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Ukraine’s Historic Churches Are Being Ravaged By Russia’s War — And There’s Too Much Bombing To Do Conservation Work

"Ukraine's churches are the hardest hit of all heritage sites in the war-torn country, new data suggests. But a coalition of priests and religious leaders are working together —overcoming ideological divisions and historic allegiances — to document the damage caused to Ukraine's most precious places of worship." - The Art Newspaper

When It Was First Shown, Picasso’s “Guernica” Bombed (Ahem)

"Picasso, deeply apolitical, had shown little interest in the Spanish Civil War. ... Nor had he ever done a public mural, let alone one about a bombed city. And the work was so disdained when it was first shown that it very nearly didn't make it." - MSN (The Atlantic)

India’s Most Influential Artist

He was the first Indian artist who successfully combined Indian iconography and subjects with Western techniques and styles. His art influenced Indian literature, music, films, advertising and textiles, and even India's largest selling comic book series. - BBC

What University Museums Have To Teach The Broader Museum World

 Here are five ways college and university museums model a braver future for the museum field at large. - Artnet

Defining What Generative Art Is

The 2018 Chaos Machine by the artist collective Distributed Gallery is an early example of a blockchain sculpture where the use of randomness and algorithmic code also classifies it as generative art. - The Art Newspaper

Seattle Museum Cancels Microsoft Versus Amazon Art Show After Arts Community Objects

Greg Lundgren said that he heard “loud and clear” that the exhibition was not the way to have a conversation “around art, wealth and the future cultural landscape of our city” and that “big tech should not be viewed as the underwriters of our future health and vibrancy.” - Geekwire

Remembering Claes Oldenburg And Why He Mattered

“I am for the art that a kid licks, after peeling away the wrapper,” he once explained. - Los Angeles Times

More Interesting Finds At Jerusalem’s Church Of The Holy Sepulchre

Archaeologists have announced that they've discovered rock layers from the quarry whose granite was used to build the Byzantine Emperor Constantine's original church in the 4th century CE.  Some loose pieces from the church's original mosaics have also been found. - Hyperallergic

One Of Iran’s Most Famous Historic Mosques Has Been Damaged During Restoration Work

The 17th-century Shah Mosque in Isfahan, widely considered one of the country's most beautiful buildings, has suffered damage to the tiling and shape of its dome, likely due to the weight of the scaffolding erected around it for the restoration project. - Yahoo! (AFP)

Vandalism! Critics Slam Library Of Congress Over Proposed Architectural Changes

A proposed change to the ornate Main Reading Room at the Library of Congress that critics say would remove the symbolic and functional heart of the 1897 Beaux-Arts masterpiece has landed the library on the D.C. Preservation League’s 2022 list of Most Endangered Places. - Washington Post

The Heatwave In China Has Melted The Roof Right Off Of A Museum

The Forbidden City Cultural Relics Museum, which opened in 2020 in a restored Yangtze River-front warehouse complex in Chongqing, had a large number of roof tiles slide off, leading to the collapse of one of the museum's several buildings. - Artnet

Rescue Deal Falls Apart And San Francisco Art Institute Closes For Good

Twice the financially beleaguered school had secured a merger deal with the University of San Francisco, and both times USF backed out due to concerns about falling enrollment and continued viability. Still uncertain is the fate of SFAI's Diego Rivera mural. - SFist

How NFTs Are Upending The Art World

This so-called revolution strikes at something many hold sacred: the relationship between artist and art, the meaning in an act of creation. What’s happening now is larger than the traditional tension between art and commerce, and it’s occurring at internet speed. - Alta

Maryland Institute Of Art Lays Off Employees After They Unionize

The news comes roughly two months after employees working across various departments voted 86–17 on to join SEIU Local 500 on May 24. - ARTnews

Adding Back The Color To Those Ancient Greek Statues

A new exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York scatters recreations of what these statues ACTUALLY looked like throughout its galleries: they're painted in garish colors with multiple patterns. - NPR

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