"Although El Escorial is hardly an unknown destination — it received more than 450,000 visitors last year — Pérez de Prada and his colleagues are keen to offer people a fresh perspective, literally and metaphorically." - The Guardian
"Much of this drama stems from a debate about whom Metro Arts should serve with its limited budget. The debate can be summed up like this: should Metro Arts focus its grantmaking on individual artists or arts nonprofits? The issue has divided Nashville’s arts community." - WPLN (Nashville)
"Young artists ... have always had to promote themselves, but the balance between that element of the job and the actual art feels worryingly lopsided in our current digital age. The stigma of selling out is long gone, now replaced by the guilt of not doing it, constantly." - The New York Times
"On December 27, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that Amanda Jones’s 2022 defamation case against two local men who accused her of pushing pornography to children can continue. In a 4-2 ruling, the court found that an appeals court erred in denying Jones’s appeal based on an apparently missed deadline." - Publishers Weekly
"Cultural venues, festivals and events have been given a new £20 million boost weeks ahead of crucial decisions on their future funding by (Creative Scotland). The Scottish Government has committed to provide a record £74m a year for long-term funding programmes by 2026 — much more than had been expected." - The Scotsman
The funding application process for local productions has been streamlined, and the cash-back production grant (which covers foreign studios shooting in Germany as well) has been raised from 5% to 30%, making the country more competitive as a location. - Variety
A pan-European forgery network, a disputed Malevich at the Pompidou Center, supposed Monet and Renoir on eBay, yet more fake Basquiats, and the bogus Picassos in Tasmania that went undetected for over three years. - ARTnews
Step into a music class today and you might find laptops, turntables and MIDI controllers joining the expected clarinets, recorders and violins. From elementary through post-secondary schooling, some teachers are expanding music education and encouraging more students to try more contemporary forms of music-making. - CBC
"Two decades after theatre’s funding taps were turned off, editor Alistair Smith embarked on a tour from the tip to the toe of the United Kingdom, taking in productions across the four nations and speaking to those behind them, to discover how this period has shaped the industry we see today." - The Stage
Swift’s music still forms the basis of their interest in her. Fans study it like scripture, offering various interpretations of the lyrics. Uniting these interpretations is a desire to understand more about the figure of Swift and who she “really” is. - The Conversation
In The Times, Jason Farago defended an artistic movement against its detractors: “If you find Monet, Renoir, Degas too pretty and popular — if you think Impressionism is the artistic equivalent of a pumpkin spice latte — I want you to taste the espresso beneath the foam.” - The New York Times
From sexy frescoes emerging from the ashes to hidden cities surfacing due to Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scans, archaeologists continue to make discoveries that transform our understanding of the past and how best to preserve it for the future. - Hyperallergic
