The ArtsWatch Famous is just oozing with charm, oozing we tell you. Of course, you might have run into us on our Facebook page, right? Because we’re really charming there.
Until Oregon schools make the list of innovators in arts education, we are failing our kids, plain and simple, because the evidence is clear. (Edutopia)
Craig Thompson has returned from three months on the road promoting his sweet graphic novel, Habibi, and the tour made him appreciate the materiality of books, the importance of their container, even more. (Cool drawings, included.)
(Northwest Book Lovers)
At PORT, Jeff Jahn compiled a list of up-and-coming arts facilitators, meaning people who curate shows and run galleries that exhibit the work of our art scene. Sometimes we forget how much our sense of art in the city depends on certain folks. (PORT)
If your place of business has rules and regulations about what can legitimately appear on your computer screen, you may want to save this “ballet stripped bare,” for watching at home!
We were happy to hear that Intiman Theatre raised the $1 million it needed to run a four-play summer festival this year — the show, as Misha Berson says, will go on. (Not that the financial problems that engulfed the company have all been solved.) (Seattle Times)
Sometimes, working for a common purpose can bring competitors together, which is what’s happening in re-construction of PICA’s new office space, the 419 Building on SW 10th Ave. Howard S. Wright, Walsh Construction, Andersen Construction, and Lease Crutcher Lewis are all pitching in to finish a design by Eric Philps of SERA Architects. We can think of other intractable problems that PICA can work on next. (DJC Oregon)
Jeff Diteman's "Queen of Diamonds" Portrait of Linda Austin
Jeff Diteman’s portrait of dancer/choreographer/community builder Linda Austin makes us happy for some reason. (Gallery Homeland)
Let’s say it’s 2005. You’re a struggling but talented street artist and a little social media company called FaceBook hires you to do some extensive murals in their headquarters. What if you took your payment in shares of its stock? Oh boy. You’re David Choe! And you just made $200 million.(LA Times)
Honestly, we never understood what all the fuss was about regarding Wikipedia. You’d never trust a single source with anything super important, but from the beginning it was so useful, despite what the academic curmudgeons said. Guess what? The academic curmudgeons are coming around. (The Atlantic)
Black Swan gave us a little glimpse into eating disorders at ballet companies, but that was just a movie, right? A ballerina at La Scala in Milan was fired for talking about anorexia in her company with the media, because firing her will fix it. (The Guardian)
What was it about Ben Gazzara? We’re not sure, but something made him about the grittiest and most watchable actor ever. So, we were sad to see him go. (New York Times)
ArtsWatch is a fan of the Dill Pickle Club. But what, you might ask, is the Dill Pickle Club? This video by Matt McCormick may help explain it.