It was Presidents Day, but the culture wars didn’t take the holiday off. The British Museum has quietly removed the word “Palestine” from its Middle East displays after pressure from a pro-Israel legal group — whoever writes the wall labels writes the history (The Guardian). In Texas, the University of North Texas shuttered an anti-ICE art exhibition without notice; the artist found out when students told him the door was locked (Hyperallergic). And the IMLS now requires grant applicants to align with presidential vision statements — ideological strings on the money that keeps museums and libraries running (Artnet).
Meanwhile, The Atlantic asks what happens when AI systems speak persuasively but bear no liability for what they say. It’s a question worth thinking about — especially as the Louvre discovers a $12 million ticketing scam that went undetected for a decade (NYT). Institutional vulnerability comes in many forms.
And because not everything has to be heavy: a man from Tualatin, Oregon has won Cowboy Poet of the Year — again. A real award that we did not make up (Oregon ArtsWatch).
