Five Black and Hispanic families sued the Sesame Place theme park in suburban Philadelphia, alleging that their children were ignored by costumed performers there due to racial bias. It took the jury less than three hours to reject the plaintiffs' claims. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
Could these increasingly messy call-outs and protests, personal attacks on social media and public decouplings result in an already woefully underfunded arts sector destroying itself? - The Stage
Vance has spent little effort in the Senate on the arts: his only notable action was introducing a Consequences for Climate Vandals Act, which would increase penalties for protesters damaging art at Smithsonian museums. Meanwhile, Walz is governor of Minnesota, number one in the US in arts funding per capita. - Hyperallergic
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a handful of artificial intelligence-related bills that would give actors more protection over their digital likenesses and fight against the spread of deep fakes in political ads, among other regulations aimed at the fast-rising technology. - Los Angeles Times
The report from the Fabian Society, founded in 1884 and one of the progenitors of today's Labour Party, calls for removing the "class ceiling" by issuing every Briton a "universal library card," ensuring every child can learn an artistic practice, and giving older children a "culture pass" to arts institutions. - The Guardian
The $336 million project, called ArtSide, is one of the largest real estate projects in Newark in decades. It will include roughly 350 apartments, 15 townhouses and ground-floor retail in a seven-story midrise building and a 25-story tower. Profits from the development will go to support NJPAC programming. - The New York Times
"Philadelphia’s nearly 150-year-old University of the Arts has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy after (suddenly) closing this summer. The process will allow the school to sell its real estate holdings in the Center City neighborhood, estimated in value at $87 million, in an effort to meet $46 million in bond debt." - Artnet
Last October, the entire staff of the organization's poetry center quit after an author's live talk was canceled after he signed a petition calling for Israel's ceasefire. Now one worker has been fired and five more resigned after 92NY forbade patron-facing employees from expressing any political views at work. - Hyperallergic
The list is grim (not nearly as grim as the list of women who have accused the popular author, of course). Dead Boy Detectives: Canceled. Good Omens: Paused. And the Disney adaptation of smash hit The Graveyard Book? “Put on hold.” - The Guardian (UK)
“Digital disinformation is a growing shadow industry. It thrives because of the weak enforcement of content-moderation policies, the increasing influence of social-media figures as political intermediaries, and a regulatory environment that fails to hold tech companies accountable.” And it’s getting worse. - The Atlantic
That trick is getting people who believe in conspiracy theories to find some exits out of their internet-driven rabbit holes. Importantly, recent “studies suggest that, contrary to the common belief that people 'down the rabbit hole' are beyond rescue, they can actually be brought back." - Nieman Lab
Those remaining have filed a grievance. “These are the people who design OUP’s award-winning covers and graphics, do complex data work that sustains OUP’s digital products, and so much more. Together, they represent nearly two centuries of service and dedication to OUP’s mission.” - LitHub
“The couple never meant to make political movies, Sanaeeha . ‘But in Iran, everything is political.’” (The issue here? A 70-year-old woman character doesn’t wear hijab … inside her own home.) - The Guardian (UK)
Here's a look at the enormous development in the field since the 1980s, including the spread of cultural tourism far beyond the big cities, the increasingly active participation of indigenous Australians, and why the arts and tourism need each other and must work together. - ArtsHub (Australia)
“We’re calling ourselves the ‘City of the Arts’ in St. Pete so it’s just the right thing for the city to contribute to that and not just leave it up to the free market economy because the free market economy does not necessarily provide for diverse programming." - 83 Degrees Media
