a business where timeliness is baked into the value proposition, they can be uniquely damaging, leading subscribers to cancel and even, in some cases, threatening advertising revenue. – NiemanLab
  
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• The Broadway Director Who Helped Stage The Milan Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony

  18-02-2026 20:01 via playbill.com
  Creative coordinator Sammi Cannold: “I think what would surprise people most is how mathematical it is. From the outside, it looks like pure spectacle and emotion. But behind the scenes, it’s geometry, timecode, safety protocols, wind calculations, the positioning of 35 cameras, traffic flow for hundreds of performers, etc.” – Playbill
  
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• How Ukrainian Musicians Think About Russian Music

  18-02-2026 19:44 via theguardian.com
  For some Ukrainian musicians, the new reality they have chosen is “no Russian words from my lips, no Russian music from my hand”, as Nazarii Stets, one of the players of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra (UFO), founded and conducted by Keri-Lynn Wilson, puts it. – The Guardian
  
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• Workers At Hollywood’s Writers Guild Union Strike Against The Union

  18-02-2026 19:31 via hollywoodreporter.com
  The union maintained that “Guild management has surveilled workers for union activity, terminated union supporters, and engaged in bad faith surface bargaining, showing no intention to come to an agreement on most of WGSU’s core issues.” – The Hollywood Reporter
  
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• An Evolving Notion Of Literacy That Explains Everything

  18-02-2026 19:15 via derekthompson.org
  Literacy literally restructured our consciousness, and the demise of literate culture—the decline of reading and the rise of social media—is again transforming what it feels like to be a thinking, living person. – Derek Thompson
  
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• Grand Rapids Ballet Lays Off Executive Director And Eliminates Position

  18-02-2026 19:03 via crainsgrandrapids.com
  “Grand Rapids Ballet has dismissed executive director Mary Jennings after less than two years in the role, replacing her with an interim CEO as the ballet rethinks its leadership strategy.” – Crain’s Grand Rapids Business
  
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• Why Frederick Wiseman Was The All-Time Best Documentary-Maker

  18-02-2026 18:44 via newyorker.com
  Between 1967 and 2023, he made forty-seven features (nearly one a year), many of them running considerably more than two hours. His body of work, considered in terms of number of features and of total running time, is one that probably no one in his generation or younger can match.  – The New Yorker
  
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• How Consolidation Has Wrecked Publishing

  18-02-2026 18:31 via honest-broker.com
  Here’s the problem: Those Big Five control over 80% of the trade publishing market. Indie publishers exist, but they need more support—a lot more support—than they’re getting. – The Honest Broker
  
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• Judy Chicago Walks Away From “Nightmare” Google Project

  18-02-2026 18:15 via chicago.suntimes.com
  The celebrated visual artist Judy Chicago has walked away from a major commission at Google’s headquarters project in the Loop, comparing an aspect of working with the tech giant as “a nightmare.” – Chicago Sun-Times
  
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• California City Reports $1.5 Million Embezzled From Its Arts Funding Agency

  18-02-2026 18:05 via msn.com
  “The statement from (Fresno Arts Council), which handled public grants set aside by the local parks and arts tax for the past few years, said the arts council began securing records and initiating ‘appropriate next steps’.” Meanwhile, the City Council has removed the granting process from Arts Council control. – The Fresno Bee (MSN)
  
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• If The UK’s Biggest Institutions Are Struggling, There’s A Structural Problem

  18-02-2026 17:44 via theconversation.com
  If the National Gallery – one of Britain’s leading attractions with over 4 million visitors a year – is struggling to balance its books, it indicates wider structural problems in the arts industry. – The Conversation
  
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• Russia Produces Great Artists. Why Not Great Science?

  18-02-2026 17:31 via nightingalessonata.com
  Russia produces world‑class artists and brilliant scientific inventors, yet few globally successful technologies. Why? – Nightingale Sonata
  
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• CBS’ Attempted Censorship Of Colbert Backfires Spectacularly – 10X Online Views As Typical Ratings

  18-02-2026 17:15 via newrepublic.com
  CBS lawyers tried to block Stephen Colbert’s interview with Texas legislator James Talarico, but Colbert posted it online instead—where it exploded, drawing far more viewers than TV. By defying CBS and the FCC’s new “equal time” rule, Colbert turned attempted censorship into a viral publicity gift. – The New Republic
  
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• Algeria’s Most Famous Author Faces Legal Cases For Misusing A Terror Victim’s Story

  18-02-2026 17:06 via theguardian.com
  Kamel Daoud’s Goncourt-winning novel Houris is about a woman whose throat was slit at age 5 during a terrorist massacre and who can now barely speak. An Algerian woman — whose psychiatrist was Daoud’s wife — has brought legal cases accusing the author of using her life story for the book without permission. – The Guardian
  
