At Creative Portland’s biennial Arts and Culture Summit, the conversation kept returning to the financial needs of a sector that still hasn't fully recovered from the COVID lockdowns. Panels touched on finding rehearsal and studio space, handling rising costs, and getting a full-time lobbyist at the state capitol. - Portland (Maine) Press Herald
At least one performing arts center has been destroyed, cultural and heritage sites are being looted, and the 2,000-year-old ruins at Naga as well as the National Museum in Khartoum have been left unprotected. - Deutsche Welle
The use of parody and humour to pour scorn on the series is a common practice among fans. New digital technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) allow fans to create a sense of realism that again demonstrates their knowledge and love of the original works. - The Conversation
Fandom has changed over the last decade to become more of a discourse, but while celebs have had to hear more and more of what fans have to say, now fans are getting a peek at what their actions mean to their favorite stars — and a lot of it is not so flattering. - Vox
Lisa Nandy said that, under the 14 years of Conservative government which ended this past summer, "there's been a vandalism of the arts" and pledged that the Labour government would get arts funding spread throughout the country and arts education back into state schools. - The Guardian
"Listening to you also reminded me of my own adult son, who is autistic. When Ezra was a child, my wife and I sometimes hesitated to bring him along to concerts or movies for fear he might do or say the wrong thing." - The Wall Street Journal
According to the statistics department at the country's Ministry of Culture, the total attendance figure for more than 1,450 museums and 46,000 monuments is, at 46.8 million visitors, up 13% from 2022 and 7% from 2019. - ARTnews
The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council’s new strategic plan seems like an exception. With a candor that verges on the self-excoriating, the group’s report announcing the five-year plan itemizes its past errors and seeks to chart a new course in how it serves the local arts community. - WESA
But it’s not just the Huntington. “There’s a global network where succulents, cacti, orchids, cycads, magnolias and other plants are trafficked on the black market.” - LAist
“We like the feeling of the collective and not pushing one person as a front for something. … So, we’re really working together with our skillset because we believe in music, we believe in art, we believe in community, and so that’s what’s being put forward here.” - MPR
“Deep doubt is skepticism of real media that stems from the existence of generative AI. This manifests as broad public skepticism toward the veracity of media artifacts, which in turn leads to a notable consequence: People can now more credibly claim that real events did not happen.” - Wired
Five Black and Hispanic families sued the Sesame Place theme park in suburban Philadelphia, alleging that their children were ignored by costumed performers there due to racial bias. It took the jury less than three hours to reject the plaintiffs' claims. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
Could these increasingly messy call-outs and protests, personal attacks on social media and public decouplings result in an already woefully underfunded arts sector destroying itself? - The Stage
Vance has spent little effort in the Senate on the arts: his only notable action was introducing a Consequences for Climate Vandals Act, which would increase penalties for protesters damaging art at Smithsonian museums. Meanwhile, Walz is governor of Minnesota, number one in the US in arts funding per capita. - Hyperallergic
