As the price of metals has soared worldwide, people have taken to stealing streetlight wiring, plumbing valves, catalytic converters and fire hydrants. But the pilfering of sculptures for a quick buck has brought the crime to a new level of audacity and waste. - Los Angeles Times
Numerous recent studies show that exposure to nature and natural light can reduce pain, and that even a brief contact with the outdoors reduces stress. - Wired
The withdrawal from display at the National Museum of African Art of items taken from the Kingdom of Benin "comes as the Smithsonian completes a six-month, institution-wide examination of its collection practices that looks at this core activity from an ethical perspective." - MSN (The Washington Post)
"Thieves hacked art dealer Todd Kramer's digital wallet and made off with at least 15 artworks — including five from the high-profile Bored Ape Yacht Club collection — worth an estimated $2.2 million." Then someone took Kramer's tweet about the robbery and made that into an NFT. - Artnet
Sicily’s regional archaeological museum said Wednesday it had signed an agreement with the Acropolis Museum in Athens for a once-renewable, four-year loan of the small white marble piece it has, in exchange for a loan of a statue and vase. - Seattle Times (AP)
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland trained the software on topographical scans of paintings (rather than the high-resolution digital images more commonly used) and found that it could match painting to artist with 96% accuracy. - The Art Newspaper
The legislature's collections include nearly 4,000 items dating from the 17th century to the present day. Notable among them is the Keiskamma Tapestry, nearly 400 feet long, which depicts South African history from early indigenous peoples through the end of apartheid and the first democratic election. - Bloomberg
Above all else, the popularity of Immersive Everything spoke to the way in which a year-long period of cultural life existing mostly on tech platforms rewired how people think about culture, giving “art” a permanent cyborg makeover. - Artnet
The glass floor of the bridge is slippery, and locals have learned to be careful. Warning signs posted by the city didn't help. So now the walkway will be replaced... - The New York Times
In the hope that improved aesthetics will lead to wider adoption, solar technology companies and their designers are creating panels with decorative patterns, various colors and shapes that can be installed on building façades, and even solar-energy-generating textiles. - Fast Company
The fast-food behemoth had originally obtained the city's permission to build the outlet on the site of a former garden center near the baths. Public outrage changed the city council's mind, and McDonald's (which already has 54 locations in Rome) has lost every appeal since. - Smithsonian Magazine
A lesser-known part of his legacy—one that’s arguably just as enduring as his political feats—is his campaign to preserve Nevada land that is host to a famed Michael Heizer Land artwork. - ARTnews
While the mayor’s report this fall of a “masked restorer” had set off angry calls for an investigation to find the culprit, information that surfaced later both complicated the whodunit and emphasized just how long these errant interventions had been plaguing the country. - The New York Times
The pavilion, a futuristic, three-story trapezoid with a wood-paneled event center, sunken garden and rooftop terrace in the center of the city, will serve Koreatown, which is among the city’s densest and most diverse neighborhoods. - The New York Times
"Eike Schmidt, the director of Uffizi Galleries since 2015, … says it is now crucial for museums to play a role in highlighting the issues of today and confront the 'toxic social structures' of the past rather than simply glorifying its artists." - The Guardian
