This Again? Virginia County Yanks ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ And ‘Huck Finn’ From Schools After Parent Complains About N-Word

The mother of a biracial high school student on the state’s Eastern Shore told a school board meeting, “I’m not disputing this is great literature. But there is so much racial slurs in there and offensive wording that you can’t get past that, and right now we are a nation divided as it is.”

An Ad-Free CBC Could Be A Major Cultural Opportunity For Canada

“Leaving aside, for the moment, the political realism of the request, the plan is a good one. In an increasingly scattered but ever more Internet-dependent and globalized media environment, the country needs a public producer, curator and distributor to craft a powerful Brand Canada across all platforms, offering not only news, public affairs and documentaries, but also fiction, variety and arts programming. It needs an iconic institution to nurture and lead the cultural industries, a rallying point for Canadian creativity.”

Public Museums Are Teaming Up With Private Philanthropists Creating New Challenges For Museums

Individuals owning parts of art work and museums owning the rest. “It is one of a growing number of creative partnerships — forms of philanthropy that go beyond straightforward gifts and bequests — that are blurring the line between public and private art, providing new opportunities and new challenges for public institutions.”

A Bricklayer’s Son Who Taught Himself To Dance By Imitating Michael Jackson Moves Just Won An Australian Ballet Prize

Callum Linnane didn’t have a contentious relationship with his dad, though: “It’s been a quick rise to public notice for the country boy, who began tap-dancing classes at the age of seven and started ballet classes when he was 11. His father reportedly learnt to love ballet and even made the sets for his performances as a child.”

The New Coolest Thing Online

‘Mom’ is now the highest form of flattery. Witness one Twitter response to a photo of Beyoncé with her daughter: “Beyoncé just ENDED your moms, moms mom, moms mom’s cousin, your moms mom’s cousin’s friend, and your moms mom’s cousin’s friends dog.”

Why Isn’t Britain’s Turner Art Prize Engaging With Britain’s Political Scene?

There’s a lot going wrong in today’s Britain (let’s not even speak of Brexit): “Drastic cuts to public funding have led to the demolition of social housing, and to the closure of public libraries, galleries and museums. … The arts and humanities are disappearing as educational options: most recently the preparatory step of A‑level art history was placed under threat.”