Van Gogh Museum in funding mediation with Dutch government following threats of closure

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has entered mediation with the Dutch government after initiating legal proceedings to secure additional public funding for a major renovation. The museum, which plans a three-year, €104m renovation starting in 2028, claims it could be forced to close unless its annual subsidy increases by €2.5m. The Dutch government, facing a budget deficit, considers the current €8.5m subsidy sufficient and argues the museum should contribute more itself. Mediation talks are making progress, and legal proceedings have been postponed indefinitely, with both sides aiming to conclude before summer.

flemish government eliminates m hka smak museum controversy

The Flemish government has announced a plan to close the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (M HKA), Belgium's oldest contemporary art museum, and transfer its collection of around 8,000 objects to the S.M.A.K. in Ghent, which will be rebranded as the Flemish Museum of Contemporary and Current Art by 2028. The decision, part of a broader reform of Flanders' museum landscape, has sparked outrage: M HKA's board chairman Herman De Bode resigned, and staff published an open letter and launched a petition that gathered over 2,600 signatures, accusing the government of acting without transparency or consultation.

If fashion is art, why doesn’t CNZ fund it?

Creative New Zealand (CNZ) explicitly states on its website that it does not fund fashion design, classifying it as primarily part of the commercial creative industries. The article highlights the contradiction that while major institutions like The Dowse Art Museum, Auckland Art Gallery, and World of WearableArt treat fashion as art, CNZ denies funding to fashion designers, with rare exceptions for non-commercial, cross-cultural, or collaborative projects. Fashion designer Doris de Pont, founder of The New Zealand Fashion Museum, notes that even when her trust received CNZ support, it was for the art connection, not the fashion itself.

Greece Creates New Art Crime Unit to Combat Forgery and Trafficking

Greece has enacted a comprehensive new law to combat art crime, establishing a specialized unit within the Ministry of Culture to target forgery, antiquities trafficking, and vandalism. The legislation introduces significantly harsher penalties, including fines up to €300,000 and prison sentences of up to 10 years, while expanding the scope of criminal activity to include the mere possession of forged works with intent to distribute.

perez art museum miami gift 7 million caribbean cultural institute

The Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) has announced two major gifts totaling $7 million for its Caribbean Cultural Institute (CCI). The Mellon Foundation contributed an additional $2 million, while the Green Family Foundation (GFF) donated $5 million, leading to the institute's renaming as the Green Family Foundation Caribbean Cultural Institute. The funds will support operating expenses and the endowment of the CCI, which was originally established in 2019 with a $1 million Mellon grant. The Green Family Foundation, founded by Steven J. Green and Dorothea Green, has deep philanthropic roots in Miami, including ties to Florida International University and local art initiatives. Current CCI fellows include artist M. Florine Démosthène, writer Rianna Jade Parker, and anthropologist Celia Irina González.

mellon foundation state arts councils emergency grants

The Mellon Foundation is providing $15 million in emergency grants to the Federation of State Humanities Councils, which will distribute the funds to all 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils across the U.S. This comes after the Trump administration revoked $65 million in grants promised by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), redirected to the National Garden of American Heroes. The administration also terminated over 1,000 NEH grants and placed about 80 percent of NEH staff on paid administrative leave following a visit from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Many state councils now face potential closure or severe program cuts.

Arts funding gap in the north must be closed | Letters

Two letter writers to The Guardian criticize the UK government's arts funding imbalance, highlighting that London receives disproportionate investment compared to northern England. Christine Baranski points out that £135m was spent on the V&A East in London while the Tate in Liverpool has been closed for over two years and the Albert Docks cultural area appears neglected. Sharon Maher notes that Arts Council spending is roughly £57 per Londoner versus £28 per person in the north, and argues that future national museum outposts should be located in the north.

Comment | Why museum leadership needs to decentralise

Aindrea Emelife argues that the traditional model of museum leadership, centered on a single, heroic director, is buckling under contemporary pressures. She calls for a shift away from this top-down, individualistic structure towards a decentralized, collaborative model that distributes authority.

congress funding bill nea neh

Congress has unveiled a bipartisan partial funding package that would keep the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) budgets steady at $207 million each, despite President Donald Trump's proposal to eliminate both agencies. The three-bill "minibus" package faces a House vote and then Senate consideration, as the government seeks to avoid another shutdown after last year's record 43-day closure.

imperial war museum criticized for lgbtq tour

The Imperial War Museum (IWM) in London has permanently closed its long-running Victoria Cross gallery, which housed over 200 medals loaned by Lord Ashcroft since 2010. The closure, which occurred in June 2025, coincided with the launch of a new virtual tour titled "Refracted Histories: Exploring LGBTQ+ Stories in Times of Conflict." Lord Ashcroft, a Conservative peer and donor who contributed £5 million to establish the original gallery, criticized the museum for sidelining military gallantry in favor of contemporary themes, claiming he was not informed in advance of the decision.

