Today's Stories

A Dynastic Succession In The Kabuki Theater World Is A Dramatic Affair

“Handing down a name over generations is a central part of the traditional Japanese artform, … and that ceremony gets celebrated at theaters and special events every few years. Now, the ritual is taking place with the eighth Kikugoro, who is having that honor passed down from his 83-year-old father, the seventh Kikugoro.” - AP

The Pressure To Go Viral: These Days You Can’t Be An Artist Without It

All of a sudden, chefs, lawyers, podcasters, critics – all people with jobs once associated with an off-camera existence – are turning the lens on themselves. Even film director Werner Herzog, a once proud non-social media user, is now sizzling steaks and doing unboxing videos to camera. - The Guardian

France Passes Law To Expedite Return Of Looted Artworks

“The bill aims to simplify the return of cultural property taken illegally from France’s former colonies, particularly focusing on items taken between 1815 and 1972 — the year UNESCO’s convention for the protection of cultural heritage came into force.” - Euronews

Man Wins $1.2M Picasso In Christie’s Raffle

"How do I know this isn't a prank?" the 58-year-old asked when he was told he was the new owner of the 1941 work by the Spanish master. Organisers said more than 120,000 tickets for the prize draw were sold at €100 (£87; $118) each, raising around €11m (£10m; $13m) for Alzheimer's research. - BBC

Why Movie Theatre Owners Are Fighting The Paramount/Warner Deal

“Further concentrating marketplace power in the hands of a smaller group of distributors that dictate the terms, windows, scheduling, screen-placement of movies, and access to historic film catalogs will have a real and lasting impact on Main Street and millions of movie fans around the world.” - Los Angeles Times

I Survived A Year Inside Stephen King’s Archives

This book is Caroline Bicks’s account of what happened when King gave her permission to spend a year in his archive, poring over the drafts of five of his most popular novels, including Pet Sematary, The Shining and Carrie. Bicks’s particular aim is to spot what she calls King’s “biblio‑magic” in action. - The Guardian

At This Point, Alec Baldwin Just Wants To Retire

The accidental shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust, the two (unsuccessful) prosecutions in New Mexico, finishing the film in another state — it all took a huge toll on Baldwin, financially as well as psychologically and physically. - The Hollywood Reporter

What 100 Years Of Data Shows Us About Who Gets Guggenheim Grants

If 100 years of data are any indication, then an outsized share of the new recipients work at the most renowned universities in the US. Over time and across fellowships, the high prevalence of winners from well-resourced, high-status institutions can understandably bring to mind Percy Bysshe Shelley’s adage that “the rich have become richer.” - PublicBooks

Millions Of People Are Pretending To Be Chatbots, And Making… Art

The site forces its human users to approximate the speed at which a machine would return a response; there's a 75-second time limit. So drawings, created with a mouse or finger on a trackpad, have a necessarily slapdash look. - NPR

Action Star Jackie Chan To Direct… Puccini?

Chan, known for films like Rush Hour and Rumble in the Bronx, will introduce martial arts into the storytelling as a means of emotional expression. Each character will be given a warrior incarnation to represent their inner strength and desires. - Theatre Mania

Move Over, Nollywood, Nigeria Has A Second Thriving Movie Industry

Nigeria’s film ecosystem is known mostly for Nollywood, the industry headquartered in Lagos. In the largely Muslim north of the country, however, there’s Kannywood, based in Kano, where moviemakers with modest means churn out an amazing number of productions, all while dealing with strict censors. - The New York Times

Two Major Atlanta Museums Ponder Their Place In The City

The two museums now share a similar challenge: to reach across racial, economic, educational and even geographic lines to feel vital and necessary to a vast cross-section of people who constitute Atlanta. And to do so at a time when it seems there is more competition for attention and resources than ever before. - The New...

