Those supporting Trump’s actions say they will restore national pride, but critics in the arts and parks, as well as a number of Democrats, argue they whitewash history and do not tell people the full story. - The Hill
Arts criticism has been vanishingly difficult to break into for ages, no one’s idea of a growth industry. But publications have managed to make a dire situation worse; it’s now reached the point where long-tenured veterans are having their jobs erased in a misguided rethinking of what criticism even actually is. - The Guardian
With funding stalled in the state legislature, transit agency SEPTA instituted a 20% service cut in the city last week and will make drastic reductions in regional rail next week. Philadelphia arts organizations say many employees and at least 20% of their patrons use transit. Will they simply stop coming? - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
“2025’s EIF season, themed ‘The Truth We Seek’, sold 88% of available tickets. The figure is up by 29% on last year, when EIF sold 59% of its ticket capacity, and 34% up on the 2023 festival.” - Arts Professional (UK)
The move to scale back humanities doctoral programs is either a prudent acknowledgment of the cratered job market for tenure-track professorships... or it is a cynical effort, under cover of the Trump administration’s assaults, to transfer resources away from “impractical,” unprofitable, and largely jobless fields. - The Atlantic
“The festival said (the) demand for it to end its commercial partnership with the Edinburgh-based fund manager ‘ultimately reduces the very spaces where difficult conversations, human stories, and critical ideas can be explored’.” - The Scotsman
Harvard’s Arts and Humanities division instructed department heads to collectively reduce their budgets for non-personnel spending by roughly $1.95 million as divisions across the Faculty of Arts and Sciences implement cost-cutting plans. - Harvard Crimson
Leaders have made it clear that a $1-billion payout is a no-go. Another red line for several UC officials is the federal request that the university submit to an outside monitor over an agreement. - Los Angeles Times
“Someone could make the right comment on the right day or reply to a story in the right moment and get inside the head of someone who seems completely inaccessible otherwise.” - Washington Post (MSN)
This is a playbook we’ve all seen before. Rigoberto Gonzalez, whose painting about refugees crossing the border wall was deemed “objectionable,” says that “the White House list reminds him of the 'degenerate art’ exhibitions in 1930s Germany.” - NPR
Bluesky: “We think this law creates challenges that go beyond its child safety goals, and creates significant barriers that limit free speech and disproportionately harm smaller platforms.” - Wired
The competition drew more than 1,700 applications from around the world to try living in Eisenhüttenstadt, a Soviet-style planned city on the Polish border, near Berlin, which was built around a steel plant in the aftermath of the second world war. - The Guardian
An exodus appears to be under way of Ph.D.s and faculty generally, who are leaving academia in the face of political, financial and enrollment crises. It’s a trend federal data and other sources show began even before Trump returned to the White House. - Hechinger Report
“An angry article on the White House website, headlined 'President Trump Is Right About the Smithsonian,’ lists a series of perceived offenses from museums in the capital, ranging from flying the Progress Pride flag alongside the Stars and Stripes to showing a stop-motion animation of Dr. Anthony Fauci.” - The Daily Beast
