Advocacy & Public Policy Committee News Alerts v.9 n. 10, October 2023

Advocacy & Public Policy Committee News Alerts support the committee's mission to monitor governmental activities and social justice issues affecting the professional interests of ARLIS/NA and to keep the ARLIS/NA membership informed. The monthly alerts are intended to be conversation starters, help members keep up on public policy issues and alert members to new developments. The articles compiled in the News Alerts bring to the forefront recent news from a range of perspectives designed to elicit discussion; they are not compiled to represent the views of ARLIS as an organization or the members of the Advocacy and Public Policy Committee.

Previous issues can be found here: https://www.arlisna.org/news/appc-news-alert 

Special News Alert: The Art World Responds to Conflict in Israel/Palestine

(Art & Activism)

Context:

• Hutchinson, Bill. “Israel-Hamas conflict: Timeline and key developments.” ABC News, October 30, 2023. 

• Macaron, Joe. “Analysis: Why did Hamas attack now and what is next?” Al Jazeera, October 11, 2023. 

• Velie, Elaine. “Israel Bombs Gaza’s Oldest Church, Killing 16 People.” Hyperallergic, October 20, 2023. 

Statements and Open Letters:

• "APALA Statement Calling for Ceasefire in Gaza." Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association, October 30, 2023.

• “An Open Letter from the Art Community to Cultural Organizations." Artforum, October 19, 2023.

• Greenberger, Alex. “Art World Open Letter Calling for ‘Empathy’ After Hamas Attack Attracts High-Profile Signatories in the Art Market.” ARTnews, October 25, 2023.

• "2023 Statement on Gaza." Librarians and Archivists With Palestine, October 2023.

• Nayyar, Rhea. “Leading Artists and Scholars Call for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza.” Hyperallergic, October 19, 2023.

• Pontone, Maya. “Israeli Artists Denounce Open Letter Calling for Ceasefire in Gaza.” Hyperallergic, October 23, 2023.

• Vaziri, Aidin. “Bay Area Artists Join Open Letter to Biden Calling for Cease-Fire in Israel-Hamas War.” San Francisco Chronicle, October 26, 2023. 

• Solomon, Tessa. “Museum Group Releases Statement About Gaza After Pressure from Israeli Institutions.” ARTnews.Com, October 25, 2023.

Organization Responses:

• Dorrell, Taylor. "Wexner Center cancels panel event featuring Palestinian artist." Matter News, October 26, 2023.

• Egan, Matt. "Columbia University postpones major fundraiser amid tensions over Israel-Hamas war." CNN, October 26, 2023.

• Greenberger, Alex. “Artforum Fires Editor David Velasco After Publication of Letter About Ceasefire in Gaza.” ARTnews.com, October 27, 2023. 

• Jacobs, Harrison, and Alex Greenberger. “Several Artforum Editors Resign Following Firing of David Velasco Over Gaza Letter.” ARTnews.Com, October 28, 2023.

• Small, Zachary. “Artforum Fires Top Editor After Its Open Letter on Israel-Hamas War.” The New York Times, October 27, 2023.

• Solomon, Tessa. “From New York to Dubai, Museums Weigh in on Violence in Gaza and Israel.” ARTnews, October 23, 2023.

• Tracy, Marc. “Since the War, Events About Palestinian Culture Have Been Called Off.” The New York Times, October 20, 2023

• Small, Zachary. “El Museo Del Barrio Rejects Artwork Featuring Palestinian Flag.” The New York Times, October 25, 2023.

•  Velie, Elaine, and Maya Pontone. “Artists Say They’re Being Punished for Supporting Gaza Ceasefire.” Hyperallergic, October 25, 2023.

Regular News Alerts

Copyright and Licensing

• Angell, Nate. “Making AI Work for Creators and the Commons.” Creative Commons, October 7, 2023.

• Brittain, Blake. “Judge Pares down Artists’ AI Copyright Lawsuit against Midjourney, Stability AI.” Reuters, October 30, 2023.

• Heikkilä, Melissa. “This New Data Poisoning Tool Lets Artists Fight Back against Generative AI.” MIT Technology Review, October 23, 2023.

• Mauran, Cecily, and Kimberly Gedeon. “White House Drops an AI Regulation Bombshell: 10 New Mandates That’ll Shake up the Industry.” Mashable, October 30, 2023.

• Shapiro, Emma. “Artists Call on Congress to Stop Corporations From Copyrighting AI Art.” Hyperallergic, October 2, 2023.

• Stihler, Catherine. “Sorry: This Video Does Not Exist. CC’s Open Video Blocked by Automatic Copyright Robots.” Creative Commons, October 26, 2023.

Open Access Week:

• “Latin America Exemplifies What Can Be Accomplished When Community Is Prioritized Over Commercialization.” International Open Access Week, October 23, 2023. 

• “Open Access Week Builds Connections with Community over Commercialization Theme.” International Open Access Week, November 3, 2023. 

