US politics
Florida man pleads guilty to bombing satirical statue of Lenin and Mao
A lawyer from Florida drove to San Antonio, Texas, in an apparent attempt to destroy a 21ft-tall sculpture critiquing the Chinese Communist Party
Shahzia Sikander says she will not fix statue that was beheaded in Houston
In a Washington Post op-ed, the artist wrote she wants to leave the sculpture damaged to show the “fissures in our country”
Texas city faces backlash for stripping local arts centre's funding over drag performances
The city council in Lubbock, Texas voted last week to cut $30,000 in grant money to a free monthly art walk
New public art projects to coincide with Democratic National Convention
Next Stop: Chicago will focus on infrastructure inequality after Covid
How this photograph of Trump speaks to the power of the image
Evan Vucci’s instinctive composition recalls some famous art of the past, but its real importance may only be felt in the future
New York City’s 2025 budget includes a record $254m for culture
Mayor Eric Adams and the city council restored $53m in funding for public programming last month
Head of Frieze parent company Endeavor calls on Joe Biden to drop out of US presidential race
Ari Emanuel is the latest important Democratic donor to criticise Biden since his age and mental fitness were called into question during a debate against Donald Trump
Collector Jorge Pérez blasts Ron DeSantis for vetoing $32m in Florida arts funding
"We were long a society of fun and sun, but we’re no longer that—we don’t want that," he said.
Earliest known photograph of a US First Lady acquired by National Portrait Gallery in Washington
The museum recently purchased the 1840s daguerreotype of Dolley Madison at auction
State lawmakers pull funding for New Jersey's Centre Pompidou outpost
The mayor of Jersey City says the move to scuttle the Paris museum's first US location was politically motivated
New York City budget for 2025 restores $53m in cultural funding
The $112.4bn municipal budget for the coming fiscal year also restored $58m in critical funding for the city’s three library systems
Hottest Abe: wax statue of Lincoln loses its head amid US heat wave
The artist Sandy Williams IV’s wax replica of the Lincoln Memorial melted during the East Coast heat wave
Florida governor Ron DeSantis vetoes $32m in state arts funding
Museums and other cultural institutions will lose out on millions in promised grants that were originally in the state budget before it was sent to DeSantis to sign
How artists are uniting to defeat Donald Trump at the polls
The Artists For Democracy 2024 project is working with world-renowned artists including Shepard Fairey and Carrie Mae Weems to mobilise voters
Art world power players reportedly encouraged New York mayor to send police to pro-Palestine student protests
Chat logs from a private WhatsApp group created by billionaire Barry Sternlicht were leaked to the Washington Post last week
The US sculpture park communicating difficult truths amid a cultural backlash
In a time of increased lawsuits over diversity initiatives, a civil rights organisation aims to make the history and legacy of slavery in the US undeniable through art and first-person narratives
Donald Trump dines with NFT mega-collectors during break from New York hush-money trial
Between days of testimony by Stormy Daniels, the adult-film star who claims she had sex with Trump in 2006, the former president is meeting NFT collectors at Mar-a-Lago
Arts industries contributed a record $1.1 trillion to the US economy in 2022
New US government data report shows cultural industries accounted for 4.3% of national economic activity in 2022, though some sectors struggled to surpass pre-pandemic figures
Jewish history museum in Philadelphia would become part of Smithsonian under proposed legislation
A new bill could create a commission to assess the feasibility of adding the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History to the Smithsonian family
Non-profit art collaborative using craft to promote cross-border relations returns to Los Angeles
Ambos (Art Made Between Opposite Sides) has been working with communities on both sides of the US-Mexico border for nearly a decade
Museum’s decision to remove artist’s monograph from its bookstore sparks questions about freedom of expression
Doug Argue’s exhibition at the Weisman Art Museum last year was not accompanied by the book that inspired it due to sensitivities Argue likened to “book banning”
Hunter Biden’s art dealer questioned by House Oversight Committee
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee questioned New York art dealer Georges Bergès this week about representing US President Joe Biden’s son
Divisive Los Angeles dealer Stefan Simchowitz runs for US Senate
Once dubbed “the art world’s patron satan”, the gallerist is hoping to take the Californian seat formerly held by the late Dianne Feinstein
Minnesota picks 24-year-old artist’s design for new state flag
While some may have preferred an endearing photo of a Minnesotan’s dog for the new flag, Andrew Prekker’s winning design is widely popular
Confederate Memorial coming down at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, DC
Now that a judge lifted a last-minute injunction, the monument will be gone by the end of the week
Border Biennial showcases art across the Texas-Mexico border
It’s the first physical iteration of the El Paso and Juárez exhibition in five years, after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the 2020 edition
Ron DeSantis’s ‘war on woke’ goes to college
The Florida governor’s recent education reforms are damaging arts and humanities programmes across the state—but educators and students are fighting back
Arts loom small in Ron DeSantis's proposed state budget
The Florida governor's proposed budget for the the next fiscal year includes some provisions for museums—and continuing to transport undocumented migrants to Democratic states
Remembering Henry Kissinger, master of art politics, whose Cold War diplomacy still had resonance in 2023
Kissinger, one of the most photographed men of his time, with an instantly recognisable pair of spectacles, was a powerful graphic gift to artists including Philip Guston
Proposed US legislation would penalise use of AI to generate someone’s likeness without their consent
The No Fakes Act has been proposed by four US Senators and garnered support from organisations representing creative industries