Recommended reading for art and culture professionals in the Coachella Valley and beyond.
ARTS MANAGEMENT
Facebook Ends Transaction Fees for Donations (Chronicle of Philanthropy)
Facebook will eliminate its 5 percent transaction fee for charitable donations made on the site, putting millions of additional dollars, and potentially much more, into the hands of nonprofits.
VISUAL ART
Art Offers Refuge for Abused Teens, Underserved Communities (The Desert Sun)
Old Town Artisan Studios brings the healing power of art to residents of SafeHouse of the Desert, as well as to senior centers, Alzheimer’s and disability groups, women’s shelters, and others.
Artist With Autism Finds His Voice in Painting (The Desert Sun)
After other career paths led nowhere, Nicholas Kontaxis, a 21-year-old artist who has autism and up to 15 seizures a day, found a way to communicate — and make money — in abstract expressionist painting.
37 SoCal Museums to Offer Free Admission on Jan. 28 (Hyperallergic)
For the 13th edition of Museums Free-for-All Day, a total of 37 institutions around southern California — including Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, and Palm Springs Art Museum (pictured above) — will offer free admission on Sunday, Jan. 28.
Is Instagram Hurting or Helping Art? (Los Angeles magazine)
With more and more museums catering to the social media set, and some artists and curators saying the app enhances art’s power and purpose, this is a question worth pondering.
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Modernism Week: What’s New in ’18 (Palm Springs Life)
The architecture and design event set for Feb. 15-25 offers a new design expo, fashion show, film series, and even a night of musical theater. Here’s what’s new!
MUSIC
Paul Tollett Festivals Win 3 Awards at XLIVE (The Desert Sun)
Three festivals, produced by Paul Tollett, president and CEO of Goldenvoice, in partnership with AEG Presents, won three awards at XLIVE, a three-day Las Vegas conference bringing together industry leaders celebrating the best live experience events. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival won for Best Use of Technology at a Festival for its Antarctic Dome, designed by Obscura Digital.
This is Why Your Audience-Building Fails (New Music USA)
People will always prioritize their taste communities ahead of your artistic innovation. That means you either need to work within an existing community, or you need to fill a need for a new community that people have been craving.
THEATER
An Antidote to Digital Dehumanization? Live Theater (The New York Times)
An award-winning playwright argues that the in-the-moment interplay between actors and audience can help us cope with an increasingly virtual world.
HERITAGE
Coachella Valley History Museum Lands Treasure Trove of Mexican Folk Art (The Desert Sun)
A La Quinta couple has gifted more 150 works of Mexican folk art — mostly pottery, textiles, figurines, and paintings from Michoacan and Oaxaca — to Indio’s Coachella Valley History Museum, which hopes to will install the collection before the end of the year.
