Are publishers necessary?

Notes from the front lines of the revolution in publishing

How does an author manage his or her backlog? Do publishers have any value? A writer reports from the center of the technological storm reshaping the publishing business.

Tom Purdom

Jul 19, 2014 · Articles · 5 minute read

Bill Watterson, J. D. Salinger, and the reclusive life

Tigers and teens can be troublesome assets

Are writers like J. D. Salinger and Bill Watterson behaving like recluses and introverts when they avoid public exposure?

Tom Purdom

Jun 24, 2014 · Articles · 4 minute read

First Fridays in Philadelphia

Come for the drag queens, stay for the art

First Friday used to be a celebration of art — these days, it's a hook for marketing departments.

Jackie Schifalacqua

Jun 10, 2014 · Articles · 3 minute read

Dwaine Tinsley and the vagaries of history

The archduke and the pervert

Finding justice for Dwaine Tinsley: If I was not a writer with my peculiar interests; if I had not practiced workers’ compensation law; if that client had not become disgruntled. . . .

Bob Levin

Apr 24, 2014 · Articles · 4 minute read

The role of the theater critic

Diversity Onstage: A Critical Issue

Some critics don’t concern themselves with diversity or context, sticking to the subject before them. This is its own form of injustice as well as an abandonment of the critic’s role; to see exclusionary practices and not comment on them is to perpetuate them, but also, to pretend a show exists in a cultural vacuum does a disservice to the role of art.

Wendy Rosenfield

Feb 19, 2014 · Articles · 5 minute read

Survey of Public Participation in the Arts

Troubling trends in the arts

Even in the best of times, art has been the purview of the few, but now the few have turned into the very few. The NEA's Survey of Public Participation in the arts shows that support of the arts is declining.

Armen Pandola

Feb 02, 2014 · Articles · 4 minute read

Derek Gillman departs

The Barnes confronts a rock and a hard place

Derek Gillman’s sudden exit as director of the Barnes Foundation and his replacement by a member of the Barnes board marks a new chapter in the Foundation’s unfolding saga in Center City— and a sign that it’s already in serious financial straits.

Robert Zaller

Dec 14, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read

Pennsylvania Academy sells a Hopper

Keeping an Eakins, selling a Hopper, or: Watch your back, Mona Lisa

The Pennsylvania Academy's announced sale of East Wind Over Weehawken, one of the two Edward Hopper oil paintings in Philadelphia, raises this question: What responsibility do museums have to preserve core works in their collections, or even the idea of a core collection itself?

Robert Zaller

Sep 04, 2013 · Articles · 6 minute read

The Washington Post's future: One hint

Thinking outside the box about the future of the Post

The recent sale of the Washington Post to Amazon's founder, Jeff Bezos, has unleashed a flood of speculation among the punditry. His latest gambit with authors of fiction books suggests that this innovative tycoon may do something totally unexpected with his new media property.

Tom Purdom

Aug 13, 2013 · Articles · 4 minute read

The Barnes raises its rates

Get thee gone, peasants! The Barnes seeks more refined visitors

The Barnes Museum, short of cash and also apparently seeking a better class of visitor, has raised its admission rates just 11 months after it opened. But wasn't bringing the art of the Barnes collection to the common people at an affordable cost the whole point of moving it in the first place?

Robert Zaller

Apr 19, 2013 · Articles · 6 minute read