Benjamin Sutton

Construction of Trump ballroom at the White House to begin in September The East Wing of the White House will be "modernized" as part of the project, with aides to first lady Melania Trump temporarily relocated.

Ballroom budget = 1 NEH annual budget.

He overran the Kennedy Center, paved over the Rose Garden, and now this. 🙄🙄

www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

US Senators propose anti-money-laundering legislation for the art market The Art Market Integrity Act proposed by a bipartisan group of US lawmakers would bring US regulation in line with Europe and the UK

A bipartisan group of six US Senators has proposed new legislation that would require dealers, auction houses and other art market businesses to comply with anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing guidelines: www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/07/25/a...

Trump pulls US out of ‘woke’ Unesco The State Department says that Unesco membership does not square with its “America-first” outlook

Trump withdraws US from UNESCO, again: www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/07/23/t...

Comment | Now is the time to fight for US arts funding The Trump administration’s defunding of the arts has more than symbolic significance

"Arts & culture contribute $1.2 trillion to the US economy, support 5.4 mil jobs and account for 4.2% of the gross domestic product—more than agriculture, transportation and outdoor recreation. These aren’t just feel-good programmes, they’re an economic engine that strengthens every sector." #NEH

Trump’s bill to cut taxes and social safety net programmes includes $40m for patriotic sculpture park The president’s signature bill, approved by the US Senate on 1 July, is expected to add trillions of dollars to the national debt

Trump's bill boosting spending on the military and immigration enforcement while cutting social safety net programs and clean energy subsidies also includes $40m for his patriotic sculpture park project: www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/07/01/t...

The Abominable Sadism of “Alligator Auschwitz” Slated to open this week, Florida’s new detention center will have more than a little in common with a Nazi concentration camp.

"The people who wind up there will be mainly chosen by ethnicity, and almost certainly be convicted of no crime. The lawmakers’ goal is not merely confinement but suffering." www.thenation.com/article/poli...

5 Ways Trump Is Selling Out Our Public Lands For decades, we’ve defended our public lands for the benefit of all people, and we’ll continue fighting back as long as Trump’s attacks continue.

After a huge public outcry, the public lands selloff has been scrapped from Trump's mega-bill. But in many other ways, the administration and congressional representatives beholden to the fossil fuel industry are still trying to auction off our public lands to the highest bidder.

Frankenthaler Foundation awards grants totalling $3.4m for new climate initiatives In addition to revealing the 74 recipients of new Frankenthaler Climate Initiative grants, the foundation announced it will extend the initiative another five years

The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation just announced another $3.4m in climate grants for US art organizations (74 recipients, big and small, from South Dakota to Puerto Rico), and that it is extending the program for five more years: www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/06/26/f...

Cuomo's Car Speaks: 'This Is All My Fault' - Streetsblog New York City "I told him, 'Just leave me in the garage,' but you know Andrew — he just wouldn't listen. And then we lost."

"I told him, 'Just leave me in the garage,' but you know Andrew — he just wouldn't listen. And then we lost."

Cuomo's Dodge Charger spoke to Streetsblog about what yesterday's loss means for his future in NYC. buff.ly/vlwsDl2

Edward Burtynsky’s photographs convey the force of mankind’s reordering of the environment A retrospective at the International Center of Photography in New York chronicles more than 40 years of the artist’s work

It's the summer of Edward Burtynsky in New York, with a retrospective at the International Center of Photography, a documentary trilogy at Metrograph, a solo show at Howard Greenberg Gallery and a new AI collaboration with Alkan Avcıoğlu at Heft Gallery: www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/06/19/e...

Climate protester splashes pink paint on Picasso work at Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The activist from Last Generation Canada said “more resources have been put in place to secure and protect this artwork than to protect living, breathing people”

Yesterday a supporter of Last Generation Canada sprayed pink paint on a Pablo Picasso painting at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and called on the Canadian government to create a Climate Disaster Protection Agency: www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/06/20/c...

Maybe, though concerns about broken laws don't seem to stop this administration from doing much...

Trump administration violated the law by withholding museum and library funding, government watchdog finds The non-partisan Government Accountability Office says the Trump administration illegally impounded federal funding that had been approved by Congress

The Government Accountability Office says the Trump administration broke the law by withholding funding for museums and libraries that Congress had approved: www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/06/17/t...

Federal agents handcuff and detain New York City mayoral candidate Brad Lander was taken into custody at an immigration court in Lower Manhattan.

Zohran Mamdani, who recently cross-endorsed with Lander, called for the comptroller’s immediate release. “This is fascism and all New Yorkers must speak in one voice,” said Mamdani.

Limited-edition Labubu causes bedlam at Art Basel Shop The figurine of a slightly sinister looking monster has been flying off the shelves

My colleague Carlie Porterfield has the low-down on the rare, prized pieces collectors are tripping over themselves to snap up at Art Basel this year: www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/06/16/l...

