“The new theme park … features a different sort of business model for Disney: The destination will be developed, built, and operated by the entertainment and destination holding company Miral, with Disney Imagineers leading creative design and operational oversight.” - The Hollywood Reporter
Ric Grenell complained after Monday’s episode revealed that Miranda, who has declined to perform at the venue after its Trump-led makeover, will be mentoring contestants in the lead-up to the Season 23 finale later this month. - The Daily Beast
“A House committee approved a budget proposal last week that called for allocating $257 million to the Kennedy Center for capital repairs and other expenses, roughly six times the amount it usually receives from the government.” The committee said in a statement that the allocation was requested by Trump. - The New York Times
"I think it's an empowering situation when participants are able to not just immersive themselves in a world but actually affect that world and, in today's current situation, just having a little bit of power to make a significant change to a person, a character or a story is extremely enriching." - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
Trump has depicted the Kennedy Center as a crumbling building that he will return to its former glory. Never mind that he has offered few ideas for doing so and has spoken about his plans with his trademark blend of grandiloquence and vagueness. - The New Republic
“The role of science in today’s world is questioned. The investment in fundamental, free and open research is questioned. What a gigantic miscalculation,” von der Leyen said. “Science has no passport, no gender, no ethnicity or political party.” - Politico
"In the copyrightability analysis, distinguishing between using AI as a tool to assist in the creation of works and using AI to stand in for human creativity is important. The difference is whether AI is enhancing human expression or is the source of the expressive choices." - PC Magazine
The National Park Service report, 2023 National Park Visitor Spending Effects, finds that 325.5 million visitors spent $26.4 billion in communities near national parks. This spending supported 415,400 jobs, provided $19.4 billion in labor income, and $55.6 billion in economic output to the U.S. economy. - NPS
“Among those leaving the agency are directors overseeing grants for dance, design, folk and traditional arts, museums and visual arts, and theater. Also departing are the directors of arts education, multidisciplinary works and the ‘partnership’ division, which oversees work with state and local arts agencies.” - The New York Times
A cultural battle is dividing Odesa, with the Babel statue a flashpoint. The spark was the decolonization law, which was part of a broader effort in wartime Ukraine to sever ties with Russian heritage and build an identity free of its influence. - The New York Times
Almost every professional artist or illustrator I meet tells me they have lost clients and gigs to firms that have turned to AI instead of paying for human work; some have been pushed out of their fields altogether. - Blood in the Machine
It is especially ironic that, just as we began the countdown to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, with commemorations at Lexington and Concord, this contemporary battle over the future of universities took a dangerous new turn. - The Atlantic
Three major scholarly groups have sued the National Endowment for the Humanities and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, arguing that the recent mass cancellation of virtually all the agency’s grants violates the law and must be reversed. - The New York Times
“It’s strange that the Trump administration is trumpeting their priorities to serve diverse America while canceling grants for our August Wilson play." - The New York Times
The skinny budget also eliminates funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences, AmeriCorps, National Endowment for the Arts, and National Endowment for the Humanities. Trump has already made deep cuts at those agencies and put most—if not all—of their employees on leave. - InsideHigherEd
