House Bill 4654, now in the state senate, would "remove exemptions for criminal liability from schools, libraries, and museums, allowing them to be criminally charged for the distribution and display of 'obscene' matter to minors." (The bill does not define "obscene.") - Artnet
What’s up at Mia? “Turmoil ... over exhibitions, equity and the institution’s future is boiling over into public view following the recent firing of a top curator." - MPR
The hundreds of paintings are dated to far earlier than other art in the area, making "these cave drawings the earliest known evidence of rock art in one of the last regions to be settled by humans." - Hyperallergic
"To live as an artist in exile is among the most glorious triumphs of human will: a spiritual victory.” But the cost is tremendously high. - The New York Times
“The institute’s decision to continue to fight the efforts by Manhattan prosecutors to retrieve its Schiele work makes it a lone holdout among the museums and collectors who received warrants from investigators telling them they possessed stolen property." - The New York Times
“With its slender vertical fuselage and long-stalled revolving restaurant, it speaks of the hopeful futurism of the 1960s, of the white heat of technology, of Minis and miniskirts and the Beatles.” - The Observer (UK)
"We have to make our galleries welcoming and accessible, and to make it clear they are not just about the past and full of dead white males.” Lower prices for those younger than 25 don’t hurt either. - The Observer (UK)
Honestly, the memes are everywhere on social media - and now there’s rat hole art for sale. Why enshrine a rat (or more likely a squirrel) this way? “The rat hole, in an odd way, conveys hope." - Chicago Sun-Times
"Her magically vibrant and simultaneously mournful and vulnerable painting expresses the dualism at the heart of her vision — and perhaps at the heart of existence itself." - Washington Post
Michelangelo was trapped with his thoughts. He began to have doubts, ones he described as “crazy.” He worried painting in such an unnatural position would lead to bad work. “The painting is dead,” he wrote, adding “I am not in the right place—I am not a painter.” - Artnet
A second staff member, who also requested anonymity, wrote to Hyperallergic in an email that the text was “a broadly unpopular move, and people in all departments were making it known they weren’t okay with it and wanted the exhibit edited if not removed.” - Hyperallergic
The $12 million museum – a part of Chapman University – will expand from 7,500 to 22,000 square feet, nearly tripling its size. Galleries will grow from 12 to 26. - Culture OC
"(Mario) Perron allegedly asked his class to create artwork in the style of Jean-Michel Basquiat for a 'creepy portraits' project … (at) the Lester B. Pearson School Board in Montreal. On February 8, two students Googled Perron and stumbled across his selling platform, where they encountered their homework for sale." - Hyperallergic
"The mural is the tenth to have been discovered on the walls of the house (in Aix-en-Provence), having been found last August in the Grand Salon as the home, Bastide du Jas de Bouffan, underwent renovations in preparation for a celebration of Cézanne’s connection to the city." - ARTnews
The best stewards for these privately held collections, I believe, are university museums openly committed to provenance research, repatriation, and public education about cultural heritage and museum ethics. - ARTnews
