"The city agency (Metro Arts) is behind schedule because it’s still recovering from last year’s chaotic funding cycle. … This year, (there's) a much smaller pool of money to distribute: $3.2 million, down from over $7 million last year. And this year’s applicant pool is larger than last year’s record high." - WPLN (Nashville)
The 1911 Wright Model B was flown, recklessly and repeatedly, around the skies over Philadelphia by brewery heir Grover Cleveland Bergdoll. In 1935, after he fled to Germany, the plane went on display at the Institute. Now Bergdoll's daughter and granddaughter claim the museum stole the plane. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
Lately, “new Berlin” has become shorthand for an under-visited European city that is cheap, fun, and up-and-coming. Ever since creeping gentrification and a massive rise in tourism have thrown into question the German capital’s status of the world’s “coolest” city, people have been racing to determine its successor. - The New Republic
The regional government for Berlin intends to cut its cultural budget by 12%, and other state and municipal governments are similarly strapped. The German federal government is holding back as well, and with the coalition government just having collapsed, there's no budget for 2025 at all yet. What can arts managers there expect? - Deutsche Welle
Copyright will expire on Buck Rogers, Captain Easy, Horace Horsecollar, Tintin, Hal Foster's first Tarzan comic strips and, yes, Popeye. - Creative Blog
“The protesters interrupted the literary award ceremony in November 2023 carrying signs that read ‘Scotiabank Funds Genocide,' referring to the then-title sponsor's investment in the Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems.” - CBC
The director - and actor - says that when little girls love movies, they’re told they should be actors. But “I think when little boys say they love movies, people say ‘You should be a director.’” She would like to make the messages more equal. - Variety
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found a lot of issues around Google Pay - but "says its finding that Google should be supervised doesn’t mean the company is 'guilty of wrongdoing.’” - The Verge
A lot depends on the incoming administration. “The TikTok ban could take effect as soon as one day before Trump is inaugurated next month. In reality, the app is most likely to survive a few more months.” - Wired
"In its second annual release, our State of the Arts: Arts Vibrancy Rankings analyzes measurements of arts-vibrancy for all 50 states, using a comprehensive, data-driven approach that considers factors like supply, demand, and public support for arts and culture, along with adjustments for cost of living and population size." - SMU DataArts
"Castle of Our Skins, an arts institution that celebrates and aims to generate curiosity in Black music, cut the ribbon on Thursday … at its new location," to open in 2027. "The 2,491-square-foot space, which will be called Gold Hall, will function as a performance and community space." - WBUR (Boston)
While the people of France supported the effort in the immediate aftermath—within days of the fire, there were donations of more than $900 million—the years that followed were beset by pushback, controversy and outrage. - The Wall Street Journal
Culture secretary Angus Robertson predicted the new funding for culture earmarked for the coming financial year would be 'transformational" for the arts industry. Finance secretary Shona Robison said that she aims to allocate an additional £20 million for the following fiscal year. - The Scotsman
To survive the next four years, to make sense of where all this could be going, we need to understand barbarism as a living, ever-present force tending always to cruelty and destruction. And more important: We need to understand how culture pushes back against it. - Washington Post (MSN)
There’s a loosely defined term of art for things that are prized and embedded in a culture but not necessarily architectural landmarks: intangible heritage. - The New York Times