The Decades-Old Little Box That Has Fans Raving About The Guitar Again

The quest to achieve the “Mk.gee tone” spawned a series of “How Does He Make His Guitar Sound Like That?” YouTube videos; musicians compared notes on Discord servers and Reddit threads. - The Atlantic

Victoria & Albert Museum Deleted Images From Catalogues That Violated Chinese Censorship Laws

The Victoria and Albert Museum has agreed to requests by the Chinese printing company to delete maps and images from at least two recent exhibition catalogues, according to documents released to the Guardian after freedom of information requests. - The Guardian

Philadelphia Ballet Gives Its Long-Awaited New Home A Test Run

“Dancers danced at the company’s new North Broad Street building for the first time. Even as construction workers continued their own choreography of spackling and power-driving screws, company dancers could be seen in a large, glassy, sunlight-filled studio working out movements for an upcoming run of Romeo and Juliet.” - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

Ex-COO Of Atlanta’s High Museum Of Art Pleads Not Guilty To Theft Charges

“On Tuesday, during (Brady) Lum’s arraignment in federal court in Atlanta, the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia accused Lum of manipulating financial records and authorizing illegitimate purchases for his personal benefit, including high-end musical instruments, private lessons, and workshop equipment.” - ARTnews

This 95-Second Scene Change At The Met Opera Is An Astounding Feat Of Coordination

In the company’s staging of Kaija Saariaho’s opera Innocence, seven stage managers, four prop masters, and a big flock of stagehands transform the set from a decorated wedding-banquet hall into a blood-spattered high-school classroom in a minute and a half — and they do it while the set is rotating. - The New York Times

Kennedy Center Boss: See? We Really Do Need To Renovate!

“Matt Floca, the new executive director and COO, is leading tours this month that show water damage and intrusion to expansion joints, marble slabs and exterior pavers. Participants are guided through the building’s water and HVAC systems, as well as the parking garages and loading docks said to need repairs.” - AP

Hampshire College Will Shut Down At End Of Year

“Founded in 1965, and opening its doors to students five years later as a campus determined to ‘radically reimagine liberal arts education,’ the small liberal arts college (in Amherst, Mass.) started facing significant financial headwinds seven years ago.” - WBUR (Boston)

Performing Arts Touring In England Is “In Crisis” And Needs “Radical Rethink”: Report

“A report commissioned by Arts Council England finds that touring is ‘in crisis’, though ‘not entirely broken’, given some parts of the sector, such as large-scale commercial touring in major cities, are going ‘from strength to strength’. However, touring to smaller and mid-scale venues is ‘increasingly unsustainable’.” - Arts Professional (UK)

By Topic

The Pressure To Go Viral: These Days You Can’t Be An Artist Without It

All of a sudden, chefs, lawyers, podcasters, critics – all people with jobs once associated with an off-camera existence – are turning the lens on themselves. Even film director Werner Herzog, a once proud non-social media user, is now sizzling steaks and doing unboxing videos to camera. - The Guardian

How AI Will Kill Content Platforms

Not only will AI agents compete away the revenue streams of the giant digital platforms, but they will also render irrelevant the data on which the platforms built their competitive advantage. - Harvard Business Review

Why Has Culture Gone Flat?

Capitalism—and then late capitalism, and then late, late capitalism—has been identified as the culprit for culture’s flattening for at least a century. David Marx borrows heavily from Fredric Jameson’s account of postmodernism. - LA Review of Books

All In? (Or Not): The Existential Bet On AI

Artificial intelligence will bring us heaven on earth or kill us all. It is the most important invention in human history or a scam. - The Nation

Do-Gooders And The Pointlessness Of Jobs

The few jobs today that are tangibly useful—say, social workers and science teachers—pay far less than the mass of uninspiring administrative and middle-management roles that prop them up. As a result, many opt for the paycheck, even if that means resigning oneself to working a job that doesn’t really need to be done. - The Point

Language And The Battle For Democracy

If ‘language is one of the keys to individual autonomy’, the central challenge in a linguistic landscape being flattened and standardized by AI is to ‘continue to believe in language learning as a tool of emancipation and liberation’. - Eurozine

What 100 Years Of Data Shows Us About Who Gets Guggenheim Grants

If 100 years of data are any indication, then an outsized share of the new recipients work at the most renowned universities in the US. Over time and across fellowships, the high prevalence of winners from well-resourced, high-status institutions can understandably bring to mind Percy Bysshe Shelley’s adage that “the rich have become richer.”...

