I see you, and it makes me so happy to see you. There is such a disconnect between what we say America is about and what it is right now. True freedom is the freedom to be who we are, and it hurts my heart so much that in some parts of this country, it is unsafe for trans people to do that right now.
Bregman claims, 'Today the whole of Europe risks turning into one big Venice, a beautiful open-air museum. A great destination for Chinese and American tourists. A place to admire what was once the centre of the world.' This statement encapsulates the concern that Europe is losing its cultural significance.
As if demolishing the East Wing, gutting arts agencies, and slapping his name and face on several federal buildings weren't enough, the US president now wants to do away with a DC building known as the "Sistine Chapel of New Deal art." This week, we reported on a burgeoning campaign to save the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building, which houses murals by Ben Shahn, Philip Guston, Seymour Fogel, and other major American artists. We will continue to follow this story.
It's impossible to imagine New York City without art, or contemporary art without New York City. This is where you come to see the best of the best, or to take part in making it. This country's international standing is down in the gutter, thanks to Trump, but this city is still a living, rolling dream. Right now, we're waiting to see who's going to be Mayor Mamdani's pick for cultural affairs commissioner. It's an important role that determines where the city's budget priorities will lie and who'll get a seat at the table. Gonzalo Casals, who served as culture commissioner under Mayor de Blasio, and Mauricio Delfín, who co-directs the Culture & Arts Policy Institute with Casals, have some urgent thoughts on the matter. It's a must-read not just for Zohran (send him a link if you're on texting terms), but for everyone who cares about art in this city.
Because they've long stopped being about just one depraved pedophile and have come to symbolize the endemic depravity of the world's richest elites. It's no surprise that the art world is implicated. There isn't much difference between a corporation's board of directors and a museum's board of trustees. It's more or less the same money, same power dynamics, and the same creeps crawling through the corridors.
We knew everything we needed to know about the art world before the Epstein Files dropped. Before heinous allegations against Museum of Modern Art trustee Leon Black emerged, or School of Visual Arts chair David A. Ross's sympathetic endorsement of Epstein came out, we knew about the intimate connections between institutional heads and donors and trustees. The exchanges of money, donations, or favors that bind them.