Advocacy & Public Policy Committee News v. 10 n. 3, March 2024

Advocacy & Public Policy Committee News 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 

Art & Activism

• Durón, Maximilíano. “Artist Charles Gaines Says ICA Miami Suggested Removing and Altering Artworks in His Exhibition.” ARTnews, March 19, 2024. 

• Greenberger, Alex. “San Francisco Museum’s CEO Resigns After Artists Lead Pro-Palestine Protest.” ARTnews, March 11, 2024.

• Ho, Karen K. “Germany Moves to Replace Advisory Panel on Nazi-Looted Art with Binding Arbitration.” ARTnews, March 14, 2024. 

• Macabasco, Lisa Wong. “How a City Agency Saves New York’s Discarded Objects for Art.” ARTnews, March 29, 2024.

• Small, Zachary. “In Whitney Biennial Artwork, a Message Reveals Itself: ‘Free Palestine.’” The New York Times, March 14, 2024.

• Solomon, Tessa. “California Legislators Push Bill That Would Ease Process of Recovering Nazi-Looted Art.” ARTnews, March 29, 2024.
  
  

Copyright & Licensing; Open Access 

• Brittain, Blake. “Universal Music Settles Rock Artists’ US Copyright Lawsuit." Reuters, March 20, 2024.

• Nayyar, Rhea. “Kim Kardashian Sued After Touting Knockoff Donald Judd Set as Authentic.” Hyperallergic, March 28, 2024.

• Pontone, Maya. “Frida Kahlo Corporation Sues Amazon Vendors.” Hyperallergic, March 7, 2024. 

• Schrader, Adam. “Andy Warhol Foundation Settles With Artist Lynn Goldsmith After Landmark Ruling.” Artnet News, March 18, 2024. 

• Vézina, Brigitte. “Getty Museum Releases 88K+ Images of Artworks with CC0.” Creative Commons, March 13, 2024.
  
  

Funding

• Aton, Francesca. “$300 M. Art Collection Filled with Treasures, Both Old and New, Donated to Seattle University.” ARTnews,  March 14, 2024.

• Cassady, Daniel. “Court Decides Activists Who Glued Themselves to Vermeer Painting Don’t Deserve Jail Time.” ARTnews, March 13, 2024. 

• Cassady, Daniel. “Smithsonian Misused Covid Relief Funds, Report Says.” ARTnews, March 26, 2024. 

• Ho, Karen K. “Chicago’s Union League Club to Sell Monet Painting to Fund $10 M. Building Renovation.” ARTnews, March 20, 2024. 

• Pontone, Maya. “Canadian Arts Funder Faces Pressure to Divest From Israeli Weapons Supplier.” Hyperallergic, March 26, 2024. 

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access (IDEA)

• Aton, Francesca. “Smithsonian American Art Museum Hires Dalila Scruggs as First African American Art Curator.” ARTnews, March 11, 2024. 

• Lavietes, Matt. “Amid Book Bans, DEI Cuts and ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Laws, 7 States Will Mandate LGBTQ-Inclusive Curricula.” NBC News, March 25, 2024. 

• Pontone, Maya. “MoMA Apologizes for Barring Visitors From Entering With Keffiyeh.” Hyperallergic, March 25, 2024. 

• Wiggins, Christopher. “Bomb Scare Cancels Pennsylvania Drag Queen Story Hour Event.” Advocate, March 26, 2024. 

Intellectual Freedom/Access to Information

• Alter, Alexandra. “Attempts to Ban Books Accelerated Last Year.” The New York Times, March 14, 2024. 

• Bump, Philip. “Analysis | The Post-2020 Surge in Calls for Banning Books, Visualized.” Washington Post, March 25, 2024. 

• “Federal Judge Dismisses Elon Musk’s X Lawsuit Against Nonprofit Researchers.” American Civil Liberties Union, March 25, 2024. 

• Garcia, Raymond. “American Library Association Reports Record Number of Unique Book Titles Challenged in 2023.” ALA News, March 14, 2024. 

• Hobbs, Erika. “Executive Director Joslyn Bowling Dixon Fired by Oak Park’s Library Board.” Wednesday Journal, March 16, 2024. 

• International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. “International Organisations for Authors, Publishers, Booksellers and Libraries Call for Key Freedoms to Be Respected.” March 18, 2024.

• Jensen, Kelly. “Librarians Lock Autauga-Prattville Public Library in Protest After Director Fired by Board.” BOOK RIOT, March 15, 2024. 

• Nayyar, Rhea. “Meta’s New ‘Political Content’ Limits Sow Concern Among Artists.” Hyperallergic, March 25, 2024. 

• PEN America. “EveryLibrary and PEN America Oppose Proposed Huntington Beach, CA Ordinance for Community Review of Children’s Library Books.” March 19, 2024. 

• Pointer, Eric. “Austin Public Library Starts Social Network to Save Banned Books." Kvue ABC,  March 27, 2024. 

• Wendling, Zach. “Obscenity Bill That Could Criminalize Nebraska Librarians, Teachers Fails to Advance.” Nebraska Examiner, March 20, 2024.
  
  

Technology and Digital Privacy

• Leffer, Lauren. “Artists Are Slipping Anti-AI ‘Poison’ into Their Art. Here’s How It Works.” Scientific American, March 1, 2024.

• McGill, Kevin and Stephen Smith. “AI-Aided Virtual Conversations with WWII Vets Are Latest Feature at New Orleans Museum.” Associated Press, March 25, 2024. 

• Nelson, George. “Big Brother Is Watching: Museum Visitors Are Being Monitored by AI-Powered Cameras.” The Art Newspaper. March 26, 2024. 

• University of York. “University of York Part of Project to Look at How AI Could Reshape the Museum and Heritage Sector.” February 15, 2024. 

Workplace

• Cipolle, Alex V. “Mia Union Announces ‘Vote of No Confidence’ in Museum Leadership.” MPR News, March 8, 2024. 

• Greenberger, Alex. “Former Employee Sues Museum of Arts and Design, Claiming She Was Fired After Complaining about Director’s Expenses.” ARTnews, March 25, 2024. 

• Greenberger, Alex and Karen K. Ho. “Andy Warhol Museum Director Patrick Moore to Resign.” ARTnews, March 15, 2024.

• Ho, Karen K. “Art Gallery of Ontario’s Workers Strike, Forcing Museum to Close.” ARTnews, March 28, 2024. 

• Ho, Karen K. “British Museum Sues Former Curator over Alleged Theft of More Than 1,800 Items.” ARTnews, March 26, 2024. 

• Ho, Karen K. “National Portrait Gallery’s Nicholas Cullinan Appointed Director of British Museum.” ARTnews, March 28, 2024.

• Nayyar, Rhea. “After 19-Day Strike, MASS MoCA Workers Secure Higher Wages.” Hyperallergic, March 27, 2024. 

Miscellaneous

• Solomon, Tessa. “Louvre Receives Bomb Threat Targeting ‘Mona Lisa.’” ARTnews, March 21, 2024. 

• Villa, Angelica. “UK Museums Still Have Yet to See Pre-Pandemic Attendance, New Report Reveals.” ARTnews, March 15, 2024.

This issue of News Alerts was compiled by Michele Jennings, Stephanie Kays, Annie Sollinger, and Petra Warren.