Kennedy Center Boss: See? We Really Do Need To Renovate!

“Matt Floca, the new executive director and COO, is leading tours this month that show water damage and intrusion to expansion joints, marble slabs and exterior pavers. Participants are guided through the building’s water and HVAC systems, as well as the parking garages and loading docks said to need repairs.” - AP

Hampshire College Will Shut Down At End Of Year

“Founded in 1965, and opening its doors to students five years later as a campus determined to ‘radically reimagine liberal arts education,’ the small liberal arts college (in Amherst, Mass.) started facing significant financial headwinds seven years ago.” - WBUR (Boston)

Performing Arts Touring In England Is “In Crisis” And Needs “Radical Rethink”: Report

“A report commissioned by Arts Council England finds that touring is ‘in crisis’, though ‘not entirely broken’, given some parts of the sector, such as large-scale commercial touring in major cities, are going ‘from strength to strength’. However, touring to smaller and mid-scale venues is ‘increasingly unsustainable’.” - Arts Professional (UK)

New Contemporary Art Museum In Indianapolis Aims To Reinvent The Form

The $13 million campus, which spans five acres, includes a Vegas-style, chicken-themed wedding chapel, a radio station, a contemporary art gallery with a coffee shop, an amphitheater, a sculpture park and 18 colorful, affordable houses for resident artists and their families. - The New York Times

Trump Fires Entire Presidio Board

A year after threatening to "dramatically" downsize the operations of San Francisco's Presidio, President Donald Trump has terminated the park's board of trustees. - San Francisco Chronicle

Action Star Jackie Chan To Direct… Puccini?

Chan, known for films like Rush Hour and Rumble in the Bronx, will introduce martial arts into the storytelling as a means of emotional expression. Each character will be given a warrior incarnation to represent their inner strength and desires. - Theatre Mania

The Decades-Old Little Box That Has Fans Raving About The Guitar Again

The quest to achieve the “Mk.gee tone” spawned a series of “How Does He Make His Guitar Sound Like That?” YouTube videos; musicians compared notes on Discord servers and Reddit threads. - The Atlantic

This 95-Second Scene Change At The Met Opera Is An Astounding Feat Of Coordination

In the company’s staging of Kaija Saariaho’s opera Innocence, seven stage managers, four prop masters, and a big flock of stagehands transform the set from a decorated wedding-banquet hall into a blood-spattered high-school classroom in a minute and a half — and they do it while the set is rotating. - The New York...

When You Take Up A Musical Instrument Late In Life

If this attempt to reclaim the instrument of my youth had been a mistake, I wasn’t alone in making it. Asking around, I became aware of other older people who were returning to music or even taking it up for the first time. - The New Yorker

Should Music Directors Spend More Time In Their Orchestras’ Hometowns And Stop Juggling Multiple Jobs?

One the one hand, you have the Buffalo Philharmonic’s JoAnn Falletta and the South Dakota Symphony’s Delta David Gier, both thoroughly embedded in their communities. On the other, you have Klaus Mäkelä with three orchestras and Andris Nelsons, who's losing his Boston Symphony job partly because he's so busy elsewhere. - The New York...