trump reappoints mary anne carter nea chair

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Mary Anne Carter as chair of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) by a 53–43 party-line vote, returning the same political operative to the post she held during Trump’s first term. Carter, who has no professional arts experience and previously worked for the Heritage Foundation (author of Project 2025), was nominated in May amid a tumultuous period when the Trump administration sought to defund the NEA, senior leaders left en masse, and hundreds of arts organizations had promised grants cut or delayed.

legal resistance grows against doge cuts

Two legal challenges advanced on Thursday against the Trump administration's cuts to U.S. cultural agencies. A coalition of academic groups—the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Historical Association, and the Modern Language Association—filed a lawsuit to stop the "illegal dismantling" of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which in April announced a 70–80 percent staff reduction and cancellation of over 1,000 grants. Separately, a federal judge issued an emergency order temporarily blocking similar cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, after the Department of Government Efficiency placed its 75-person staff on leave and the American Libraries Association brought suit.

south africa venice biennale gabrielle goliath banned work exhibition

South Africa’s official pavilion at the Venice Biennale will remain empty this year following the government's abrupt cancellation of artist Gabrielle Goliath’s planned exhibition. The controversy erupted when Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie pulled the project just days before the deadline, labeling Goliath’s work "highly divisive" due to its inclusion of a tribute to Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada. Despite the official ban and a failed court challenge by the artist and curator, the work, titled *Elegy*, will now be staged independently at the Chiesa di Sant’Antonin nearby.

gabrielle goliath legal action south africa venice pavilion

Artist Gabrielle Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo are filing a court case against South African culture minister Gayton McKenzie after he canceled their planned pavilion for the Venice Biennale. McKenzie objected to a performance from Goliath's "Elegy" series that would address Israel’s war in Gaza, calling it "polarizing," a move Goliath described as censorship. McKenzie later attributed the cancellation to alleged interference by an unnamed foreign nation, with reports suggesting Qatar was involved, though the Qatar Museums ultimately did not purchase the work. The application, to be filed in the South African high court in Pretoria, seeks to have McKenzie's actions declared unconstitutional.

south african culture mp denies censoring venice pavilion

The South African Ministry of Sport, Arts, and Culture has denied censoring its 2026 Venice Biennale pavilion after canceling a proposed artwork by artist Gabrielle Goliath on December 2. The work, part of Goliath's "Elegy" series curated by Ingrid Masondo, addressed sexual assault, femicide, the killings of women and queer people in South Africa, colonial-era genocide in Namibia, and included a tribute to Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada. Culture minister Gayton McKenzie initially called the piece "highly divisive" and linked to a polarizing international conflict, but a January 10 statement reframed the cancellation as a safeguard against foreign interference, alleging a foreign country attempted to fund or purchase the work to use the pavilion as a proxy for a geopolitical message about Israel's actions in Gaza.

mellon foundation emergency funding state councils neh cuts

The Mellon Foundation, the largest funder of the arts and humanities in the U.S., announced $15 million in emergency funding to the Federation of State Humanities Councils (FSHC). The funds will be distributed to state councils in all 50 states and six jurisdictions, with each council receiving a $200,000 one-time grant totaling $11.2 million, plus $2.8 million in challenge grants requiring local matching. This comes after the Trump administration cut $65 million from the National Endowment for the Humanities budget that was earmarked for these councils, threatening severe deficits or closures. The cuts were justified by the federal government as necessary for fiscal priorities, with $17 million redirected to a Trump-designated National Garden of American Heroes.

Why Did Trump Officials Award $2 Million to a Small Art School in Queens?

The Trump administration's National Endowment for the Humanities awarded a $2 million grant to a small art school in Queens with only three full-time employees. This grant was part of a new pattern of large, handpicked awards, a significant departure from the agency's typical grant-making process which historically avoided such large sums to very small institutions.

Cigarette Taxes Have Funneled $270 M. Toward Arts and Culture in Cleveland Since 2007

Cuyahoga County, Ohio, has funneled $270 million into arts and culture since 2007 through a cigarette tax, distributed by the nonprofit Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. Beneficiaries include the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, the Cleveland Institute of Art, ICA-Art Conservation, Sculpture Center, and the Cleveland Arts Prize. The tax has funded roughly 4,000 grants to 485 organizations, far exceeding the $48 million the entire state received from the National Endowment for the Arts in the same period.

national endowment arts budget

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $1.4 trillion national budget that includes $162 million for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), a $7.25 million increase over the previous year. This marks the largest one-year funding bump for the NEA in a decade, despite the Trump administration's repeated proposals to eliminate the agency entirely. The measure passed 297–120 in the Democrat-controlled House and also includes increases for the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and arts-based programs in the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, and Justice.

neh dismantling lawsuit acls mla aha

Three humanities-focused organizations—the American Historical Association, the Modern Language Association, and the American Council of Learned Societies—have filed a lawsuit against the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) over the dismantling of the NEH. Filed on May 1 in the Southern District of New York, the suit seeks to reverse cuts made in April by the Trump administration, which slashed $65 million from the NEH's $210 million budget and fired approximately 65 percent of its staff. The plaintiffs argue the NEH has been reduced to a shell of its former self, and they name as defendants NEH acting chairman Michael McDonald, DOGE acting administrator Amy Gleason, and DOGE employees Nate Cavanaugh and Justin Fox, who allegedly demanded lists of open grants and terminated most of them without legal authority.

