"The Muslim Public Affairs Council has published a statement urging reinstatement of an art history professor who was fired from Hamline University in Minnesota after showing her class Medieval paintings depicting the Prophet Muhammad." Indeed, MPAC said she should be thanked for "educating students … in a critically empathetic manner." - Artnet
"An article in the $1.7 trillion Omnibus Appropriations Bill passed on 22 December … paves the way for the Biden administration to rejoin and finance the UNESCO organisation — the United Nations culture and education body — as well as pay the huge debt accumulated in membership dues." - The Art Newspaper
After Dr. López Prater showed the image, a senior in the class complained to the administration. Other Muslim students, not in the course, supported the student, saying the class was an attack on their religion. They demanded that officials take action. - The New York Times
"The wrecks are a threat to other vessels – a boat's engine may be damaged if it passes over them. But they are an even bigger threat to the ecosystem, leaking chemicals, fuel and microplastics as the boats disintegrate in the water." - The Guardian
"These visions, whether expressed through science fiction, music or art, are rooted in staples of traditional Indian culture such as spirituality and folk customs. But they're also universally appealing, thanks to provocative design, cutting-edge technology, captivating sonics and their emphasis on diversity and self-reliance." - BBC
On the 4½-hour trip between the German capital and the Polish city of Wrocław, "passengers encounter writers, musicians, creative artists, a library and a permanent exhibition. The project was originally designed for a six-month period, but it was so successful that it was never discontinued." - Deutsche Welle
“We suffer from an overabundance of history not as a method of or analysis, but as anachronistic data points for the articulation of competing politics.” - The New York Times
Maia Kobabe, author of Gender Queer: "I drew as much as I felt like I needed to tell the story that I was trying to tell and get the points across that I was trying to make. And I honestly think the book is a lot less explicit than it could be." - NPR
"As with the historic storm that pummeled the Bay Area over New Year's weekend, the outside world doesn't always stay outside. Now flooded venues … are just hoping they don't suffer more damage (from the) so-called 'bomb cyclone' (and) 'pineapple express'" storms this week. - San Francisco Chronicle
It does not benefit either the arts or the government for politicians to be involved in arts funding. The current controversy is an excellent example of what happens when ministers overstretch. An orderly retreat would be in everyone’s best interests. - The Stage
The Artist’s Studio describes how a noisome cockpit of lust, crime and virtuosity produced innovations in how art gets made, and by whom. - The Guardian
Peter Brooks’s fear is that we are so over-saturated with story that we have become undiscerning consumers, slipping too willingly into the familiar rhythms of plot, even when scepticism – of where information is coming from and of who is delivering it – would be more appropriate. - New Statesman
In a city where tree shade is unequally distributed and half the surfaces are dark asphalt or concrete, the solution to increasing temperatures could lie in design. - The Guardian
"Arts groups need to make institutional changes to support these new leaders, according to women leaders of color at these groups. They say solutions often seem obvious, but tend to be overlooked." - KERA (Dallas)
Every year, Jennifer Jenkins, director of Duke University School of Law’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain, puts together an extensive list of expiring U.S. copyrights, many of which have a life span of 95 years. - Smithsonian