In A Music Rut? Try This Wild Idea

“Each time I tune in—which is every day now—it feels as if someone cooler than me is handing me a mixtape made with care, exactly how finding new music should feel. I’m pleasantly surprised by what I’m listening to instead of frustrated and bored.” - Slate

France Passes Law To Expedite Return Of Looted Artworks

“The bill aims to simplify the return of cultural property taken illegally from France’s former colonies, particularly focusing on items taken between 1815 and 1972 — the year UNESCO’s convention for the protection of cultural heritage came into force.” - Euronews

Man Wins $1.2M Picasso In Christie’s Raffle

"How do I know this isn't a prank?" the 58-year-old asked when he was told he was the new owner of the 1941 work by the Spanish master. Organisers said more than 120,000 tickets for the prize draw were sold at €100 (£87; $118) each, raising around €11m (£10m; $13m) for Alzheimer's research. -...

Two Major Atlanta Museums Ponder Their Place In The City

The two museums now share a similar challenge: to reach across racial, economic, educational and even geographic lines to feel vital and necessary to a vast cross-section of people who constitute Atlanta. And to do so at a time when it seems there is more competition for attention and resources than ever before. -...

Victoria & Albert Museum Deleted Images From Catalogues That Violated Chinese Censorship Laws

The Victoria and Albert Museum has agreed to requests by the Chinese printing company to delete maps and images from at least two recent exhibition catalogues, according to documents released to the Guardian after freedom of information requests. - The Guardian

Ex-COO Of Atlanta’s High Museum Of Art Pleads Not Guilty To Theft Charges

“On Tuesday, during (Brady) Lum’s arraignment in federal court in Atlanta, the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia accused Lum of manipulating financial records and authorizing illegitimate purchases for his personal benefit, including high-end musical instruments, private lessons, and workshop equipment.” - ARTnews

The Trump-As-Jesus Image Conveyed More Than He Realized: Philip Kennicott

“Among those messages: a palpable sense of desperation. In the rapid and angry response to the meme, one sensed a coalition beginning to crack, and in the message itself — unfiltered, offensive and unhinged — one sensed the instability of the man who disseminated it.” - The Washington Post (MSN)

I Survived A Year Inside Stephen King’s Archives

This book is Caroline Bicks’s account of what happened when King gave her permission to spend a year in his archive, poring over the drafts of five of his most popular novels, including Pet Sematary, The Shining and Carrie. Bicks’s particular aim is to spot what she calls King’s “biblio‑magic” in action. - The Guardian

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Is Saved, Three Weeks Before It Was To Close

“The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, the nonprofit parent organization of The Baltimore Banner, reached an agreement with Block Communications to acquire the I, which was slated to shut down in May.” - Nieman Lab

Other Legacy U.S. Newspapers Which Have Gone Nonprofit

So far, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is the fourth large one (not including The Philadelphia Inquirer, which remains for-profit itself though it is owned by a nonprofit organization). - AP

LGBTQ Bookstores Had Been Slowly Disappearing For Years, Now There’s A New Generation Of Them.

“The number of LGBTQ+-focused bookstores in the U.S. has slowly but steadily increased over the past five years. While this new generation of booksellers all give a nod to their predecessors, they’ve also made a point of doing things differently.” - Publishers Weekly

A Professor Gets Besotted With His Chatbot

An English professor burns the midnight oil talking to Microsoft Copilot about Shakespeare, Dickinson, Hawthorne, and a play he’s been working on—and comes away deeply impressed by its literary insights. - Quillette

What Paramount Is Planning For Its New Publishing House

“The new imprint will develop new publishing content based on properties from Paramount’s various divisions, such as SpongeBob SquarePants, ... Star Trek, and Yellowstone, complementing the work of its licensed publishers. … The imprint will also allow the company to generate original intellectual properties with potential for extension into entertainment and experiences.” - Publishers...