Funding

• Armentrout, Mitchell. "Illinois kickstarts funding to state prison libraries with $420K in grants." Chicago Sun Times, October 5, 2023.

• Atterbury, Andrew. "Florida joins conservative states severing ties with national library group." Politico, October 31, 2023.

• Blair, Elizabeth. "Walmart heir wants museums to attract more people and donates $40 million to help." NPR, October 11, 2023.

• Price, Gary. "Funding: arXiv Receives $10 Million in Gifts and Grants For Upgrades." Library Journal, October 20, 2023.

• Small, Zachary. "To Star at the Venice Biennale, Artists Need Patrons’ Deep Pockets." New York Times, October 24, 2023.

• Willis, Alexander. "Under threat of funding cuts, Alabama Library Service to cut ties with association." Anniston Daily Star, November 3, 2023.

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access (IDEA)

• Cross, Alison. “CT Library Director Resigns Due to Alleged Political Pressure over LGBTQ+ Inclusion.” Hartford Courant, October 8, 2023. 

• Hall, Tracie D. “Our History Is Our Protection.” American Libraries Magazine, November 1, 2023. 

• Hall, Tracie D., Reginald Dwayne Betts, and Randall Horton. “Lighting the Way.” American Libraries Magazine, November 1, 2023.

• News Desk. "Penn Museum to Cease Exhibiting Human Remains." Artforum, October 3, 2023.

• News Desk. "UNESCO to Launch Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Artifacts." Artforum, October 13, 2023.

• Nowakowski, Teresa. “San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Acquires More Than 100 Works by Artists With Disabilities.” Smithsonian Magazine, October 31, 2023. 

• "Scholastic Urged to Explore Other Options Instead of Limiting or Partitioning Diverse Book Titles At School Book Fairs.” PEN America, October 17, 2023. 

• Pontone, Maya. "New NYC Memorial Honors Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Victims." Hyperallergic, October 11, 2023.

• Thompson, Erin. "A New York Museum’s House of Bones." Hyperallergic, October 15, 2023. 

Intellectual Freedom/Access to Information

• American Indians in Children’s Literature. “American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL): Banning of Native Voices/Books.” Updated October 16, 2023.

•  Goldstein, Dana. “Publisher Scholastic Backtracks on Isolating Works on Race and Gender.” The New York Times, October 25, 2023.

• Morris, Williesha. “Alabamians React to Public Library Service Leaving the American Library Association.” AL.Com, November 3, 2023. 

• PEN America. “New PEN America Report: U.S. Prisons Ban Staggering Numbers of Books.” October 25, 2023. 

• Pontone, Maya. “Barcelona Museum Gives Censored Art a Permanent Home.” Hyperallergic, October 10, 2023.

• Yorio, Kara. “Outraged at Scholastic’s Option to Opt in—or Out—of Receiving Diverse Books, Librarians Seek Book Fair Alternatives.” School Library Journal. Accessed November 6, 2023.

Technology

• Bishop, Todd. “How the National Archives Is Using AI to Make Records More Accessible in the Digital Age.” GeekWire, October 27, 2023. 

•  “Canadian Privacy Regulators Issue Guidance on Best Interests of Young People.” Hunton Andrews Kurth, October 27, 2023.

• Malik, Aisha. “Google Maps is getting new AI-powered search updates, an enhanced navigation interface and more.” Tech Crunch, October 26, 2023.

• “NEH Announces New Research Initiative: Humanities Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence.” The National Endowment for the Humanities, October 30, 2023.

• Pontone, Maya. “Student Uses AI to Read Ancient Scroll.” Hyperallergic, October 19, 2023.

• Velie, Elaine. “After Thefts, British Museum Will Bring Its Collection Online.” Hyperallergic, October 18, 2023. 

• Velie, Elaine. “New Tool Helps Artists Protect Their Work From AI Scraping.” Hyperallergic, October 30, 2023.

Workplace

• Cornfield, Jerry. "Washington State Library cuts hours and leaves jobs unfilled as its budget takes a hit." Yakima Herald-Republic, October 4, 2023.

• Pontone, Maya. “Dallas Museum of Art Workers ‘Shocked’ by Mass Layoffs.” Hyperallergic, October 30, 2023.

• Press Release. "New grant will allow UNMAM to train future museum professionals." University of New Mexico, October 13, 2023.

Miscellaneous

• Aton, Francesca. “French Art World Seeks Funding to Preserve Studio Where School of Paris Movement Began.” ARTnews, October 30, 2023.

• Chisholm, Cassidy. “Disaster kits could help save historical documents during extreme weather.” CBC News, October 21, 2023. 

• "New Data Reveal How Adults Participated in the Arts During COVID-19." National Endowment for the Arts, October 18, 2023.

• Velie, Elaine. “How Did a Museum Misplace a $3.7M Rodin Sculpture?” Hyperallergic, October 24, 2023. 

This issue of News Alerts was compiled by Freyja Catton, Carrie Evans, Sal Hamerman, Michele Jennings, Stephanie Kays, Annie Sollinger, and Petra Warren.