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Unknown Donatello Sculpture Turns Up In Museum Storeroom

The marble bust, depicting Mantua noblewoman Cecilia Gonzaga, was identified in a storeroom at the Spiš Museum in Levoča, Slovakia. It was previously thought to be a 19th-century copy and was at one point used as a toy by the young girls at a reformatory. - Artnet

Disney Cuts 6% Of Staff At TV Networks And ABC News

“About 200 employees are being let go at Disney’s ABC News Group and Disney Entertainment Networks unit, people familiar with the matter said.” Among the casualties: the ABC newsmagazines 20/20 and Nightline are being consolidated into a single unit, and election-forecast website Five-Thirty-Eight is closing. - The Wall Street Journal (MSN)

U.S. Book Industry Braces For Havoc Due To New Tariffs

“President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, as well as a 10% increase to tariffs on goods from China, went into effect on March 4 — and although the tariffs had been delayed once before, the publishing and printing industries are still left with questions.” - Publishers Weekly

San Francisco Symphony Is Intimidated Into Pausing Black Composers Project

“The San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Conservatory of Music have ‘paused’ the Emerging Black Composers Project, citing a memo from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights that called diversity efforts ‘repugnant’ and ‘shameful’ and directed schools to eliminate them or risk losing federal funding.“ - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

“Hamilton” Cancels Its Run At Kennedy Center In Wake Of Trump Takeover

Lead producer Jeffrey Seller: “Political disagreement and debate are vital expressions of democracy. These basic concepts of freedom are at the very heart of Hamilton. However, some institutions are sacred and should be protected from politics. The Kennedy Center is one such institution.” - Variety

D.C. Will Paint Over Black Lives Matter Plaza Mural After GOP Threatens Transit Funding

“D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser signaled Tuesday that the city would paint a new mural at Black Lives Matter Plaza outside the White House after a Republican lawmaker introduced a bill threatening millions of dollars in transportation funding if Bowser did not agree to erase and rename it.” - The Washington Post (MSN)

How On Earth Did Reddit Become One Of The Nicest Places On The Internet?

For its first decade, Reddit was widely considered just a notch above 4chan: full of rage-filled prejudice, vicious verbal abuse and creepy sex stuff. Now Reddit's full of (mostly) civil discussion, advice and support on topics from popular to extremely niche to silly. And there are good reasons for that. - The Atlantic (MSN)

The Oscars Have Contorted Themselves Into An Unwatchable Mess

 Just as tentpole movies are tested and managed to death, the Oscars have bent themselves into contortions to meet what executives have determined that audiences at home want. - The New Yorker

At Last, New York City Schools Get An Increase In Arts Funding

After years of either cuts or stagnant funding, the New York City Council has allocated $4 million for arts instruction and programming in 239 schools (which is not all of them) across the city — all of $16,257 per school. - PIX11 (New York City)

How Cities Are Developing Policies To Promote Support For Musicians

As the cost of living continues to skyrocket and spaces for musicians to perform become fewer, some say municipal music strategies are becoming increasingly important. A municipal music strategy is a set of policies created by municipal governments to help bolster local musicians. - CBC

I’m A Professor. Now I’ve Become An AI-Cheat Detective

To judge by the number of papers I read last semester that were clearly AI generated, a lot of students are enthusiastic about this latest innovation. It turns out, too, this enthusiasm is hardly dampened by, say, a clear statement in one’s syllabus prohibiting the use of AI. - The Walrus

UK Is Increasing Arts Funding. But The Arguments For Where That Funding Goes Are Flawed

Even beyond their economic potential, the cultural value of practices more traditionally associated with commercial activity has become more central to the national conversation. - The Conversation

Meet The Next Artistic Director Of The Dutch National Ballet

Ernst Meisner began his career with London's Royal Ballet before returning home to join DNB. When he left the stage in 2013, he became artistic director of DNB’s junior company; in 2018, he took the helm at the company’s school as well. He starts the top job in August 2026. - Gramilano

The Dangerous Notion Of Free Speech

Freedom of expression undermines authority, which is why it has no place in societies wholly based on the exercise of coercive power. The logic of censorship is the same whether those who are silenced are slaves, indigenous colonial subjects or the inhabitants of Russia and China today. - Literary Review

Is This Rubens Real? It’s Difficult To Tell

This is not the first time that claims against the authenticity of Samson and Delilah have made headlines. In 2021, the Swiss tech start-up Art Recognition analyzed a digital reproduction of the painting using an A.I. it had trained to identify paintings by Rubens, concluding that there was a 91 percent chance it was fake. - Artnet

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