It was apt that most of the reader response to last week’s cover story by Kriston Capps, which explored how D.C. museums have embraced social media-friendly exhibitions, was shared via Twitter. The Twitter account for Lord Cultural Resources (@LordCultural), which offers museum and cultural planning services, affirmed the notion that visitors love Instagram-friendly installations: “If there’s one thing social media-savvy visitors like, it’s a big, photogenic exhibition.”
Tyler Wyant (@twyant) offered this observation: “Three-quarters of a million people saw ‘Wonder’ at the Renwick, which is how long the lines felt.” City Paper contributor Margaret Carrigan (@reallifemaggie) wrote, “My fave part of @kristoncapps’s review of ‘Icebergs’ is that it’s also another review of the Renwick’s ‘Wonder.” She continued, “but also, there’s this very important nugget of info that we need to talk abt more: ‘Spectacle is an economic condition of art.’” To which Robert Bettmann (@rbett) responded, “Is that new, or has it always been that way. I’d suggest: increasingly. Result of democratization of the media?”
Capps also got some Twitter love from DCist editor-in-chief Rachel Sadon (@Rachel_Sadon): “Leave it to @kristoncapps to write the thoughtful piece on art-as-spectacle in D.C. that I’ve been looking for.”
Meanwhile, we were surprised by this one: The Twitter account for the federal government’s website on disability policies and programs (@Disabilitygov) tweeted a link to food editor Laura Hayes’ piece about how patrons are increasingly faking their pets’ status as service animals to bring them into bars and restaurants. (In, er, service to the story, Hayes paid $79 to register her imaginary pooch Miss Piggy as a certified emotional support dog. It only took four minutes.)
But enough self-congratulation. City Paper remains Enemy No. 1 with Adams Morgan neighborhood activists who are trying to save the SunTrust bank plaza from redevelopment. “This is why City Paper’s readership is in decline,” wrote Chris Otten, who remains livid about CP’s Aug. 12 piece “Plaza-ble Deniability.” “Your staff won’t do the research and just blurts out what the developers tell them. It’s amazing!”
Department of Corrections: In last week’s cover story (“Art Blanche”), we mistakenly characterized seasonal attendance figures for the Hirshhorn as annual figures. Annual attendance is about 700,000 visitors.
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