The controversy comes as the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities has dramatically reshaped its policies to focus on diversity and equity and to broaden its reach to serve the entire city. Its $38.4 million budget is one of the nation’s largest. - Washington Post
"The 13-building complex opened this weekend (in Mexico City) with around 64,600 square feet of gardens, workshops, and performance and exhibition spaces." Amazingly, the six-year project was completed for less than $1 million. - ARTnews
Taylor Lorenz: "Why aren't internet culture writers, who are primarily women and people of color, seen simply as technology or culture reporters? And do we really need the word 'internet' or 'digital' in front of things in the year 2021?" - Mirror
The European Geosciences Union reports that sea levels could rise three feet by the end of the century — and that's before the seasonal high tides that flood the city every year. What's more, salt from sea water is eating the foundations of Venice's buildings. - The Hill
The initiative will feature more than 350 new works and provide funding to just under 100 organizations. Moreover, ArtworxTO kicks off a 10-year public art strategy that commits to bringing “creativity and community, everywhere.” - Toronto Star
There has been a concerted campaign to remove artworks from all aspects of life, in an attempt to make society more Islamic, the Taliban have said. In doing so, the group is erasing two decades of craftsmanship that blossomed after the collapse of its first government in 2001. - The New York Times
Hundreds, perhaps more, of artists of all cultural areas have fled. One artist, whose murals have been whitewashed: "The future of art and culture seems bleak. ... It is not possible for the Taliban to live with art." - The New York Times
As an interpretation not only of the founding moment but of the whole of U.S. history the project involved major scholarship. Yet it didn’t emerge from the usual processes for developing historical interpretations. It wasn’t slow, careful, academically curated, peer-reviewed, and opaque to public scrutiny. - Slate
Modern progressivism is in danger of becoming dominated by a relatively small group of people who went to the same colleges, live in the same neighborhoods and have trouble seeing beyond their subculture’s point of view. - The New York Times
So many values and sentiments of identity and belonging are invested in historic heritage. How will we cope with the much more substantial loss that awaits us? - Aeon
Before it happened, we in the sector viewed the prospect of such an outcome as intolerable: a Rubicon we would never allow to be crossed. - Sydney Review of Books
None of this is to say that higher education shouldn’t be vigilant about threats to academic freedom and free speech. But let’s not give in to exaggeration and fearmongering. - InsideHigherEd
Undergraduate enrollment across the board fell by 3.2 percent this fall, echoing last fall’s 3.4 percent decline. Since fall 2019, undergraduate enrollments have dropped by 6.5 percent. - Inside Higher Ed
The Donnelly Foundation surveyed 91 of its grantees (organizations with budgets under $1 million) and found that 44% of them either can't return to in-person performances this season or are unsure if they should. Among the issues: venues too small for social distancing. - MSN (Chicago Tribune)
