ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

ISSUES

An Ambitious Seattle Artist Housing Initiative Falters

Artspace secured millions in public funding for affordable housing to support the arts. But instead of stemming Seattle’s creative brain drain, problems at the nonprofit’s three local buildings — unresponsiveness, chronic maintenance issues and threats of eviction — have driven some artists away. - Seattle Times

Author Kaveh Akbar Reflects On Making Art During War

“Every Iranian that you know has people in Tehran, people around Iran who are doing poorly,” the author of Martyr! says. For instance, his aunt with Stage Four cancer can’t get her desperately necessary daily chemo. - NPR

Inside The Courthouse Reshaping The Future Of The Internet

“While the FTC’s lawyers were calling witnesses against Meta in one courtroom, a nearby room was hosting arguments about whether Trump could fire two of the agency’s own commissioners.” - The Verge

The Festival That Puts a Scientist In Every Pub

The Roving Scientist Bar thus became a flagship program of the Beaker Street Festival, this year returning to Hope & Anchor, Australia’s oldest continuously licensed pub. Over 150 Australian scientists will be stationed at a table over the course of three days (13-16 August), with experts on topics from Gg(fear of sharks) to dark matter. - ArtsHub

Why Culture Desperately Needs Better Digital Infrastructure

When AI systems learn about Canadian culture, history, and events, they should be learning from trusted, structured, Canadian sources - not filtered scraps from engagement-driven platforms. - LinkedIn

How Detroit Reinvented Through The Arts

Fuelled by an enterprising spirit born from recent adversity, many have found new ways to inject life into their communities and cultural arenas. In Midtown, where the rhythms of jazz bars carry into the streets, a flourishing arts scene spills out of celebrated galleries like the Detroit Institute of Arts. - National Geographic

One Of Philadelphia’s Biggest Arts Funders, Left Homeless By UArts Collapse, Has New Home

“The Barnes Foundation will be the new home for The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, a major funder of local arts programming, after the closure of the University of the Arts in June 2024 left the center without an organizational home. The Pew Charitable Trusts will continue to fund the center.” - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Why The French Government Withdrew An AI Video It Released Celebrating The Nazis’ Withdrawal From Paris

“The problem was that authorities did not check the video for historical accuracy. In a scene of Parisians jubilantly celebrating the 1944 end of Nazi occupation, a soldier wearing a German-style helmet can been seen in the crowd. In the background, someone on a balcony waves the flag of Japan.” - Artnet

How Did A Giant Water Pistol Get To Be The Symbol, And Preferred Weapon, Of Europe’s Movement Against Overtourism?

It started as a joke, of course.  The first really angry protest on the issue happened on a hot summer day in Barcelona, and demonstrators brought water guns along to cool off. Then things got a little (ahem) heated, tourists were shot at with H₂O, and an icon was born. - AP

Huge Crowds Protest Overtourism In Spain, Portugal, And Italy

In Barcelona, Palma de Majorca, Lisbon, Venice, Genoa, and other cities, crowds marched through the streets, brandishing signs and water pistols, angrily demonstrating against the enormous hordes of tourists placing massive stress on local infrastructure, environment, public space, and most of all housing markets. - The Washington Post (MSN)

Fulbright Board Resigns Over Interference In Awards

Awards were overridden in subject areas spanning architecture, biology, engineering, agriculture, animal sciences, medical sciences, music and history, it says, accusing the administration of "injecting politics and ideological mandates into the Fulbright program." - NPR

This Administration Almost Sold The Freedom Rides Museum, And Other Civil Rights Monuments

“Many of the buildings on the original list were not ‘underutilized’ at all. They were simply being used for government work that the president didn’t like or by government officials whom the president wanted to punish.” - The New York Times

British Comedian David Walliams Performed The Nazi Salute Twice During A Panel Taping

Walliams is also a children’s author. “The show's production company and the BBC both described the gestures as ‘completely unacceptable’ and said the segment would not be broadcast.” - BBC

How Los Angeles Museums Have Failed Undocumented Immigrants

“In a city of over 800 museums, fewer than a dozen have publicly voiced their support for the undoc+ community, with the majority of institutions exclusively speaking out in solidarity with ‘immigrants’ and ‘migrants.’” - Hyperallergic

Disney And Universal’s Battle With Midjourney May Reshape Copyright

“The only thing that can stop AI companies doing what they’re doing is the law. ... If these lawsuits are successful, that is what will hopefully stop AI companies from exploiting people’s life’s work.” - Time

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