Today’s AJ highlights: Having announced the shutdown of the Kennedy Center, Donald Trump fixates on his proposed 250-foot-tall triumphal arch overlooking the Potomac River, a scale that has alarmed architectural experts who originally expected a much smaller structure.
Institutional fragility is a recurring theme this morning. The Metropolitan Opera is described as being in “dire straits,” now relying on foreign funding to cover an annual budget where ticket sales account for less than a third of operating costs. In Texas, the San Antonio Philharmonic has been forced to cancel its February concerts due to a legal dispute over building renovations. Meanwhile, Tribeca galleries are drawing sharp criticism for discussing the use of the 311 system to report immigrant street vendors, which would enter those vendors into a law enforcement database.
The battle over artistic message and identity is intensifying both on stage and in the digital realm. Theatre critics are increasingly pushing back against contemporary musicals that favor “message” and liberal identity politics over emotional sincerity. In education, a professional writer reports a “kick in the guts” after testing students who preferred AI-generated writing over his own, citing the machine’s clearer structure and perceived “personal” tone.
A South African artist is suing her government for blocking her “divisive” work on Gaza from the Venice Biennale , and an Oscar-nominated screenwriter has been arrested in Tehran for condemning the actions of Iran’s supreme leader.
All our stories below.