Why Movie Theatre Owners Are Fighting The Paramount/Warner Deal

“Further concentrating marketplace power in the hands of a smaller group of distributors that dictate the terms, windows, scheduling, screen-placement of movies, and access to historic film catalogs will have a real and lasting impact on Main Street and millions of movie fans around the world.” - Los Angeles Times

Millions Of People Are Pretending To Be Chatbots, And Making… Art

The site forces its human users to approximate the speed at which a machine would return a response; there's a 75-second time limit. So drawings, created with a mouse or finger on a trackpad, have a necessarily slapdash look. - NPR

Move Over, Nollywood, Nigeria Has A Second Thriving Movie Industry

Nigeria’s film ecosystem is known mostly for Nollywood, the industry headquartered in Lagos. In the largely Muslim north of the country, however, there’s Kannywood, based in Kano, where moviemakers with modest means churn out an amazing number of productions, all while dealing with strict censors. - The New York Times

Paramount Responds To Industry Protests To Its Warner Deal

“This transaction uniquely brings together complementary strengths to create a company that can greenlight more projects, back bold ideas, support talent across multiple stages of their careers, and bring stories to audiences at a truly global scale." - Deadline

Is The Internet’s Most Complete Archiver On Its Death Bed?

According to analysis by the artificial-intelligence-detection startup Originality AI, 23 major news sites are currently blocking ia_archiverbot, the web crawler commonly used by the Internet Archive for the Wayback project. - Wired

Sony Pictures Entertainment Is Laying Off Hundreds Of Employees

“(The corporation) is restructuring its operations with plans for hundreds of layoffs across its film, TV and corporate divisions. Sources tell Variety the layoffs … are expected to result in a ‘few hundred’ eliminations out of 12,000 employees … globally.” - Variety

Philadelphia Ballet Gives Its Long-Awaited New Home A Test Run

“Dancers danced at the company’s new North Broad Street building for the first time. Even as construction workers continued their own choreography of spackling and power-driving screws, company dancers could be seen in a large, glassy, sunlight-filled studio working out movements for an upcoming run of Romeo and Juliet.” - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

To This We’ve Come: The Trocks Say Some US Presenters Are Now Afraid To Book Them

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, to use the full name, has been popular all over the country and overseas for decades. Now some venues worry that what little government funding they get will be cancelled if they present a drag troupe, even one that’s been around for 50 years. - The Irish Times

New Focus On Dancer Wellness At School Of American Ballet

The Artistic Health and Wellness Student Center, which opened in September, is a $4.7 million expansion of the school, the training ground for New York City Ballet. - The New York Times

Martha Graham’s Legacy At 100

This season, the Martha Graham Dance Company celebrates 100 years, and for better and worse, her early works are back in fashion. - The New York Times

Translating “Swan Lake” Into Cambodian Classical Dance

In Lowell, Mass., a center of America's Cambodian diaspora, the Angkor Dance Troupe has worked hard to preserve the dance traditions nearly wiped out by the Khmer Rouge. Yet the company also wants to expand the repertory and reach a wider community; adapting the Tchaikovsky classic seemed an ideal option. - WBUR (Boston)

Considering The Tap Shoe

“You’ll never say you didn’t hear them coming.” - AP

A Dynastic Succession In The Kabuki Theater World Is A Dramatic Affair

“Handing down a name over generations is a central part of the traditional Japanese artform, … and that ceremony gets celebrated at theaters and special events every few years. Now, the ritual is taking place with the eighth Kikugoro, who is having that honor passed down from his 83-year-old father, the seventh Kikugoro.” -...

Performing “A Streetcar Named Desire” In “Found Spaces” All Across The U.S.

“Featuring four actors, a sparse set, and no props, … this production has been performed since 2023 on all manner of improvised stages. An airplane hangar in Los Angeles. An opera house in Colorado. A dining hall, library and bar at Yale. A Baptist church and various homes in Manhattan.” - The Washington Post...

If You Want To Win An Olivier Award In Britain, You Really Need To Be A Bear, Or Related To A Bear

“The many awards for Paddington were perhaps unsurprising given that the show earned rave reviews when it opened and has played to sellout crowds ever since.” - The New York Times

Can Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theatre Rise Again Under New Leadership?

