In 2015, the fortified tower of Hirosaki Castle was moved, in one piece, about 260 feet from its old site to allow repairs to the compound’s outer walls. Now a horde of volunteers, working 80 at a time pulling ropes, are pulling the tower back to its site, centimeter by centimeter. - AFP (Yahoo!)
Within the Canadian art scene, Stephen Jost’s leadership has been polarizing. He has drawn praise for making a significant investment in modern and contemporary art at the AGO. But Jost’s tenure was also marred by controversy over the past few years. - ARTnews
The Academy of Natural Sciences will close its Parkway museum at the end of the month, ending a nearly 200-year run as a destination for generations of visitors. The museum, founded in 1812 and opened to the public in 1828, has long been a fixture for families, students and educators. - 6 ABC
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will remove a major outdoor sculpture from the center’s grounds on Wednesday. The work, installed in 2019, was targeted for elimination after President Trump’s takeover of the center, according to internal documents obtained by The New York Times. - The New York Times
“The Homeland Security Investigations unit of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) said it seized more than 22,000 ancient artifacts in Florida as part of a smuggling inquest that counts ‘among the largest in the agency’s history,’ according to a press release.” - ARTnews
“Investigative authorities have said very little on the record, but sources speaking anonymously to The Guardian and local media, as well as art historians who know the (museum in Messina) intimately, say lots of elements don’t add up, except one: the date chosen by the thieves.” - The Guardian
The Smithsonian’s Board of Regents voted Monday to house the American Latino museum, which Congress created in 2020 but which has lacked a permanent home, in the Arts and Industries Building, a 258,000-square-foot redbrick Victorian structure next to the institution’s headquarters. - Washington Post
“The Metropolitan Museum of Art is canceling its planned exhibit honoring British designer John Galliano, which had led to severe backlash in the Jewish community and beyond because of the designer’s past antisemitic and racist statements.” - AP
“She made more than 20 variants of her mirrored chambers, which use light, sculpture and reflection to create a kind of 360-degree celestial infinity. They have traveled around the world and reached enormous popularity, forever changing the types of exhibits that are staged and the way the public engages with them.” - CNN (Yahoo!)
“Two municipal employees in the Dutch city of Rotterdam have been dismissed following an investigation into alleged corruption involving construction contracts. They include work connected to asbestos removal at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, one of the country’s most important museums.” - ARTnews
While the exhibition of the massive medieval embroidery at the British Museum hasn’t yet opened to the public, the right-wing tech billionaire was hosted by the museum’s director of development for a private viewing — for which he is reported to have made no donation — on August 18. - The Guardian
The design is rapidly descending into parody—even as Sauer told the court it has been built so solidly that it cannot be demolished, should the court (correctly) so rule. Just like the “unsinkable” Titanic. The ridiculous grand stair from nowhere to nowhere has reappeared on the prominent elevation facing President’s Park. - Architecture and the City
Since her 2018 appointment, Havilah has been overseeing the $915 million build of Powerhouse Parramatta—the city’s most significant cultural infrastructure project since the Sydney Opera House, which opened in 1973 for an estimated cost of AU$102 million. - ARTnews
John Galliano, who transformed Dior into a global powerhouse before his disgrace, is scheduled to be the subject of a nine-month exhibition sponsored by the Met’s Costume Institute. - The New York Times
“It was very woke,” Dan Scavino explained. “It was by the gentleman who did Obama’s portrait. And it was aesthetically terrifying.” Strong words for a group portrait of four fully dressed, largely expressionless sitters in front of a background adorned with flowers. - The New York Times