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• Another San Francisco Institution Cancels Its Next Show Due To Money Troubles

  18-02-2026 16:34 via yahoo.com
  Lamplighters Music Theatre, the Bay Area’s Gilbert and Sullivan specialists, has called off its spring 2026 production of Patience. Company leaders blame not only the rising costs and shrinking audiences many organizations have experienced post-pandemic, but also the expenses caused by the personnel law AB5. – San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
  
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• Saudi Arabia Commissions World’s Largest Mural, Which It Hopes Will Be Visible From Space

  18-02-2026 16:02 via pagesix.com
  The job — to create a painting 50,000 square meters large, roughly the size of nine football fields, in the Saudi capital, Riyadh — has gone to New York-based artist Domingo Zapata, who is reportedly getting an “unlimited budget.” – Page Six
  
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• Louvre’s No. 2 Official Says Ticket Fraud Is “Inevitable” At Large Museums

  18-02-2026 15:30 via apnews.com
  “Which museum in the world, with this level of attendance,” said Louvre general administrator Kim Pham, “would not at certain moments have some issues of fraud?” (He would not, however, name another museum with a similar problem.) – AP
  
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• How Will Academy Voters Decide Which Movie Should Win Best Casting Oscar?

  18-02-2026 15:01 via nytimes.com
  “Yes, casting directors are finding the right person to carry the weight of the movie, but they are also responsible for nearly every face you see onscreen, creating the whole human environment of the film. Perhaps the casting award is most akin to the one honoring production design.” – The New York Times
  
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• Oscar-Nominated Co-Writer Of “It Was Just An Accident” Released From Iranian Prison

  18-02-2026 14:33 via hollywoodreporter.com
  Mehdi Mahmoudian, who wrote the screenplay for the Cannes-winning film alongside director Jafar Panahi, has been released on bail after 17 days. He was among a group of people arrested for signing a statement condemning Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for ordering the violent crackdown on protesters last month. – The Hollywood Reporter
  
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• Actor Shia LaBeouf Arrested In New Orleans After Alleged Mardi Gras Fistfight

  18-02-2026 14:05 via apnews.com
  He is charged with two counts of simple battery following incidents in the midnight hours of Tuesday morning. This is, of course, by no means his first run-in with law enforcement. – AP
  
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• Technical and Facility Director

  18-02-2026 06:11 via artsjournal.com
  Application Deadline: Monday, March 16, 2026, at 5 p.m. P.T.
  Accepting Online Applications OnlyInformation on How to ApplySalary
  $93,246.40 – $125,881.60 AnnuallyLocation
  Eugene, ORJob Type
  Full-Time RegularJob Number
  04377Department
  Library, Recreation & Cultural ServicesDivision
  Cultural Services DivisionOpening Date
  02/17/2026Closing Date
  3/16/2026 5:15 PM PacificGeneral Statement of Duties The Technical and Facility Director leads the technical operations for the Hult Center for t
  
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• Architect Oscar Niemeyer’s Final Building Was A Diner In Leipzig

  17-02-2026 21:06 via theguardian.com
  The great Brazilian modernist, best-known for the futuristic government buildings in Brasilia, had recently turned 103 when he drew the first sketch for what’s now called the Niemeyer Sphere. When he died almost a year later, he hadn’t finalized the design, but there were enough sketches and specifications to complete it. – The Guardian
  
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• Stephen Colbert Says CBS Censored Talarico Interview On His Late Night Show

  17-02-2026 20:31 via artsjournal.com
  Colbert said that CBS lawyers had told him “in no uncertain terms” that an interview he had planned for Monday’s show with State Representative James Talarico of Texas would not air on the show, even though the lawmaker was already in Mr. Colbert’s studio. – The New York Times
  
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• A Rare Edition Of Shakespeare’s First Folio Was Stolen And Damaged. Now That It’s Been Recovered, Should It Be Repaired?

  17-02-2026 20:04 via yahoo.com
  When in 2010, Durham University got back the Folio which had been stolen in 1998, the book’s leather cover, boards and end papers were gone, as were an engraving, a eulogy by Ben Jonson, and the final page of Cymbeline. The volume has never been repaired, and there are good reasons why. – BBC (Yahoo!)
  
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• Michael Silverblatt, A Radio Interviewer Who Really Knew His Subjects’ Work, Dies At 73

  17-02-2026 19:44 via yahoo.com
  Michael Silverblatt, the longtime host of the KCRW radio show “Bookworm” — known for interviews of authors so in depth that they sometimes left his subjects astounded at his breadth of knowledge of their work — has died. – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)
  
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• In Australia, Arts Education Enrollment Is Plummeting

  17-02-2026 19:31 via limelight-arts.com.au
  A comprehensive review of national data shows a steady decline in arts subject enrolments at senior secondary level and a parallel contraction of creative arts degree courses in higher education since 2018. – Limelight
  
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