Immersion fatigue

Maybe because I was reading Margo's Got Money Troubles, a great novel with a young protagonist who makes a living through OnlyFans, or because I was listening to this absorbing podcast about how billionaires avoid paying taxes, or because I was able to attend a session at the Prelude Festival with speakers from Dancers for Palestine and Theatre Workers for a Ceasefire who spoke about cultural productions and organizations taking Israeli government funding, but money is an informal theme this week. (That session and a couple of others were recorded and are available on HowlRound.)

Museum field trip

But first, a quick report-back from the Edges of Ailey exhibit currently on view at the Whitney Museum. Alex Tatarsky performed and spoke at a Prelude Festival session that I also got to see this week and cheerfully remarked that, "complaining is how we figure things out together." And, my ears are perpetually ringing with the words of my grandmother who was quite adamant that "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." So while attempting to hold both of those ideas at once, here are a few things I appreciated about the exhibit:

• I'm glad that a major American museum is dedicating space and resources to an iconic Black choreographer.
• I appreciate that there is a live performance component as well and the artists included in that programming represent a wide swath of contemporary work.
• The catalogue looks beautiful and well worth spending some serious time with.
• There is a good amount of delicious archival material included: letters from Ailey to his mother, notes for lectures, company rules ("no smoking!!!"), posters.

But I had a hard time fully appreciating all that was on offer in part because of an 18-channel video installation that spanned the length of the exhibition space and continually blared music and text without offering any context about what the music or text was. The images alternated with each screen in a way that a viewer couldn't really focus on any one channel. Ailey's dances were often presented with music selected by the filmmakers rather than Ailey himself. When I tried to listen to archival videos offered with headphones in one section of the exhibit, I could not hear the audio over the 18-channel omnipresent elephant. I gather that the intent was to create an immersive environment and I just want to beg mercy: real life is immersive, I don't need my art experiences to be completely inescapable.

(If you've seen the show, I'd love to hear what you thought! I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on this one.)

Three cheers: Budget transparency

Chicago Dancemakers Forum is once again hosting multiple Budget Labs (one this coming week and one in November), which are free and open to the community, and provide a look under the hood for how the organization's budget gets created. La Mar Brown, operations manager, explains that people can "witness and respond to our yearly budgeting process. I believe activities like these are essential to maintaining real-time feedback about the work that we do and the support that we are able to provide." I love this and hope that other non-profits will follow their lead and share how budget decisions are made.

Three more cheers: Retirement resources for artists

In this initiative out of Chicago, a group of musicians has gotten a grant to help local musicians create or add to a retirement fund. They have $100,000 from the city, which they'll redistribute to Chicago musicians to contribute to their long-term financial security. It's called Golden Egg and their mission is bold and beautiful: "We aspire to build collective power and create a vision for lasting, shared wealth in the music industry."

They have a seven-page Transparency Document, which shares selection criteria and how they went about designing the project and the process. Another idea that I would love to see spread like wildfire. In addition to the cash, they'll help awardees set up retirement funds, if needed, and are offering financial planning workshops open to all. Applications are open until November 1 if you know someone who should apply.

Sisterly Affection (a bit of Philadelphia appreciation)

Do you need to see a picture of a cat named Todd wearing a Jalen Hurts jersey while waiting to hear Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speak in a neighborhood park? Of course you do!

If you are new to the newsletter, welcome! You can check out the 'about' page if you'd like a little context for where I'm coming from. Each newsletter closes with a Philadelphia moment, institution, or window cat of the week because I love it here. And you can always hit me up with what you're curious about, steamed about, excited about in your own arts ecosystem or in Philly at solidseam@gmail.com.