In Bristol, England, cultural organizations expected to have their upcoming grants from the local government confirmed by the end of last October; now, they're told, they must wait until March of 2024. Warning that the delays mean that they can plan nothing, the arts groups are on the march. - BBC
Museums and archives have lost their collections to bombing, at least one performing arts center has been burned down, and some places whose buildings and collections remain have holes caused by artillery in their roofs and walls — this as the rainy season is coming on. - ARTnews
Change in the leadership, direction, and procedures of the SF Grants for the Arts reduced or eliminated support for dozens of organization, big and small. - San Francisco Classical Voice
It may have been a necessary compromise for a time, but it was never truly proper in terms of justice, stability or general social acceptance. - The New York Times
"By the spring of 2023, the promise of the Cultural Plan" — equity — "had gotten shoved to the side, as the so-called 'Big 7' ... struggled just to keep the doors open." Now the pandemic seems to be past, but audiences have been slow to return, and the city is recalibrating. - KERA (Dallas)
Grant recipients, including visual artists, musicians, filmmakers, writers, actors and dancers, were chosen at random from a pool of more than 8,000 eligible applicants, the government said in a news release; 13 circus artists and 10 architects were also selected for the income grants. - NBC
The value of culture is hard to measure - everyone's experience is different. But governments' obsession with justifying cultural worth economically gets in the way of its real value. - The Globe & Mail (Canada)
In 2009, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution dropped its arts section altogether, and the region's cultural community was aghast. So a couple of the AJC's laid-off critics decided to launch ArtsATL to fill the gap. Despite one near-death experience, the site's now thriving — and even providing content to the AJC. - Musical America
Who knew that a scene in Barbie would tank the bright pink event in Southeast Asia? But "the film contains a scene that depicts a map with the 'nine dash line,' a representation of China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, which Vietnam says violates its sovereignty." - Variety
"'I’ve decided to forbid bigots and homophobes from watching ‘The Sopranos,’ ‘The White Lotus,’ ‘Goodfellas’ or any movie or TV show I’ve been in,' Imperioli wrote. ... 'Thank you Supreme Court for allowing me to discriminate and exclude those who I don’t agree with and am opposed to. USA! USA!'" - Variety
"The Emmy Awards, which are scheduled set to air on FOX in September, could be delayed for months. Reports ... suggest the organizers are discussing various contingency plans if the writers strike isn't resolved this summer. Nominations are still scheduled to be announced Tuesday, July 12." - NPR
"If all of this sounds like a lot of fretting over something as wonky as an API change, it’s not. It’s indicative of a growing new awareness of what constitutes labor on the internet, and how communities can have their work mined for money-making ventures." - Wired
That's the FTC's proposed plan, anyway. Why? Because "there are global businesses dedicated to generating fake reviews for scammers and merchants looking for a shortcut. And the problem threatens to explode in an era of artificial intelligence." - Washington Post
On Friday, SAG-AFTRA agreed to a nearly two-week contract extension. "Despite progress in talks, significant differences remain between the parties, which have sparred over how to measure streaming residuals and secure protections against the abuse of artificial intelligence." - Los Angeles Times
Canada’s zeal for greater population inflows is matched by its determination to recruit the best and the brightest en masse. The country’s points-based immigration system allows individual Canadian provinces to recruit immigrant workers to specific locations. - Noah Pinion
