With funding stalled in the state legislature, transit agency SEPTA instituted a 20% service cut in the city last week and will make drastic reductions in regional rail next week. Philadelphia arts organizations say many employees and at least 20% of their patrons use transit. Will they simply stop coming? - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
“The museum … needs a refurbishment to preserve its more than 200 paintings and nearly 500 drawings by Vincent van Gogh, but two years of negotiations with the (Dutch culture) ministry over funding have reached an impasse.” - The New York Times
Following Congress’s elimination of federal funding of public TV and radio and state-level finding cuts, SDPB is laying off 15 staffers and eliminating five currently vacant positions. One locally produced program each on television and radio are being canceled, and some education resources will be shelved. - South Dakota Searchlight
Julian Wachner, who established Trinity Church Wall Street as a dynamic force in New York’s classical music scene, only to be dismissed following an investigation into sexual misconduct, admitted to Indianapolis police that he had downloaded child sex abuse material, though he pled not guilty to charges. - Indianapolis Star
“2025’s EIF season, themed ‘The Truth We Seek’, sold 88% of available tickets. The figure is up by 29% on last year, when EIF sold 59% of its ticket capacity, and 34% up on the 2023 festival.” - Arts Professional (UK)
So says the owner of the works, Yaniv Cohen, who claims he was given them by his wife’s grandmother, whose father acquired them secretly from Malevich in Odesa early in the Stalin era. That’s supposedly why there’s no previous record of the works’ existence. Scholars are unconvinced by this explanation. - BBC (MSN)
In April, the government announced the pilot launch of the pyramids area development project, leading to changes at the world’s most famous archaeological site. - Smithsonian
The Citizens Theatre closed in 2018 for what was supposed to be a three-year rehabilitation. The COVID pandemic, and the ensuing inflation, both delayed the completion of the project by years and caused expenses to soar; the final cost of the renovation will likely be double the original £20 million budget. - BBC (MSN)
After a few Fridays, I noticed that one of the most inveterate nonreaders was not only listening, but also looking at his book, even mouthing along. - Washington Post
Several station managers across Alaska said they worried their station would end up with nothing more than an antenna to rebroadcast content created in Juneau, Anchorage or elsewhere in the country. - The New York Times
The move to scale back humanities doctoral programs is either a prudent acknowledgment of the cratered job market for tenure-track professorships... or it is a cynical effort, under cover of the Trump administration’s assaults, to transfer resources away from “impractical,” unprofitable, and largely jobless fields. - The Atlantic
“Film music, however good it can be – and it usually isn’t, other than maybe an eight-minute stretch here and there … The music isn’t there. … Just the idea that film music has the same place in the concert hall as the best music in the canon is a mistaken notion, I think.” - The Guardian
The company says that compliance with Mississippi’s law—which would require identifying and tracking all users under 18, in addition to asking every user for sensitive personal information to verify their age—is not possible with the team’s current resources and infrastructure. - Wired
