New York’s Metropolitan Opera is facing a serious financial crunch, and may sell two beloved Marc Chagall murals to help fill the gap—but if it does, it will leave them in place. Sotheby’s valued the artworks at a total of $55 million. - ARTnews
Around 800 artists, writers, actors, and musicians signed on to a new campaign against what they call “theft at a grand scale” by AI companies. The signatories call the campaign “Stealing Isn’t Innovation.” - The Verge
Extracting the endowment after 15 years of operating under the auspices of the Kennedy Center will take more work—and a lot of lawyers. “It is rightly ours,” Francesca Zambello says of the endowment, declining to comment further on the negotiations. “We have a very large legal team.” - Washingtonian
Under the agreement, the BBC will grow its number of YouTube channels to 50, which includes those operated by commercial arm, BBC Studios. New specialist channels will include BBC3’s Deepwatch (working title), featuring new and existing documentaries. Seven children’s channels will be launched (as well).” - Deadline
Carrie Cracknell’s staging has Escamillo (here a rodeo star rather than a bullfighter) enter to the “Toreador Song” in a Jaguar convertible followed by three trucks. As part of the Met’s money-saving measures, the Jaguar and two trucks have been removed, saving $300,000 but infuriating Cracknell and the designers. - AP
Director Ryan Coogler’s Mississippi Delta vampire epic has surpassed the 14-nomination record jointly held by All About Eve, Titanic, and La La Land. Paul Thomas’s black comedy action thriller One Battle After Another scored 13 nods. (includes complete list of nominations) - Variety
“Although the IMLS restored discretionary grant funding in December and just last week reopened to grant proposals for FY 2026 — in compliance with a November court order — defendants in State of Rhode Island v. Trump have filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.” - Publishers Weekly
“One hand stencil was dated to at least 67,800 years ago, making it the oldest securely dated cave art found anywhere. This is at least 15,000 years older than the rock art we had previously dated in this region, and more than 30,000 years older than the oldest cave art found in France.” - The Conversation
The Jungle Theater has been wrestling with financial problems ever since COVID hit, but the decision to close comes after an ICE raid near the theater’s doors last weekend. Artistic director Christina Baldwin said, “We’re under siege at the moment and we need a breather.” - The Minnesota Star Tribune (MSN)
Around half of the package, £760 million, will go to museums, mostly for infrastructure needs. £425 million will go to support some 300 performance venues, £230 million to maintain churches and heritage buildings, £27.5 million to upgrading libraries, and £80 million over four years to National Portfolio Organisations. - Press Association (UK) (Yahoo!)
Christos Makridis of Arizona State University: “I found the public’s demand for meaningful, live cultural experiences — including opera — remains strong. … (But) few opera companies have embraced strategies the rest of the entertainment industry regularly uses: audience data analysis, experimentation with digital content and streaming, engagement through online platforms rather than brochures.” - The Conversation
Trot out the national anthem, the flag or a John Philip Sousa march, they believe, and it’s like a free exclamation mark to whatever point they’re trying to make: “Ha! See? The stars and stripes are on my side!” - San Francisco Chronicle
“The two perpetrators can be seen wearing balaclavas and using disc cutters to slice open display cases. The theft takes place under the watch of staff members who were not able to intervene.” - Artnet
Women are rewriting the rules of sword-and-sorcery, trading testosterone-fueled quests for romance-driven adventures. Publishers are discovering that dragons plus dating equals dollars—who knew female readers wanted both magic and meaningful relationships? — The Conversation
