"Advanced scanning techniques revealed that beneath the plain white wall that makes the milkmaid's bright yellow and blue clothes stand out, Vermeer had originally painted extra details," including a wooden jug rack and a basket. - Yahoo! (AFP)
Not only does the new labor agreement include a 6.7% pay raise and restoration of benefits suspended when the pandemic arrived, the company formally committed to hiring an intimacy coordinator and allowing tights to match a dancer's skin tone. - The New York Times
It's hard to say just yet — partly because she's so new and partly because she has a reputation for changing positions on almost anything. But there are hints to be gleaned. One: she's talking about cutting taxes on rich people, so there will probably no increase in arts funding. - Artnet
‘When you get it right, it affects our health policy, our education policy, our environment policy, foreign affairs, trade, veterans’ affairs, tourism… A nation with a strong cultural policy is a nation where we know ourselves, know each other and invite the world to better know us.’ - ArtsHub
Quantum physics may just be the realisation that this ubiquitous relational structure of reality continues all the way down to the elementary physical level. Reality is not a collection of things, it’s a network of processes. - The Guardian
We followed up with several museums on their grand pronouncements from 2020 to see what they’ve actually followed through on, how their plans have changed, and what still remains to be done. - ARtnet
“While it’s absolutely true that this AI art couldn’t exist if it weren’t trained on copyrighted images and the work of artists, the end result is something we don’t have a precedent or parallel for,” Baio told me. “This technology is a black-box machine that generates high-quality imagery endlessly. - The Atlantic
While complaints from junior staffers about crushing workloads and low pay have begun to creep into some industry reporting, publishing veterans are also unhappy. Some say that decades of corporate consolidation and two-plus years of working from home have exposed widening cracks. - Publishers Weekly
He wrote on whether Black art had grown “kitschy” and whether Cy Twombly was a “fraud.” He defended Jeff Koons, whom he once called a “prophet,” and he labeled the New Museum “the Mr. Potato Head of contemporary art museums.” When the critic Hilton Kramer died, he ran a column called “Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead.” - ARTnews
Co-director Diane Paulus: "I want the audience to hold that dual reality, of what the founders were, but also a company of actors in 2022 who never would have been allowed inside Independence Hall. ... (It's) to hold history as a predicament, rather than an affirming myth." - The New York Times
"A big one that we've seen in recent months and years is reorganisation at the BBC, particularly in the newsroom. A lot of that is driven by the need to reduce costs, and therefore a lot of people have simply taken voluntary redundancy (VR) and left by choice." - BBC
Jair Bolsonaro abolished the culture ministry, slashed arts funding, and demonized the entire sector — which largely returns his hatred and fears he'll stage a coup. Lula, who supports the arts, leads in the polls. One good sign: Brazil's Congress just overrode Bolsonaro's veto of a new arts funding scheme. - The Art Newspaper
Arts presenters "know that some audience members will be deterred by mask requirements at a time when they have vanished from so many other settings, while others will be reluctant to attend indoor performances if masks are not required. Whatever they decide to do, they risk alienating some ticket buyers." - The New York Times
This summer an activist loudly objected to a no-guns rule at Atlanta's Music Midtown festival (in Georgia, no event on public property may ban firearms) and drove organizers to cancel the entire thing. He then tried the same tactic with the Savannah Jazz Festival — which, actually, has no such rule. - SaportaReport (Atlanta)
The competition was intense. In the first pair of performances, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra eked out a slight advantage over the Philadelphia Orchestra in terms of ticket sales and the octane of its playing — but hold on to your opera glasses. In a grand upset, the Cleveland Orchestra arrived. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
