According to the statistics department at the country's Ministry of Culture, the total attendance figure for more than 1,450 museums and 46,000 monuments is, at 46.8 million visitors, up 13% from 2022 and 7% from 2019. - ARTnews
The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council’s new strategic plan seems like an exception. With a candor that verges on the self-excoriating, the group’s report announcing the five-year plan itemizes its past errors and seeks to chart a new course in how it serves the local arts community. - WESA
But it’s not just the Huntington. “There’s a global network where succulents, cacti, orchids, cycads, magnolias and other plants are trafficked on the black market.” - LAist
“We like the feeling of the collective and not pushing one person as a front for something. … So, we’re really working together with our skillset because we believe in music, we believe in art, we believe in community, and so that’s what’s being put forward here.” - MPR
“Deep doubt is skepticism of real media that stems from the existence of generative AI. This manifests as broad public skepticism toward the veracity of media artifacts, which in turn leads to a notable consequence: People can now more credibly claim that real events did not happen.” - Wired
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)
