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What To Know About The Smithsonian Museums, And The Crisis They’re Facing Now

One (really) good thing: “While the vice president, along with the chief justice of the United States, is a member of the board by law, the executive branch does not have authority over the institution.” - The New York Times

How Can Arts Grantwriters Deal With Trump’s Various Orders And Plans?

"When I was coming up in the ranks, no one ever talked about the complicated ethics of fundraising. How do you decide when to say no to that check because it comes with strings attached, or … you take the money and you hold your nose?" - Nieman Storyboard

Texas Drops Child Porn Charges Against Sally Mann And Fort Worth Museum

“A Tarrant County grand jury declined to take action against the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth or artist Sally Mann in (the) case of … four photos that were confiscated months ago from Diaries of Home, a temporary exhibition at the museum.” - KERA (Dallas)

As Support For Culture Diminishes In Australia, Artists Look For Alternatives (Like Leaving)

“A lot of our organisations, especially established ones, are talking about cultural maintenance. I’m like, ‘What are we maintaining?’” - The Age

Recovering The Great American Musical Nobody Thought Could Be Recovered

Love Life, composer Kurt Weill’s only collaboration with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner, seemed like a very promising project. But its debut didn’t go over well — Broadway wasn’t ready for a concept musical in 1948 — and circumstances led to almost no trace of the show surviving. Until now. - The New York Times

Protesters Disrupt Israel Philharmonic Concert In San Francisco, Audience Members Fight Back

Activists scattered throughout Davies Symphony Hall interrupted the show one by one, displaying Palestinian flags and yelling denunciations of the war in Gaza. Some audience members shouted back; others pinned one protestor, pulled another’s hair and broke her glasses, and tried to pull others from their seats. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

Open AI’s Video Tool Sora Plagued With Racist, Sexist, Ableist Biases, Study Finds

Maybe reconsider that Open AI pitch, Hollywood creatives. "In Sora’s world, … pilots, CEOs, and college professors are men, while flight attendants, receptionists, and childcare workers are women. Disabled people are wheelchair users, interracial relationships are tricky to generate, and fat people don’t run.” - Wired

Can The Brooklyn Academy Of Music Get Its Mojo Back?

Things don’t look great for the country’s oldest performing arts venue. - The New York Times

Can Art Survive The Climate Crisis?

L.A. artists have talked about their losses, but “we still have no clear picture of how many artworks by which artists, owned by which collectors, were lost. And it’s entirely possible that the public, and even museums, will not know for many years to come — if ever.” - Washington Post (MSN)

The Artists Who Lost Everything In Altadena Wonder What Comes Next

On one street, banding together, “The neighbors plan to present a design package to a contractor, so they can pool resources and access to plumbers and electricians, saving both money and time.” - The New York Times

Maybe Paul Gauguin Was Not The Syphilitic Colonialist Child-Molester People Had Thought He Was

Biographer Sue Prideaux has found materials indicating that the artist did not have syphilis at all, his lover was well over the age of consent at the time and was free to stay with or leave him as she wished, and he actively campaigned against injustice and corruption in the colonial government of French Polynesia. - The Guardian

Pianist András Schiff Cancels All Tour Dates In United States

“(The) eminent concert pianist, who has boycotted strongman rule in Russia and his native Hungary, said on Wednesday that he would no longer perform in the United States because of concerns about President Trump’s ‘unbelievable bullying’ on the world stage.” - The New York Times

Canadian Actor Writes About Her Two-Week Detention At U.S. Border

“I told them I would pay for my flight home and asked when I could leave. No answer. Then they moved me to another cell – this time with no mat or blanket. I sat on the freezing cement floor for hours. I realized they were processing me into real jail.” - The Guardian

The New Yorker Fires Art Critic Jackson Arn

The magazine parted ways with Arn, who replaced the late Peter Schjeldahl in 2023, after receiving complaints about his inappropriate behavior at the publication’s 100th birthday last month. - The New York Times

Miami Beach’s O Cinema Responds To Mayor’s Threats

“Throughout the years, we've certainly had vocal audience members or community members who've questioned some programming choices. … But what we have never encountered is elected officials trying to dictate what we should and should not be showing.” - NPR

The Creative Fields Being Decimated, Fast, By Generative AI

Translators, photographers, illustrators: all are suffering, thoroughly. But some still say they use ChatGPT to help with work - and to help with personal tasks as well. - The Observer (UK)

Trump Wants More Say In Picking Kennedy Center Honorees

The Board, which has been purged and replaced by Trump loyalists, will take up a resolution that says, "The committee will recommend a slate of honorees to the Kennedy Center’s president for approval.” And we know who that is. - The New York Times

Mayor Of Miami Beach Threatens To Oust Cinema For Showing Oscar-Winning Film

“Steven Meiner, the mayor of Miami Beach, has issued a draft resolution calling for the termination of the city’s lease agreement with O Cinema, and withdrawing $40,000 in promised grant funding for the nonprofit that runs the independent cinema.” - The Guardian (UK)

In Kashmir, Listeners Prove The Lasting, Nearly Spiritual Power Of The Cassette Tape

“For decades, cassette players have carried the soul-stirring poetry of Sufi saints and the mystical melodies of Kashmiri instruments like the sarangi and santoor, and it’s long been a local ritual for families to gather around the warm hum of a tape player.”  - Seattle Times (AP)

Portland Volunteers Strive To Catalog, And Save, Treasure Trove Of Five Thousand Film Reels

“The archive has become a center of gravity for a group of Portlanders who adhere to the mantra Film is Dead. Long Live Film.” - Oregon ArtsWatch
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