The Internet Archive “is the only keeper of the internet’s first days, via the Wayback Machine. ... The archive is a huge source for Wikipedia citations, and makes a stand against publisher monopolies. Most of all? If it’s destroyed, millions and millions of cultural items could be lost to history.” - LitHub
Check the map. “Florida and Texas have the most bans in place, with 2647 and 1469 in place respectively. Thankfully the number of Little Free Libraries is higher in both states: Florida has 2886, and Texas has 2373.” - LitHub
With eight years in development, Concord, “was a brand-new franchise that didn’t get much of a marketing push and drew the ire of ‘anti-woke’ snivelers who complained about the game’s use of pronouns on its character selection screen.” Four weeks after launch, Sony killed it. - Wired
Turns out that punting on the use of generative AI to “win” a contest of writing 50,000 words in a month, while having a sponsor that encourages the use of AI, while claiming those who question generative AI are “classist” and “ableist” isn’t going so well. - The New York Times
Birmingham City Council owns an artwork collection valued at almost half a billion pounds, a BBC investigation has discovered. But none will be sold off to help tackle the financial challenges at the council which declared it was effectively bankrupt last year. - BBC
The West Kowloon Cultural District received a set amount of funding to open, expecting to sustain itself long-term by developing commercial and residential real estate on its property. But construction delays, and a market downturn have kept that plan from working, leaving WKCD desperate for cash. - Bloomberg (The Business Times, Singapore)
“We continue to see unprecedented levels of demand for the Open Fund for Individuals and will process the high volume of applications we have received. With the budget now confirmed, we will work to re-open this fund. - The Herald
Nell Bang-Jensen, artistic director of Theatre Horizon in (the Philadelphia suburb of) Norristown, will be (FringeArts') … new CEO, taking over from cofounder Nick Stuccio, who stepped down last year. She will begin her position after the current 2024 festival" — in which she's directing a major production — "wraps in October." - WHYY (Philadelphia)
"Several of the more than 600 organizations that lost state funding (said) that their educational programming is the first thing they will have to cut if they cannot make up the money elsewhere." The problem is especially acute in rural areas where school districts have fewer resources. - The Washington Post (MSN)
"The incoming class of seniors at New York’s Cooper Union learned at today’s convocation ceremony that they would pay no tuition for their final year. Outgoing president Laura Sparks announced, moreover, that for each of the coming four years, seniors at the school of art, architecture, and engineering would attend tuition-free." - Artnet
While its repressive attitude towards women’s rights has remained consistent, the Taliban's stance on the preservation of historic sites contrasts sharply with its actions in 2001, when the group destroyed the monumental Buddhas of Bamiyan. - The Art Newspaper
"The UK‘s accomplishments in the arts are something its public prides above all else, according to a new study, while fondness for British history has dropped dramatically. The findings come from the British Social Attitudes Survey, which shows stark changes ... since it was last conducted ten years ago." - The Art Newspaper
The Philadelphia school, which closed down without warning on June 7, was notified two weeks later by "successor trustee" UMB Bank that, due to the university's cessation of operations, full payment on the 2017 bond series is due immediately. - Artnet
Stanford University’s announcement that 23 creative writing instructors will be pushed out of their jobs and replaced has set off a national backlash in the literary community and among students in the program. - San Francisco Chronicle
"The Hamilton Family Charitable Trust, which contributed about half of UArts’ $62 million endowment, is not in favor of that money going to Temple as part of the deal, which largely appears to be sinking it. … Temple did not want to engage in a legal battle with a charitable trust." - The Philadelphia Inquirer