Under their new leadership, Victory Gardens has hosted a writers’ workshop, a showcase of new works in collaboration with New Musical Chicago, and a staged reading of An Ocean Away, a documentary play by Belarusian playwright Andrei Kureichik about the effects of war on Ukrainians and diaspora communities. - American Theatre

$100 Million To Turn Studio 54 Into A Proper Broadway Theater

“Roundabout Theater Company moved into the building in 1998 and kept its disco-era name. Now Roundabout has a $100 million plan for the first full-scale renovation of the building. The project would bring back a permanent stage, which the building hasn’t had since its disco days, and an orchestra pit.” - The New York...

At This Point, Alec Baldwin Just Wants To Retire

The accidental shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust, the two (unsuccessful) prosecutions in New Mexico, finishing the film in another state — it all took a huge toll on Baldwin, financially as well as psychologically and physically. - The Hollywood Reporter

Finnish Violinist Says He Won’t Perform In The US Due To The Political Situation

’I would like to, with utmost sensitivity and respect, suggest to the administrations of the major American orchestras to consider using your voices... I’m quite convinced that the situation would get easier, faster, if the arts community came together to say “no more” in unison, in a way that inspires.’ - The Strad

Sid Krofft, Co-Producer Of “H.R. Pufnstuf” And A Slew Of Other Children’s TV Shows, Is Dead At 96

A puppeteer since childhood, Sid, with his younger brother Marty (who died 2½ years ago), produced H.R. Pufnstuf, Land of the Lost, The Bugaloos, Lidsville and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters and created the look of The Banana Splits — all using a psychedelic 1970s day-glo style and flashes of knowing grownup humor. - Deadline

Asha Bhosle, 92, The Voice Of Bollywood

Bhosle, who recorded more than 12,000 songs, became her country’s pre-eminent exponent of playback singing – recording tracks that were then lip-synced on film by actors. She also boldly embraced cabaret and western-influenced melodies to forge a distinctive musical identity. - The Guardian

Hilde Limondjian, Longtime Met Museum Music Curator, 89

Hilde Limondjian, who spent more than four decades bringing music to the auditorium — and the galleries — of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, died on Jan. 24. She was 89. - The New York Times

One Of France’s Most Prominent Writers Had A Past As A Failed Antiquities Looter

André Malraux went on to fight in the WWII resistance, write celebrated novels, get nominated repeatedly for the Nobel Prize, and serve as de Gaulle’s culture minister. In his 20s, however, he and his wife decided they could get rich quick by going to Cambodia and stealing ancient statuary. - Smithsonian Magazine

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The Cecilia Chorus of NY, Carnegie Hall, April 17.

The Cecilia Chorus of NY, Carnegie Hall, April 17. Pianist Simone Dinnerstein, guitarist David Leisner. Premieres by Robert Sirota; Mark Buller, Leah Lax, Beth Greenberg.

Executive Director- Texas Ballet Theater working with Management Consultants for the...

Texas Ballet Theater (TBT) serving Dallas, Fort Worth, & all of North Texas, seeks a dynamic strategist to serve as its next Executive Director.

Sitar Arts Center seeks Executive Director

The next Executive Director will lead a thriving arts education nonprofit advancing creative youth development in Washington, DC.

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Fresno Arts Council Seeks Executive Director

The Fresno Arts Council seeks a strategic, collaborative, and community-centered Executive Director to lead the organization into its next chapter. Apply by May 1st!

Vice President, Division of Media Arts Ventures, Emerson College

Emerson College invites applications and nominations for a visionary leader and experienced manager to serve as its inaugural Vice President for Media Arts and Ventures.

Dean, Westminster College of Media & Performing Arts

Rider University seeks a dynamic and visionary leader to serve as the Inaugural Dean of the Westminster College of Media & Performing Arts.

