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The Frick Pittsburgh Apologizes For Postponing Islamic Art Show

The museum's executive director also apologized for the way she discussed the postponement: "There are no excuses for what I said, regardless of my intentions." - The New York Times

Swathed In 10,000 White Marble Sculptures, An Enormous New Hindu Temple Rises Deep In The New Jersey Burbs

"The path to God runs down the New Jersey Turnpike. About an hour from the Holland Tunnel, … a mirage appears: swirls of stone fluffed up into meringue peaks." Architecture critic Justin Davidson visits the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Robbinsville, just a few miles from Exit 8. - MSN (Curbed)

The Agent Who Turned Serious Literature Into A Serious Moneymaker

"Over the past four decades, Andrew Wylie has reshaped publishing in profound and, some say, insalubrious ways. He has been a champion of highbrow books and unabashed commerce, making great writers famous and famous writers rich. In the process, he has helped to define the global literary canon." - The Guardian

Can Small-Scale Arts Events Rebuild Community In Atomized American Society? This Project In Boston Is Giving It A Try

"'If you want to see a diverse and vibrant cultural community come to fruition, you have to build it," said Guy Ben-Aharon, founder of The Jar, which gathers small, disparate groups of people invited by "conveners" to evenings centered on particular artists from different disciplines. - MSN (The Washington Post)

Why Do Artists Have To Pronounce On Everything?

"The growing tendency of artists to pronounce on everything from microaggressions to macropolitics shows that we need a fundamentally different understanding of the role played by artists and their institutions." - Compact Magazine

The Actors’ Strike Is Over: The Studios And SAG-AFTRA Have A Deal

"The two sides spent the last several days putting the finishing touches on the deal, which will see the first-ever protections for actors against artificial intelligence and a historic pay increase. The deal will see most minimums increase by 7% — 2% above the increases received by the Writers Guild." - Variety

Poland’s Outgoing Right-Wing Government Politicized The Arts. Now What?

Jaroslaw Suchan, a former director of the Museum of Art in Lodz whose contract was not renewed by the Law and Justice government, said that the party had “treated culture as an ideological weapon.” But if a new government simply fired Glinski’s appointees, “they’d be repeating the last government’s behaviors.” - The New York Times

Four Men Arrested And Charged With Theft Of Maurizio Cattelan’s Solid Gold Toilet

The notorious art object, titled America, was stolen from an exhibition at Blenheim Palace in England in 2019. There's as yet no indication of the whereabouts of the object itself, which is widely presumed to have been melted down. - The Guardian

Climate-Protesting Art Vandals Attack A 17th-Century Painting With Hammers

Two members of the British group Just Stop Oil took hammers to the glass protecting Diego Velázquez’s "Rokeby Venus" at the National Gallery in London. (This isn't the first time that painting has been damaged by a protester: it was attacked by a suffragette in 1914.) - CNN

A ‘Shocking’ Play Is Canceled After A Firestorm Of Controversy Hits A California Community College

"After complaints from students and faculty ... , growing murmurs of protests at performances and an anonymous vote by student participants in the production, By the River Rivanna was canceled hours before its opening night."  - MSN (Los Angeles Times)

Portland’s Arts Council Dumps Leader After Staff Complaints, Amid Funding Fight

Executive Director Carol Tatch’s "ouster comes amid an acrimonious battle between RACC, which has been the major funding organization for arts organizations in Portland and the tri-county area since the 1990s, and the City of Portland." - Oregon ArtsWatch

Here’s One Artist Excited By AI

Sir Peter Blake, "at the age of 91, ... has been collaborating with a robot powered by AI and is excited by the artistic possibilities of this 'kind of magic.'" - The Guardian (UK)

Libraries Across Europe Hit By Cyberattacks

It's back to the analog age at the British Library, for instance. "Library users, many of whom include writers with pressing deadlines, are beginning to be affected." - The New York Times

Humanities On The College Chopping Block

For years, economists and more than a few worried parents have argued over whether a liberal arts degree is worth the price. The debate now seems to be over, and the answer is “no.” - The New York Times

We Have Forgotten How To Disagree In The Arts

The list of such fundamental divisions is long, and it is synonymous with multicultural liberalism. For this, many democracies maintain two-party parliamentary systems. Goading one side to drop its claims in favour of the other, as the arts who univocally espouse left politics do, is anti-democratic. - The Critic

There Is No Oppenheimer Without This Austrian Jewish Woman Physicist

But there's no $1 billion-grossing biographic movie about Dr. Lise Meitner. - LitHub

How California Became Such A Center For New Music

The state's cultural centers have "long encouraged new music, providing freedom and a sense of possibility that has made it the center of gravity for composers who work with a spirit of innovation." - The New York Times

A 260-Year-Old Theatre Token May Be Honored In England

The token, one of very few originally issued between 1764 and 1766 for the Bristol Old Vic, allows the owner unlimited tickets to the theatre. - BBC

More Editors Resign, And Artists Call For Boycott Of Artforum After Firing Of Editor In Chief

And many Artforum employees "have signed a letter demanding that Velasco be reinstated, saying his termination 'not only carries chilling implications for Artforum’s editorial independence but disaffirms the very mission of the magazine.'" - The New York Times

Board Of The Much-Troubled Banff Centre Is Fired

The Province of Alberta has sacked the board and appointed an administrator to oversee and assess. The institution has suffered for years with poor leadership. - Rocky Mountain Outlook
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