The pandemic - and the way the museum treated some of the staff during closures - helped the push for unionization, says at least one digital producer. - The New York Times
Timothy Rub now says he should have focused more, and much sooner (perhaps he means before the employees unionized), on gender and racial equity inside the museum. - The New York Times
Artist Helen Cammock: "They’re trying to eradicate the subjects that encourage people to think, and the parts of culture that really loudly challenge the system that’s in place." - The Guardian (UK)
Italian law strongly protects its heritage. The definition of cultural heritage itself under Italian law is broad: any works which “are of artistic, historical, archaeological and ethno-anthropological interest”. - The Conversation
“The global health contingency caused by COVID-19 forced the institutions of the different levels of government to prioritize the allocation of resources for the health care of the population.” - Artnet
In 2019, alums and students at George Washington High School protested what they saw as racist imagery in a set of Victor Arnautoff frescoes there, and the school board voted to cover them up. Now a judge says that decision violated state law. - San Francisco Chronicle
On Thursday, a 14-year-old visiting the attraction with his family jumped to his death; his was the third suicide there in less than a year. Said developer Stephen Ross, "We thought we did everything that would really prevent this." - The Daily Beast
The Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum developed a way to provide guides when COVID kept them from coming in: visitors can stop at strategically placed monitors and talk with offsite docents in real time. Folks on both sides of the screen seem to love it. - Slate
Archaeologists found the 6th century BC rock carving of King Nabonidus, along with 26 lines of cuneiform, in the north of the country. - Smithsonian Magazine
That era should be over. The director’s job is to set clear priorities for staff, to mentor, coach, and be clear-sighted about what is next; to leverage the expertise of the board; to make hard choices when needed. - Hyperallergic
Some employees said that a carousel of different directors bringing new approaches has exhausted staff, strained relationships with some artists and damaged trust in the board. Former directors described the institution’s woes as reflective of bad board governance. - The New York Times
"I’ll claim that my response to art is more complex than the average museumgoer’s because it’s my professional responsibility—and passion—to be as well informed as I can about what I’m looking at (and where, when, and why I’m looking at it)." - Vasari 21
Following in the footsteps of the Uffizi in Florence, the St. Petersburg museum will auction off digital tokens of five works in its collection, one each by Leonardo da Vinci, Giorgione, Monet, van Gogh, and Kandinsky. - Artnet
Among the monuments added are Madrid's Paseo del Prado and Retiro Park, the old port of Guangzhou, Peru's ancient Chankillo observatory, Mexico's 16th-century Tlaxcala Cathedral, Ramappa Temple in south-central India, Sudanese-style mosques in the Ivory Coast, and the city of Nice. - The National (Abu Dhabi)
‘Looted’ is a contested term: it covers a spectrum from out-and-out pillage to ostensibly legal transfers of title that may have occurred under coercion or under rigged laws. - Apollo
