Trustee Patsy Marino, who chaired the search committee, has resigned (along with two other trustees) over the elevation of chief curator Christine Vendredi to the directorship. The objection is not to Vendredi herself: no outside candidate was interviewed and the final decision was made, Marino says, behind her back. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
“After years of delays, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles will finally open its doors to the public on September 22, 2026. … Designed by architect Ma Yansong, the museum will be home to a collection of more than 40,000 works centering illustrated storytelling as a universal language.” - Artnet
In just eight years, it has become one of the art market’s biggest buyers. Its collection of 500 artworks is now valued at more than $1 billion and its platform has drawn 70,000 investors. - The New York Times
Workers at all four galleries — Tate Britain and Tate Modern in London, Tate St. Ives in Cornwall, and Tate Liverpool — represented by the Public and Commercial Services Union voted 98% to 2% to walk out from November 26 to December 2 over a pay offer they insist is too low. - The Guardian
An American Alliance of Museums survey of over 500 museum directors found that one-third of responding museums have lost government grants or contracts under the Trump administration, one-fourth of them have had to cut targeted programs (e.g., for students or senior citizens), and over one-fourth have canceled programs for the general public. - The Guardian
Thieves smashed open a door on Sunday night and reportedly took ancient Roman marble statues and gold items. The museum had reopened for good, with its collection intact, only this past January after extended closures due to the Syrian civil war and subsequent uprising against the Assad regime. - ARTnews
Christine Vendredi may well have proven to be the best candidate, but that the bungled process of simply elevating the chief curator to the directorship behind the scenes also did a disservice to the new director, as it “put her legitimacy in question.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
“Videos circulating online show more than a dozen young people on Sunday evening rushing the grounds of the multi-million-dollar Museum of West African Art in Benin City. … The demonstrators asserted that the museum’s opening is a violation of Benin City’s cultural heritage, which falls under the authority of its traditional ruler.” - AP
For the team that works on the series, the project has been an enlightening experience. Mr. Buchanan said he had begun noticing subtle things in his own life, like how cracks zigzag across the sidewalk, or the way light hits the water, or the way a plant is squeezed against a rock. - The New York Times
“The Philadelphia Art Museum dismissed director and CEO Sasha Suda for cause after commissioning an independent investigation … by an outside law firm, which made the recommendation that Suda’s employment be terminated.” - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
“The Louvre has unveiled a €80 million ($92 million) overhaul of its security systems in response to the brazen $102 million jewel theft that stunned Paris last month. … The initiative follows public scrutiny of internal audits — some dating back more than a decade — that revealed serious lapses.” - Artsy
In her lawsuit, which was filed in Pennsylvania state court, the former director, Sasha Suda, contends that she was fired “without a valid basis” after negotiations over the terms of her departure with the museum’s board of trustees had reached an impasse. - The New York Times
The plan: Rena Bransten Gallery will turn into a pop-up. "I have uncertainty about whether the model that we all grew up in, going to galleries, is viable,” the gallery director says. “I need to really look around and see what people are doing.” - San Francisco Chronicle
The mysterious person “was cast as an old-school detective, an inside man, a Netflix pitch — or not human at all. ... Pedro understood why. ‘In the photo, I'm dressed more in the 1940s, and we are in 2025,’ he said. ‘There is a contrast.’” - NPR
The chair of the jury said, "She harvests berries to make ink drawings, harnesses wind and fire to compose poems and operas, and builds worlds with her BUSH Gallery collaborators. In the face of precarity, scarcity and conflict, her work offers a model of sustainability, abundance and connection.” - CBC
