Today’s Highlights: The most significant institutional rupture right now is the battle for funding in Washington. In a major rebuke to Trump, the U.S. House has voted to fully fund the NEA, NEH, and the Smithsonian, moving to protect the nation’s primary cultural stewards. This spirit of defiance extends to the Voice of America, as a bipartisan spending bill has allocated $643 million for the agency, bucking a direct shutdown order from the White House (The Washington Post (MSN)). Meanwhile, as the Washington National Opera prepares to leave the Kennedy Center, legal experts explain why the National Symphony Orchestra would find it nearly impossible to follow suit, regardless of the politics (William Ford).
The relationship between creativity and technology is reaching a new level of friction. While Bandcamp has officially prohibited music created by AI to preserve “human connection”, media organizations are lashing out at Big Tech, alleging that Google “cheated” media out of essential advertising revenue while breaking traditional business models (The Atlantic). This automated pressure is even reaching the consumer’s wallet, with warnings that personalized pricing algorithms are now tailoring the cost of goods and services based on individual browsing patterns and locations (The Walrus).
Despite these digital pressures, the hunger for physical, immersive experiences is growing. The immersive theater company Punchdrunk is turning video games into live-action multiplayer experiences (The Guardian), while a revival of Regency-style balls is seeing fans of Jane Austen and Bridgerton flocking to historical dance floors (The Guardian).
Finally, we look at the shifting nature of artistic legacy. A newly released trove of Harper Lee’s letters offers a rare glimpse into her aversion to public attention and her thoughts on Truman Capote (The New York Times). Philadelphia prepares to move the iconic Rocky statue to the top of the Art Museum’s steps (Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)), and we note the quiet closure of SXSW Sydney, a casualty of “prevailing market conditions” (ArtsHub (Australia)).
All our stories below.
