Once you cut through the blather, the letter basically said the museum had looked critically at its corps of docents, a group dominated by mostly (but not entirely) white, retired women with some time to spare, and found them wanting as a demographic. - Chicago Tribune
Robert M. Levy: "In order to succeed, the Art Institute and our peer group must let go of the museum tenet of “this is how we have always done it” and explore new ways to ignite enthusiasm in our visitors." - Chicago Tribune
Since 1984, the Broad Art Foundation (yes, as in Eli and Edythe) in Los Angeles has made more than 8,700 loans (well over 200 a year) to nearly 600 institutions. How does it work? Here's a look at the operation's logistics. - ARTnews
Julie Bargmann, whose firm is called D.I.R.T. ("Dump It Right There") has been given the first Oberlander Prize, a $100,000 biennial award for landscape architecture. Justin Davidson explores how Bargmann's approach leaves onsite as much as possible of what’s there and uses nature for cleanup. - Curbed
More than 18 months since the coronavirus pandemic hit Britain, its long-term effects on the country’s museums are becoming clear. Months of closures have caused havoc with their finances, and as a consequence, many museums expect to be strapped for years. - The New York Times
Rules restricting the use of wood in UK buildings are hampering the switch to low-carbon building methods, according to timber architecture expert Andrew Waugh. - Dezeen
"Graphene is a two-dimensional carbon allotrope whose molecules bind together through a phenomenon called Van der Waals forces. … It can be produced in large, thin sheets; it blocks ultraviolet light; and it is impermeable to oxygen, moisture, and other corrosive agents." - Artnet
"Mehrdad Sadigh pleaded guilty to seven felony counts that included charges of forgery and grand larceny. … The prosecution of Mr. Sadigh was something of a departure by the Antiquities Trafficking Unit, which generally pursues people dealing in artifacts that have been looted." - The New York Times
The Faculty Paintings — three allegorical works titled Philosophy, Medicine, and Jurisprudence — were likely destroyed in a fire near the end of Word War II; all we have today are black-and-white photos and verbal descriptions. Here's how Google and Vienna's Belvedere Museum recreated the artworks. - Smithsonian Magazine
The 23-foot tower of naked bodies twisted together, some mid-scream, was created by Danish sculptor Jens Galschiøt and is the last remaining Tiananmen commemoration on Chinese soil. - Washington Post
"I keep returning to an unrealized project of the late philosopher, public intellectual, and curator Édouard Glissant, who consistently told me that what matters is the production of reality." - Artnet
"Fittingly, the artist (Wolfgang Beltracchi) — infamous for his uncanny ability to mimic the work of others — is making 4,608 versions of Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi, in a variety of different artistic styles." Post-Impressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, Pop Art … - Artnet
The platform’s erasure of certain kinds of work has the net effect of discouraging the making and exhibiting of that work. It erases art that is confrontational, that expresses points of view outside of the mainstream, while promoting art that is decorative and/or unchallenging. - ARTnews
Claire Lilley, who placed 18 sculptures for the London Frieze Sculpture show this year: "I love how we as humans occupy the same space as sculpture. I’ve seen people press their entire bodies against sculptures and hug them." - The New York Times