UK artist resale right at 20: how successful has the pioneering scheme been?

The UK's Artist Resale Right (ARR), a law entitling visual artists to royalties from secondary market sales of their work, marks its 20th anniversary. Initially met with fierce opposition from auction houses and dealers who feared it would drive high-value sales offshore, the scheme is now largely accepted by the UK art trade, though concerns about administrative burdens compared to markets like New York and Hong Kong remain.

Greece Introduces New Law to Combat Art Forgery and Vandalism

Greece has enacted a landmark legislative framework specifically designed to combat art forgery, vandalism, and the trade of counterfeit cultural property. The new law introduces stringent criminal penalties, including prison sentences of up to ten years and fines reaching €300,000, while mandating the destruction of works confirmed as fakes. Key provisions include the creation of an independent registry of forgery experts under the culture ministry and the expansion of legal protections to include historically significant cinemas.

Institute of Museum and Library Services Allowed to Operate: Settlement

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has reached a legal settlement allowing it to resume full operations after being targeted for dismantling by a presidential executive order. The agreement, facilitated by a lawsuit from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, reverses planned mass layoffs and the termination of federal grants that support thousands of institutions across the United States.

institute of museum and library services restraining order overturned

A federal judge has declined to extend a temporary restraining order that would have prevented the Trump administration from dismantling the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The ruling, issued on Friday, allows the administration to proceed with mass layoffs and budget cuts that have already placed the agency's entire 75-person staff on leave. The IMLS, which distributes federal grants to museums and libraries nationwide, was targeted by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in April. The case, ALA v. Sonderling, was brought by the American Library Association and AFSCME, and will continue in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

trump nominates nea head mary anne carter

President Donald Trump has nominated Mary Anne Carter to return as head of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), a position she previously held from 2019 to 2021. The nomination comes after Trump’s 2026 budget proposed eliminating the agency, which distributes federal grants to arts organizations nationwide. Carter, who lacks extensive arts experience and previously served as chief policy adviser to Florida Governor Rick Scott, is currently listed as a senior adviser to the NEA. Her nomination follows a wave of resignations among senior NEA leaders and reports that over 350 organizations have had their grants canceled as the agency shifts its funding priorities.

judge inclined to rule against institute of museum and library services shutdown

A federal district court judge has indicated he is inclined to block the Trump administration's dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The agency, which distributes federal funding to museums and libraries nationwide, was gutted last month by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with its entire 75-person staff placed on leave. A lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction was filed by the American Library Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Judge Richard J. Leon, appointed by George W. Bush, said in court he is inclined to grant a temporary restraining order and is expected to rule shortly.

What Future for Art Centers?

Quel avenir pour les centres d’art ?

The article examines the uncertain future of contemporary art centers in France, a category that encompasses vastly different institutions from major venues like the Palais de Tokyo to smaller regional spaces. These non-collecting institutions, dedicated to exhibiting emerging artists and experimentation, face fragility due to heavy reliance on local government funding and difficulty proving their utility to elected officials. Their core mission is further challenged by more robust regional contemporary art funds (Fracs), which have greater resources for similar goals of exhibiting ultra-contemporary art and cultural democratization.

China Orders Nationwide Museum Audit After Missing Masterpieces Scandal

China's National Cultural Heritage Administration has mandated a comprehensive, item-by-item inventory of all state-run museum collections following a major scandal at the Nanjing Museum. The audit aims to verify that objects listed in official records physically exist in storage, a direct response to the discovery that donated national treasures, including a valuable Ming dynasty painting, were improperly transferred or sold into the private market over decades.

‘Where have all our front gardens gone?’: Sydney’s supersized driveways eat into yards

A new research paper reveals that Sydney's suburban front gardens are shrinking dramatically due to residential redevelopment, with the average front garden declining by 46% in areas where older homes have been replaced by larger modern houses. The study, analyzing 370 properties, found that driveway footprints and artificial surfaces increased by 57%, while tree canopy coverage was reduced by 62%.

Une souscription pour restaurer le réfectoire des Invalides

La Tribune de l'Art reports that a fundraising campaign has been launched to restore the refectory of the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris, specifically the salle de l'Europe. This room features 17th-century murals attributed to Michel Corneille le Jeune, depicting battles from the Franco-Dutch War (1673–1675), including the sieges of Maastricht, Huy, and Limbourg, as well as allegorical scenes of Louis XIV. The restoration is organized by the Musée de l'Armée, which manages the site.