US National Gallery of Art receives trove of Modern and contemporary drawings The gift, from longtime benefactors Lenore and Bernard Greenberg, includes works on paper by Ed Ruscha, Franz Kline, Susan Rothenberg, Philip Guston and others

The National Gallery of Art in DC has received a gift of more than 60 works of Modern and contemporary art from the Los Angeles-based collectors Lenore and Bernard Greenberg, the lion's share of them works on paper: www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/06/11/n...

Smithsonian asserts authority to make ‘all personnel decisions’ following Trump attempts to fire gallery director In response to the president’s targeting of National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet, the organisation has issued a strategically broad statement, touting its independence and governance by a boar...

In a statement gently rebuffing Trump in his attempt to fire National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet, the Smithsonian reiterates that all staffing decisions are made by its Board of Regents and Secretary: www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/06/10/s...

Former director claims Frida Kahlo works went missing from Mexico City museum

Hilda Trujillo Soto, a leader at the museums claims six pages from Kahlo’s diary and more than a dozen works went missing and some were reportedly sold by auction houses and a gallery in the US

buff.ly/L0Ud5dF

Israel is destroying the foundations of a Palestinian state | Opinion The Netanyahu government must be held to account over Gaza and the West Bank

Israel is destroying the foundations of a Palestinian state | Opinion

https://www.ft.com/content/88561b40-b214-4f40-b8f3-32a881c832c4

Whitney Museum pauses Independent Study Program amid accusations of censorship The cancellation of a performance addressing the ongoing war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza has also sparked an open letter by alumni of the programme

The Whitney paused its Independent Study Program amid censorship allegations over cancellation of Palestinian solidarity event. Concurrently, 300+ alumni of the Whitney ISP published an open letter in support of the artists whose performance was canceled: www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/06/04/w...

Comment | In the Trump era, LGBTQ+ communities and culture need support

“With the return of an emboldened Trump administration, our communities are facing a sustained campaign of hostility and a chilling rollback of civil rights”

buff.ly/jZtWGWf

UN warns 100% of Gaza at risk of famine; Israel vows to build ‘Jewish state’ in West Bank

"One hundred percent of the population at risk of famine": www.courthousenews.com/un-warns-100...

Trump claims he has fired director of US National Portrait Gallery It is not clear the president has the authority to make staffing decisions for the gallery, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution

Trump claims he has fired Kim Sajet, the director of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, although since the Smithsonian is not part of the government it is unclear if he has the authority to do so: www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/05/30/t...

Stanford University acquires Filipina American artist Pacita Abad’s archive “This is how art history gets written, from these primary-source materials,” says Stanford’s art and architecture librarian

Stanford University has acquired the archives of Pacita Abad (120 linear feet of boxes' worth) as part of its cross-departmental Asian American Art Initiative: www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/05/29/s...

After deliberately blocking humanitarian assistance from entering Gaza for 78 days, Israel has begun allowing in a “basic amount” of aid.

Israeli authorities’ blockade and use of starvation of civilians as a weapon of war amounts to war crimes and acts of genocide.

Aid instrumentalised and health system under fire: Gaza is being deliberately asphyxiated by Israeli forces | MSF Twenty medical facilities have been damaged, or forced partially or completely out of service, in Gaza, Palestine, in the last week.

"At least 20 medical facilities in Gaza have been damaged, or forced partially or completely out of service, in the past week by advancing Israeli ground operations, intensified airstrikes, and widespread evacuation orders." www.msf.org/aid-instrume...

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art lays off 14% of full-time staff In addition to letting go of 15 full-time employees, the museum—now expected to open in 2026—has cut seven part-time roles

Not-vetoed headline of the week: "The empire cuts back: Lucas Museum of Narrative Art lays off 14% of full-time staff" www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/05/21/l...

‘Halo effect’ of two powerful female art dealers’ collections boosts Sotheby’s New York sale Works from the estate of Barbara Gladstone and the home of Daniella Luxembourg—plus a litter of Lichtensteins—energised last night's marquee auction of post-war and contemporary art

Last night Sotheby's wrapped up New York's rocky week of high-stakes evening auctions with a solid three-part sale of post-war and contemporary art that got a big boost from the collections of Barbara Gladstone and Daniella Luxembourg: www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/05/16/s...

The @metmuseum.org has received a promised gift of more than 6,500 works from the photography collector Artur Walther and his family foundation, selections of which will go on view later this month when the revamped Rockefeller Wing opens www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/05/14/m...

Food security experts warn Gaza at ‘critical risk of famine’ amid Israeli blockade Report by UN-backed consortium of specialists tells of ‘major deterioration’ since its last assessment in October * Middle East crisis – live updates Gaza is at “critical risk of famine”, food security experts have warned, 10 weeks after Israel imposed a blockade on the devastated Palestinian territory, cutting off all supplies including food, medicine, shelter and fuel. In its most recent report, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said on Monday there had been a “major deterioration” in the food security situation in Gaza since its last assessment in October 2024 and that Palestinians living there faced “a critical risk of famine”. Continue reading...

Food security experts warn Gaza at ‘critical risk of famine’ amid Israeli blockade