Chandler Center for the Arts seeks Arts Center Manager

Chandler Center for the Arts seeks Arts Center Manager. Salary in the range of $110,780.80 to $160,596.80. Please see link for full details.

Director of Development

Playwrights Horizons, an award-winning Off-Broadway theater located in the heart of Manhattan, seeks a dynamic, strategic and collaborative Director of Development to lead a high-performing

This 95-Second Scene Change At The Met Opera Is An Astounding Feat Of Coordination

In the company’s staging of Kaija Saariaho’s opera Innocence, seven stage managers, four prop masters, and a big flock of stagehands transform the set from a decorated wedding-banquet hall into a blood-spattered high-school classroom in a minute and a half — and they do it while the set is rotating. - The New York...

Should Music Directors Spend More Time In Their Orchestras’ Hometowns And Stop Juggling Multiple Jobs?

One the one hand, you have the Buffalo Philharmonic’s JoAnn Falletta and the South Dakota Symphony’s Delta David Gier, both thoroughly embedded in their communities. On the other, you have Klaus Mäkelä with three orchestras and Andris Nelsons, who's losing his Boston Symphony job partly because he's so busy elsewhere. - The New York...

Madrid Doesn’t Want To Let Picasso’s Guernica Go To Basque Country

But “the Basque government, headed by Imanol Pradales of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), has made the transfer of Picasso’s painting a matter of regional pride." - El País English ...

The Increasing Accusations That Everything Is Made With AI

“Solutions like Proudly Human and Not by AI aim to be broader, covering published text, visual art, videography, and music, but the verification processes being used by these services can be questionable.” (Archive Today version here.) - The Verge

Portland State University Eliminates Its Once-Storied Dance Program

PSU’s “dance program had once been a cornerstone of Portland’s artistic community, even as it struggled against decades of intermittent support, administrative turnover, and shifting school priorities.” - Oregon ArtsWatch

How Reality TV Became An Unstoppable Cultural Force

“Many shows have not only endured, they’ve spawned universes, international adaptations and spinoffs. Bravo, a TV channel that used to focus on the performing arts, is now an unscripted powerhouse that even has its own convention, BravoCon.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)

Will A Lawsuit Allow Claire Tabouret’s Windows To Be Mounted In Notre Dame?

“At the crux of the controversy is the fact that Tabouret’s new windows would push out Viollet-le-Duc’s undamaged ones. Advocates for the project argue that since the windows date to the 19th century, instead of the Middle Ages, they are fair game to be replaced.” - ARTnews

The World Is Hostile To Socially Progressive Art, But Also Wants To Copy It – For Profit

"Developers discovered the cultural value of place-making. Corporations embraced art as branding. Cultural nonprofits and academic institutions increasingly adopted the vocabulary of community engagement while operating within the same economic structures driving displacement.” What now? - Hyperallergic

Trump Has Columbus Status Installed On The White House Grounds

It’s “is a replica of one that protesters in Baltimore tore down and dumped into the city’s Inner Harbor in the summer of 2020. The statue’s marble pieces were retrieved from the harbor, and a Maryland artist used them to guide the creation of the replica." - The New York Times

Israel May Be Considering Banning Artist Rama Duwaji, First Lady Of New York

“The ministry reportedly took issue with Duwaji’s animation Eyes on Jenin (2025), a work that linked police brutality against pro-Palestinian protesters to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.” - Hyperallergic

A Tennessee Library Director Refuses To Move LGBTQ Books, Citing The First Amendment

"The Rutherford County Library Board voted ... to relocate more than 190 books, many involving LGBTQ+ themes, from children’s and teen sections to adult areas following a review of ‘age-appropriate’ materials” - and the library director refused.- The Advocate

California’s Film And TV Tax Credit Is Working, But The State Says The Business Needs More Help

Will this argument play? "Whether it is computer chips, the energy sector or pharmaceuticals, this is something that is standard in the United States. … In terms of our nation, Hollywood and its ability to tell the story of America, it is something worth saving.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

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