This Week's Free ArtsJournal newsletter for 04/04/2021

Compared with the average annual growth rate of arts and cultural industries as a whole (+3 percent), web streaming and web publishing surged by 12 percent, in terms of the value added by those industries to the U.S. economy. The book and software publishing industry grew by over 7 percent. In both cases, we might expect to see sustained if not accelerated growth when the 2020 numbers are released next year. – Sunil Iyengar

Here are some lessons from old-school conference speakers who acknowledged the need for progress, but defended what former Metropolitan Museum director Philippe de Montebello once called “the primacy of art” in the museum’s mission. – Lee Rosenbaum

Lucky in Manhattan to have a Japanese market nearby, and because I’m enticed by anything in a post-Pop package, I fell for Nobel’s Super Cola, three ounces for $3, a dozen or so globes of hot surprise. I told myself that I sprung for my candyphile boyfriend, but they were really for me. When artists such as Lichtenstein or Indiana (not Gary) are ripped off for the package, I grab it. – Jeff Weinstein

To get the drift of Aufzeichnungen über Aussenseiter, I’ve been typing pieces of text into Google Translate. It’s a helluva time-consuming job, but it’s more than worth the effort. It’s just obvious how classy and swinging the whole thing is! Herewith, an excerpt: “Buk Sings His Ass Off.” – Jan Herman

Although last week’s Syracuse Symposium was nominally about Deaccessioning After 2020, it was mostly focused on the new museum imperative — advancing DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Access) by any means possible, even at the cost of dismantling, monetizing and redefining the “permanent” collection to further those sociopolitical goals. – Lee Rosenbaum