Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Cleveland Museum Of Art Sues Feds To Block Seizure Of Ancient Sculpture
The lawsuit comes two months after a New York judge issued a search warrant citing “reasonable cause” to believe the statue, which was legally...
New Tool Lets Artists “Poison” Their Images At The Pixel Level To Thwart AI
Using it to “poison” this training data could damage future iterations of image-generating AI models, such as DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion, by rendering...
The Twisty-Turny Saga Of The British Museum Thefts
So began an antiques whodunit—whose cast of characters includes an Oxford-based priest-cum-archaeologist, a handful of rare-gem dealers and some of the British Museum’s most...
Ex-Prime Minister Berlusconi Bought 25,000 Junky Paintings On TV. His Heirs Are Having Difficulty...
The former Italian prime minister, who died in June, bought many of the paintings and sculptures from late-night telesales programmes. Managing the extensive collection...
Why Public Monuments Are Problematic
The problem with monuments and statues goes far beyond the issue of the legacies of slavery, important as that issue is. We need to...
Everyone Talks About The Humanities Being Endangered. But What Are “The Humanities”?
For now, let’s consider his plaintive question: “what the hell are the humanities?” - New Criterion
Scores Of Events With Palestinian Culture Have Been Canceled In The US
Some organizers said they were calling off the Palestinian-themed events because of security concerns. Others cited sensitivity, calling the cancellations and postponements understandable, if...
JoAnn Falletta On Why She’s Spent 25 Years At The Buffalo Philharmonic
Falletta has produced 54 recordings for Naxos – a rate of two per year. Two of those BPO recordings, and a third that Falletta...
We Need A Tech Revolution To Save The Culture
"These platforms effectively position themselves between business customers and end users. They extract rent from the business customers who then raise prices on the...
Mexico Embarks On Ambitious Efforts To Recover Ancient Heritage
In recent years Mexico has mounted an ambitious series of investigations and restitution efforts to reclaim the nation’s stolen cultural heritage, joining with other...
Universal Music Sues Anthropic AI Over Songs
When Claude is asked for lyrics to the song “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor, for example, it responds with “a nearly word-for-word copy...
Repertory Theatre Of St. Louis Declares Emergency, Cancels Two Shows
The company is facing a $2.5 million budget shortfall, managing director Danny Williams said. It will need to raise the money through ticket sales...
Australian Theatres Have Become All About The Contemporary
Of the 79 plays being performed in 2024, 68 (87%) were written after 2000, 60 (76%) were written after 2014 and 23 (29%) will...
What It Would Mean For Music If Bandcamp Goes Away
First, there’s the fear that an uncaring new ownership might end up sending one of the world’s most vital music libraries down the digital...
Research: Public Radio’s Storycorps Debates Move The Dial
Jennifer Richeson analyzed questionnaires completed by 400 One Small Step participants before and after their conversations. Her analysis showed that both liberals and conservatives...
Culture Wars And The Shaping Of Language
The culture wars that take place over controversial moral questions are, in part, battles over which ethically loaded concepts should win out within a...
Museums Are Caught In A Big Donor Problem
"There’s less philanthropic money around and need to work a lot harder to engage new donors and this will require a more balanced...
The Swiftie Universe Expands Yet Again (To Film). What’s It Mean?
Swift is that rare artist who’s been rolling along, picking up new fans and keeping the old, during her long career. Just as Taylor...
Redefining The Canon Of Women Artists: National Museum Of Women Artists Reopens
Yes, our encyclopedic museums need to do a better job of painting the full picture of art history, women and artists of color included....
AI Companies Are Using Artists’ Work (And Getting Rich). How Do Artists Get Paid?
Right now, a few authors joining together to sue the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Meta is a bit of a David-vs.-Goliath situation. Book...
Iowa’s New Library Book Ban Law Bans Books By James Joyce, Margaret Atwood And...
This week, the Iowa City Community School District released a list of 68 books that it removed from schools to comply with the law. Among the...
The Vegas Sphere: A Glimpse Of Architecture To Come…
The building raises “the question of analog architecture’s ongoing ability to compete with digital wizardry for popular attention.” - Smithsonian
What To Learn From Being Bored At The Opera
There’s a volitional component to situational boredom—it inspires a pivot, a consideration of what one deems valuable. To be bored in this way is...
Why Netflix Doesn’t Disclose Ratings: To Help Creators?
“It was part of our promise with creators. At the time we started creating original programming, our creators felt like they were pretty trapped...
After 40 Seasons, Watertown’s (MA) New Repertory Theatre Closes
In 2021, New Rep paused its operations due to financial losses incurred during the pandemic. It reopened nine months later on a smaller scale...
