Good Morning,
Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart says the Boston Symphony has been “living on borrowed time” for years (Boston Globe). In Minneapolis, the Jungle Theater, dark since February, has put its building up for sale (Star Tribune). The California Academy of Sciences is cutting nearly 10% of its workforce (SF Chronicle). And 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).
Meanwhile, wealthy amateurs are now paying to “conduct” professional orchestras for an evening (The Baffler). The institutions that built classical music can’t pay the rent, and the donors who used to fund them are buying themselves the podium instead.
San Francisco is going the other way, naming its first-ever arts and culture czar with authority over three city agencies (SF Chronicle). And nine days before opening, the entire Venice Biennale jury has resigned over Russia’s participation and prize eligibility (AP).
A new Banksy appeared in Westminster overnight — a marching figure with a billowing flag obscuring his face (The Guardian). Read the marching man however you like.
All of our stories below.
