- AHHH! Patrick Stewart in drag looks so much like Kellyanne Conway it’s freaking me out. Please tell me there’s an SNL appearance planned. [22 Words]
- I keep thinking we have to be done with the Dana Schutz Open Casket controversy and then something else comes out on the subject. Coco Fusco, hands down, pens the piece of authority on the subject. If you read anything today, make it this piece. [Hyperallergic]
- Those interested in applying for a residency at New INC can attend an info session tomorrow and Tuesday April 18th at NEW INC. You’ll want to go tomorrow, because on April 18th, you’ll be at our Goth Opera benefit! [Facebook]
- A performing arts center slated for development at Ground Zero could face a $100 million shortfall if federal officials retract the unspent funds the city received after Sept. 11. Basically, this nonsense is the result of government agencies fighting with each other. The Port Authority, which says it is owed $68 million by the Lower Manhattan Development Council (LMDC). The LMDC says it owes $45 million. Port Authority is refusing to hand over control for the site until they are paid. [Crains]
- Related: one of many lawsuits by the City Club of New York may have finally succeeded in derailing the Thomas-Heatherwick-designed Pier 55. This is kind of a bummer. Of all the architect’s upcoming controversial projects, this one was by far the best and least offensive, especially in a part of the city that could use some non-High-Line green space. One of the arguments against the park was that it would obscure the natural beauty of the waterfront… Manhattan’s obviously man-made waterfront, where it would be straddling the ruins of two man-made piers. What a ridiculous group of crotchety fun-spoilers. [Dezeen]
- One of the NEA’s most important functions is supplying insurance coverage to museum exhibitions. Without the Arts and Artifacts Indemnity Program, many cross-institutional exhibitions simply couldn’t happen. It’s saved museums an estimated $450 million but has only resulted in $4,700 in payouts from the federal government in the past 42 years. (For those curious, that’s less than one Melania Trump Hour, by our metrics). [Los Angeles Times]
- Apply for the 2017 Summer studio residency at Ortega y Gasset Projects. [Ortega y Gasset Projects]
- Cristo and Jeanne Claude aren’t the only ones who can bring fences into New York City for public art. Chinese activist and artist Ai Weiwei will build over 100 fences around the city for his installation project, “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors” this fall, thanks to a commission by the Public Art Fund. The work is inspired by the international migration crisis. [Gothamist]
- The first trailer has arrived for Burden, the upcoming documentary about Chris Burden. [Artspace]
- While the US has been plunged into a political drama out of a particularly boring episode of Game of Thrones, we have been neglecting Canadian political/news media scandals. Namely: #lacgate. Yesterday I clicked on the article “The Five Signs You’ve Written a Bad Column”, hoping for some journalism advice. Instead, I was introduced to the saga of columnist Leah McLaren, who wrote about her experience attempting to secretly breastfeed Conservative MP Michael Chong’s baby at a houseparty. This is so much weirder (probably) than whatever the fuck Devin Nunes was doing during his inexplicable missing time. [VICE]
