Dispatches

How Arts and Culture Will Assist Communities to Recover from the Pandemic

As the pandemic progresses, one thing is becoming clearer. There is no going back. The pandemic is changing the way we all live, our outlook and how we engage in the arts, culture and creativity. (LinkedIn)

The Hard-Hit Arts Sector Is Facing a Brain Drain as Ambitious Workers Seek Greener Pastures

Dissatisfied cultural workers are leaving the field in droves—and museums may pay the price. (Artnet News)

The Met is Betting on a Blockbuster Lineup to Make Up for This Canceled Year. The Future of Opera May Depend on It.

The Metropolitan Opera’s announcement of the cancellation of its entire 2020-21 season was a decision that sent shock waves through the classical community, if not exactly surprise-waves. (The Washington Post)

A Museum Compass for Times of Distress

Thoughts and reflections presented at the international online conference ‘Museums and COVID-19 — Challenges, Re-evaluation and Future Perspectives’. (Medium) 

An Analysis of Willingness to Pay for Digital

Consulting firm Baker Richards has taken an in-depth look specifically at respondents’ willingness to pay for digital content to find out who’s engaging with digital right now, who’s paying for it, who’s interested in engaging with digital in the future and what would they be willing to pay for that in comparison to live events. (Baker Richards) 

Did the $2 Million Hip-Hop Auction at Sotheby’s do the Culture Justice?

The collection, which was seven years in the making, reflected how hip-hop has changed not just music, but also the very fabric of popular culture over the past several decades. (Forbes)

How the High Museum Defies Museum Diversity Trends

Kristie Swink Benson, Director of Communications, discusses how Atlanta’s High Museum programs beyond blockbusters, targets their institutional marketing to a three-to-five-mile radius around the museum, and employs thoughtful engagement efforts to attract and engage a more diverse visitor base. (Capacity Interactive)

National Trust Reassesses Colonial History of Properties

A report laying bare the extent of connections that National Trust properties have with colonialism and slavery is just the beginning of a process to better examine history that is often “complex, nuanced and messy”. (The Guardian)

To Protest Colonialism, He Takes Artifacts from Museums

Mwazulu Diyabanza will appear in a Paris court this month after he tried to make off with an African treasure he says was looted. France and its attitude to the colonial past will be on trial, too. (The New York Times)

Courtroom Drama: Salford’s Lowry Theatre to Become Nightingale Court

The Lowry in Salford is the latest building to be repurposed by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to help tackle what the director of public prosecutions has called “corrosive” delays in the court system. (The Guardian)

Data Report: Arts Council-Funded Cultural Infrastructure

This report comprises of analysis by the Arts Council Policy team of a survey of Art Council England’s regularly funded organisations, exploring Location and Additional Facilities (cafés, bookshops, restaurants, etc.). (Arts Council England)

The Museum of Everything: Do You Have Time to Look at 150,000 Exhibits?

In a world first, Rotterdam’s Boijmans museum has put its entire collection on display in a mammoth new warehouse. As the V&A considers a similar experiment, is this ‘open storage’ model the future? (The Guardian) 

Art Scoping – Episode 29: Aaron Betsky

What can we predict about post-pandemic urban planning? For answers, Maxwell Anderson turns to Aaron Betsky, director of Virginia Tech's School of Architecture + Design, and a widely published critic on art, architecture and design. (Maxwell Anderson)

Building Public Places for a Covid World

What are architects and urban planners foreseeing as people cautiously gather? Streets “curated” for various uses and dynamic cityscapes that both advance wellness and knit communities together. (The New York Times) 

Governors Island Could Be Future Hub for NYC Climate Solutions

The Trust for Governors Island unveiled plans to develop a center for climate solutions on Governors Island, leveraging the Island’s unique environment and waterfront location as a public living laboratory. (Brooklyn Daily Eagle)

Measuring the Civic Commons

Reimagining the Civic Commons has designed metrics to measure what matters most in our civic commons: impact on people’s lives. (Reimagining the Civic Commons). 

Brooklyn Museum to Sell 12 Works as Pandemic Changes the Rules

Museums selling their art has long been frowned upon, but recent financial pressures have sent works to the auction block at Christie’s. The proceeds would pay for the care of the collection. (The New York Times)

How Covid Turned Theatre Companies into Community Services

What would a funding system that prioritised communities instead of buildings look like? And what, if anything, does this have to do with art? (Financial Times)

Rishi Sunak’s Winter Economy Plan Will Silence the UK Music Scene

The successor to the furlough scheme is not fit for a sector still unable to open its doors due to social distancing and curfews – it needs targeted support now. (The Guardian)

Royal Academy Has “No Intention” of Selling Michelangelo Sculpture to Save Jobs

This follows the news that the Royal Academy is consulting on up to 150 redundancies to address financial losses due to the coronavirus pandemic, which it says amount to £8m. (Museums Association) 

AEA Consulting is a global firm setting the standard in strategy and planning for the cultural and creative industries.

We are known for our candid and impartial advice that draws on deep knowledge of the cultural sector as well as robust research and analytical insight.

Since 1991, we have successfully delivered more than 1,000 assignments in 35 countries, helping clients around the world plan and realize vital and sustainable cultural projects.