“Without the profound impact of National Lottery funding for the arts, heritage, charity and tourism sectors, introduced by the Conservative government in 1994, survival of even the fittest would have been nigh on impossible." - The Art Newspaper
The outlet, near Independence Hall, will offer 30% to 50% discounts, up to three days before curtain, to select music and dance performances (including the Philadelphia Orchestra and Philadelphia Ballet) as well as theater. This is the first TKTS booth in the US outside New York City. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
The university's College of Arts and Sciences has suspended admissions to doctoral programs in a dozen humanities and social science departments, including English, philosophy, history, political science, and sociology. Though officials deny it, evidence indicates that the suspension is in response to the unionization of graduate students. - Inside Higher Ed
Airbnb and the Colosseum Archaeological Park have signed a $1.5 million deal to offer 16 tourists a chance to "unleash their inner gladiator." Colosseum officials say it will pay for site maintenance; many Romans object to both the bad taste of the idea and the company's contributions to overtourism. - CNN
The climate activists sprayed orange powder paint on some of Stonehenge’s monuments in June. The English Heritage chief claimed that despite there being no permanent visual damage, the act caused distress “to those for whom Stonehenge holds a spiritual significance.” - Salon
It’s not that easy. “A government ban on a trans rights exhibition at Depo in Beyoğlu this summer, coming in the wake of anti-LGBTQ+ protests at a separate art show last year, has rattled artists and cultural workers in Turkey.” - Hyperallergic
The social media site that’s been gaining new members by the million this week says that unlike Twitter (“X”), which has promised the opposite, Bluesky does “not use any of your content to train generative AI, and has no intention of doing so.” - The Verge
The fate of phone restrictions will depend primarily on whether or not principals and superintendents can establish clear rules, stand up for teachers who enforce them, hold firm against parents who object, and create clear and enforceable boundaries between legitimate and illegitimate use. - Maclean's
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2025 budget allocates $73 million for the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (which administers city arts grants) — 11% more than the agency actually received this past year but less than City Council had approved for fiscal 2024. Arts organizations are puzzling it all out. - WBEZ (Chicago)
"Fifteen small arts organizations complained in a Nov. 1 open letter that the city of Portland plans to unfairly decrease their collective share from the city’s arts tax and give a greater share to the largest arts organizations, like Oregon Ballet Theatre and Portland Center Stage." - Willamette Week (Portland)
If you control the choke points of social mobility, then you control the nation’s culture. And if you change the criteria for admission at places such as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, then you change the nation’s social ideal. - The Atlantic
Projected economic gains from hosting such events can appear impressive on paper, but questions remain about who ultimately benefits. Several reports in support of hosting mega-events use inflated numbers to document indirect economic impacts and job creation without accounting for initial public spending and other hosting costs. - The Conversation
Afterwards, fundraising became much more of a spectacle. Donors were re-imagined and empowered as “saviours”. Celebrities began to view endorsement of charities as a key part of their star profile. - The Conversation
Authenticity is not a feeling, but an active way of being defined by conscious attention to the fit between who we are and the situation(s) in which we find ourselves. - 3 Quarks Daily
