“The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences apologised on Friday after hundreds of its members criticised it for not supporting Oscar-winner Hamdan Ballal, a Palestinian who was recently detained by Israeli settlers.” - BBC
"When I was coming up in the ranks, no one ever talked about the complicated ethics of fundraising. How do you decide when to say no to that check because it comes with strings attached, or … you take the money and you hold your nose?" - Nieman Storyboard
“President Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at reshaping the Smithsonian Institution and removing what he deems ‘improper ideology’ from its museums, education and research centers and the National Zoo.” - Axios
“The president has instructed the vice president ‘to eliminate improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology’ from the institution’s entities. … But who runs and funds the Smithsonian and can Trump overhaul it like he is the federal government? Here’s what to know.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
“Senior U.S. District Judge William Smith, during a hearing in Providence, Rhode Island, questioned how such a policy could be reconciled with federal law, ‘which prohibits requiring grant recipients from engaging in essentially government propaganda.’" - Reuters
OpenAI’s and Google’s latest tools make it easier than ever to re-create the styles of copyrighted works — simply by typing a text prompt. Together, these new AI image features seem to reignite concerns at the core of several lawsuits. - TechCrunch
A state House committee working on the budget voted in favor of eliminating the state’s Division of Arts. They also considered, but later dropped, a proposal to completely defund the New Hampshire State Library. - New Hampshire Public Radio
The ACLU and plaintiff organisations are challenging the NEA’s implementation of Trump’s order directing that “federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology”. - The Guardian
Our work in Social Impact was to widen our cultural radius and to imagine that inspiration itself was a constitutional right afforded to ALL of this nation's people." - NPR
“The OAC has been funding arts organizations in Oregon for nearly sixty years, and operating support is one of its core programs. With these new changes, they’re exploring an approach that’s still altogether too rare: namely, trusting that the nonprofit itself is the best judge of where that money gets spent.” - Oregon ArtsWatch
Tickets for the hottest Broadway shows are now out of reach for many. And the same is true for other sought-after live events, such as pop concerts (which now cost hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars per ticket) and big sports games. - The New York Times
The second week of March, when the Kennedy Center typically announces programming for the next season, has come and gone. Across Washington, venues like The Anthem and Shakespeare Theatre Company are fielding calls from artists and organizations looking for somewhere else to perform. - MSNBC
It's no coincidence that Trump is staging a putsch in this cultural jewel. It's no coincidence that he spends time there. It's no coincidence that he sees it as a weapon against the left-wing elites, whom he intends to humiliate. For one thing, it's one of the few places where he can act. - Le Monde
Bassist Alvin “Gibbs, along with bandmates Marc Carrey and Stefan Häublein, were deported back to the UK following their detainment. Only vocalist Charlie Harper had been allowed entry.” - The Guardian (UK)