Stories

Will The Smithsonian’s Smallest Museum Survive?

Anacostia, since renamed the Anacostia Community Museum, was the first federally funded museum focused on Black history, as well as the first federally funded community museum; it is still the only Smithsonian to archive and document daily life in the nation’s capital. - The Atlantic

A Story Of Gay Life In Early America

The two women lived openly as a same-sex couple from 1807 to 1851 in Weybridge, VT, where they ran a successful tailoring business. Despite some local misgivings, they were largely accepted. Neighborhood children apprenticed with them, and Sylvia served as a deacon in the local Congregational Church. - ArtsFuse

Here’s What Trump’s Washington Arch Would Look Like

Much of the public debate around the arch has centered on how it would affect other nearby memorials, particularly the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. - Washington Post

A New Wave Of Women’s Ragebait Lit

"These books may have inspired more than their share of hot takes ... but the conversations around them allow us to question where we are and what our feminist ideals have become … (now that) so many of the problems that felt like they were somehow close to being solved … have become drastically worse." - Harper’s Bazaar

Ben Folds: The National Symphony Is In Peril

The NSO doesn’t even know if it has a home, given the previously announced two-year closure of the Kennedy Center. This is a very bad sign. Further, the tools for survival are entangled in the Kennedy Center’s legal and financial troubles. - Variety

Trump Administration’s Plans To Cancel Student Loans For Almost All College Arts Programs

Yale University’s master’s programs in visual arts and music would fail. Harvard University’s master’s degree in museum studies would fail. The Juilliard School’s undergraduate and graduate programs in music would fail. - The New York Times

Crystal Bridges Completes Major Expansion

This component of a long-running plan for the site adds two galleries and 114,00 square feet (10,590 square metres) of space for a recent major gift and the subsequent reinterpretation of its collection. The museum's footprint has expanded by half since its opening in 2011. - Dezeen

Second-Generation Cambodian-American, Trained Only In U.S., Becomes Skilled Teacher Of Khmer Classical Dance

Peter Veth has never studied in Cambodia — only in his hometown of Lowell, Mass., a center of the diaspora. But from sixth grade on he took classes with visiting Cambodian masters and at Lowell’s Angkor Dance Troupe, where he now teaches the art form to younger dancers. - Dance Teacher

London’s Royal Opera House Is Embracing AI. Some Musicians Aren’t Happy

"We started programming SHIFT because there is a bit of a crisis in the performing arts with regards to machine learning. There's absolute panic. And in fact last year, when we announced it, some leading people in the arts were describing AI as evil and as the devil." - The Independent

Report: Australian Arts Participation At Highest Level Ever

More Australians are attending live arts events and festivals, with 2025 the highest level of attendance recorded. While some art forms have seen shifts back towards more frequent pre-COVID-19 attendance patterns, others have not fully recovered. - Creative Australia

Carl Schachter, Influential Music Theorist, 93

His groundbreaking work as a music theorist primarily advanced Schenkerian theory by integrating rhythmic, metric, and harmonic dimensions into linear voice-leading analysis, while emphasizing how these elements interact to form structural coherence in tonal music. - The Violin Channel

Painter Of Dallas Whale Mural Painted Over For World Cup Promo Sues FIFA

The 17,000-square-foot mural, one of artist Robert Wyland’s popular “Whaling Wall” series, had been on view in downtown Dallas since 1999. Wyland is suing international soccer's governing body and the building’s owners for $25 million under the federal Visual Artist Rights Act, saying the mural was covered without his knowledge or consent. - AP

Dito Von Reigersberg, Aka Martha Graham Cracker, Philadelphia Arts World’s Favorite Drag Queen, Is Dead At 53

As Martha, he hosted a highly popular monthly cabaret and collaborated with, among others, the Philadelphia Orchestra and Opera Philadelphia. He also had a notable career, under his own persona, as an actor and theatermaker, most notably as a cofounder of Pig Iron Theatre Company. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

Brazilian Police Say They’ve Identified Mastermind Of Matisse Robbery In São Paulo

Last December, thieves stole 13 prints, including eight by Matisse, from the Biblioteca Mario de Andrade in São Paulo. Two suspects accused of the robbery itself were identified soon afterward; police have now named the alleged ringleader, who is currently in prison on other charges and has a considerable criminal history. - ArtReview

New York State Adds $150 Million To Theater Production Tax Credit — But Is It Going To Shows That Really Need It?

“The program … faces criticism from budget watchdog groups, state lawmakers, and even theatrical insiders who say the tax credits don’t support shows most in need of financial support. Many that have received state aid had the backing of major production companies,” including Disney. - Bloomberg Law News

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