But federal funding cuts are threatening national history: "A scramble for stopgap funding from donors and bake sales allowed all qualifying teams to attend the national finals this year. But what happens next is unclear.” - The New York Times
“Artists, writers and community leaders have gone the center to be inspired, root their work in a deep understanding of the vastness of the African diaspora, and spread word of the global accomplishments of Black people” - Seattle Times (AP)
As the artists worked on a video, “We’re flying away from the Oort cloud and out pops this spiral, a spiral shape to the outside of our solar system. … A huge structure, millions and millions of particles.” - Fast Company (Internet Archive)
“The only thing that can stop AI companies doing what they’re doing is the law. ... If these lawsuits are successful, that is what will hopefully stop AI companies from exploiting people’s life’s work.” - Time
"Tolokonnikova, 35, whose political art has left her as a wanted criminal in Russia, chose to continue her performance inside the empty museum.” Normal country. Nothing to see here. - The Guardian (UK)
He’s been doing physically demanding, “totally grim work” on nine farmhouses, restored and turned into art, across six miles in a valley in Yorkshire. And the artist says he’ll never do anything like it again. - The New York Times
“There was an abiding pathos in his best records — not merely the idealized scenes the songs depicted, but also that they were created by a depressed, socially awkward, partially-deaf young man who never surfed or much liked the beach and spent his time alone in his room.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
“The Metropolitan Opera’s stage door, a plain entrance hidden in the tunnels of Lincoln Center, routinely welcomes star singers, orchestra musicians, stagehands, costumers and ushers. But a different bunch of visitors arrived there on a recent afternoon, carrying stuffed toy rabbits and ‘Frozen’ backpacks.” - The New York Times
St. Sophia, the 11th-century landmark considered the mother church of Orthodox Christianity in Russia and Belarus as well as Ukraine, was damaged by blast waves from bombs dropped on the Ukrainian capital last night by Putin’s armed forces. - Euronews
While the Board of Regents (which includes the U.S. Vice President and the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice) didn’t directly address Trump’s attempt to fire National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet, the Board’s statement clearly affirmed that hiring/firing power belongs to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch. - The Washington Post (MSN)
This administration slashed the staff of 30 to about 10, an impossible number to track the government collection, which “has been placed in federal offices and private institutions in all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.” - The New York Times
At the preshow, “Buena Vista Social Club, a musical about a Cuban band, picked up awards for choreography, sound design and orchestrations, while Stranger Things: The First Shadow, a prequel to the Netflix series, won for sound, lighting and scenic design.” - The New York Times
“Late Thursday, the two attorneys sent a strongly worded letter to Paramount’s chairworman and controlling shareholder Shari Redstone and other board members arguing that a Trump settlement would cause ‘catastrophic’ harm to the embattled media company.” - Los Angeles Times (AOL)
“It’s never been about me. It should never have been about me. It should have been about a broader understanding that people from Black and brown communities are interested and want to be in these spaces. They just need to see themselves.” - The New York Times
"The pressures that deformed the news in Murrow’s day have only grown more intense, and its defenses weaker. The last line of protection is those people sitting in the dark, watching George Clooney remind them what they have to do.” - Slate
These are very substantial benefits, and it is true they are lost when we write using a keyboard or keypad. But on balance, far more is gained, which is why the past half century has seen nearly a complete transformation from pen strokes to keystrokes. - Brookings
“Kim Sajet’s refusal to abide by Trump’s decision (will test) the bounds of presidential authority over the Smithsonian. ... It is not a traditional government agency nor part of the executive branch; hiring and firing decisions have historically been handled by the Smithsonian’s secretary (and not) its Board of Regents.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
