Category: visual

When the parent company for 18 different Art Institutes closed without warning earlier in 2019, students were supposed to get their loans discharged under the Closed School Discharge program. But wait: “Students at the Art Institute of Phoenix have received denial letters from their loan companies, which state that they cannot discharge the loans because the Art Institute of Las Vegas is still open.” – Hyperallergic

In 1977, artists fought for a sculpture park in Yorkshire – but it was a very, very uphill climb. “More than 40 years later the stubbornness appears to have paid off. The YSP is at the heart of Yorkshire Sculpture International (YSI), a new festival” that is changing the area. But it started with an idea that politicians, residents, and local businesses didn’t want. – The Guardian (UK)

We can’t say it better than this: “The career of Joan Mitchell, who once likened Clement Greenberg to a ‘toilet seat,’ ought to remind us of how tribal the art world continues to be. There are those who want to belong to clubs and acquire the proper affiliations, and there are others who don’t or can’t belong to anything of the sort, even the cliques that would gladly welcome them. Academics are fond of repeating that Mitchell was ‘a second generation’ Abstract Expressionist, as if that were the clubhouse she wanted to enter, and got stuck in.” But there’s a lot more. – Hyperallergic

The original “restoration” in a small town in Spain reminded many people of, well, Tintin. This is different, and better. – The New York Times

Sherald knew she had the mural space on a Target in Philadelphia, and she wanted to paint someone who, to her, represented the community. A young woman in an arts program provided the spark. The subject, Najee Spencer-Young: “My mom called me. She was like, guess what? … I was like, what, Mom? I’m in a job interview. I can’t be on the phone. She was just like, you up on a mural. I said, what?” – NPR

Now this is a worthy portrait subject: “Olimpia Maidalchini Pamphilj was the power behind the papal throne, and the reputed lover as well as sister-in-law of Pope Innocent X. Nicknamed Papessa – the lady pope – Donna Olimpia was an ardent feminist, championing Rome’s prostitutes and nuns alike.” – The Observer (UK)

“According to the first POWarts Salary Survey, a report on wages and various sectors of the art industry conducted by the Professional Organization for Women in the Arts, … the median salary for respondents with a bachelor’s degree was $60,000. By contrast, the median for respondents with a master’s degree was $62,000 — just $2,000 more. (The median for respondents with a doctorate degree was $73,500.)” – ARTnews

“I’m a design curator, so sometimes the most simple, economical, and elegant way to do something is the most effective,” says Michelle Millar Fisher of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, who sees the crowdsourced spreadsheet as a way to fight “the culture of silence and fear” in the museum world. “[You can] literally see collegiality and solidarity appearing cell by cell in the sheet.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Less than a tenth of the hundreds of millions promised has been donated, the French culture ministry said Friday. Only €80 million of the €850 million pledged has been handed over — and most of that has come in small sums given by ordinary people.” – France 24

“The intricate work to clean and restore its extraordinary windows, statues and other features is being carried out under the strictest security measures to avoid any repeat of the fire that severely damaged Nôtre-Dame Cathedral in Paris in April.” – Yahoo! (AFP)