Congress Funds Institute for American Indian Arts
The Senate confirmed appropriations for the college and several other embattled cultural institutions following Trump's threats to defund them.
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Art Movements: New Leaders Everywhere
Plus, Amy Sherald signs with the Creative Artists Agency and the Whitney Museum’s head-scratching “cosmic look” at its 2026 Biennial artists.
A Spell Against Fear: Tracy K. Smith on Poetry and The Art of Productive Impatience
“What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?” asked the Proust Questionnaire. “Living in fear,” answered David Bowie. The most menacing word of the three is the smallest, for fear really is something we live inside, not with — a cage, a tomb, a small dark room that comes
The Best Films of 2025
David Ehrlich is back with my favorite end-of-year celebration of film; here’s his look back at the best films of 2025 ( YouTube ). See the full list at Letterboxd . I’ve only seen five of these so it’s difficult to comment on the list as a whole, but I feel like Sinners should
Required Reading
Rose B. Simpson at SFMOMA, historical writers with day jobs, anti-surveillance clothing, the nostalgia of 2016, a day in the life of an art conservator, and more.
Nicola L.’s Soft Power
The late artist’s playful “functional sculptures” nod to second-wave feminism, but make a broader statement about resistance through collaboration.
Dr. Gladys West, Mathematician Whose Work Made GPS Possible, Dies at 95....
Dr. Gladys West, Mathematician Whose Work Made GPS Possible, Dies at 95 . “Her painstaking calculations and programming helped transform raw satellite data into precise geodetic models, enabling reliable satellite-based navigation.”
On Being a Somali Artist in Minnesota
Violence has a way of turning familiar places into guarded ground. And yet, I ask not what has been taken, but what we will continue to build from what remains.
A View From the Easel
“I use palo santo in my space before working to honor my ancestors.”
Request for Proposals: Operator for the Harlem African Burial Ground Cultural Education Center
Learn about this opportunity to develop a cultural education center at the historic East Harlem site during informational sessions in January and February.
Mestra is a forthcoming short story from Madeline Miller (Circe, The Song...
Mestra is a forthcoming short story from Madeline Miller ( Circe , The Song of Achilles ); it’s “a powerful reimagining of Ovid’s Pygmalion”. Miller is also working on a novel about Persephone .
Minnesota Art Spaces to Close in Solidarity With Anti-ICE Strike
The Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Art are among the hundreds of businesses shuttering on January 23 in protest of the ICE killing of Renee Macklin Good.
Minneapolis Art Spaces to Close in Solidarity With Anti-ICE Strike
The Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Art are among the hundreds of businesses shuttering on January 23 in protest of the ICE killing of Renee Macklin Good.
Will Dad and I Ever See Texas the Same Way?
"A noted Texas historian and his adult child get behind the wheel to see if they can finally view their home state the same way."
Pilot Captures Amazing Aurora Photos During Flight
This week, the Earth was hit with one of the strongest geomagnetic storms in recent years, which made for some gobsmacking displays of the northern lights, even as far south as California. Cruising in a 787 at 37,000 feet on his route from Calgary to London (UK), airline pilot
Otherworldly Landscapes and Bolivian Culture Merge in River Claure’s Mystical Photos
The Bolivian artist's work is imbued with a sense of nostalgia—a longing for connections to "the mystical, the epic, and the sacred," he says. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little
From director Rian Johnson, a collection of some of the screenplays of...
From director Rian Johnson, a collection of some of the screenplays of his movies & TV shows , including Wake Up Dead Man, Knives Out, Glass Onion, Looper, and the Poker Face pilot. “Print them, share them, act them out with your friends.”
Now That I Am Old Enough to Enroll in Medicare, I Am...
Now That I Am Old Enough to Enroll in Medicare, I Am Against Socialized Medicine . “Don’t you know that it makes my benefits less special when everyone can receive them?”
‘Cat’ Is a Purr-fect Celebration of Felines in Art Throughout the Centuries
The new book, forthcoming from Phaidon, surveys felines in art throughout the millennia. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article ‘Cat’ Is a Purr-fect
What Is the Scale of the Resistance in Minnesota?
A must-read thread from Margaret Killjoy ( Skywriter thread ) on what’s going on in Minnesota. I came to Minneapolis to report on what’s going on, and one of the main questions I showed up with is “just what is the scale of the resistance?” After all, we’re all used to the
More ways to help: Stand With Minnesota. How you can tell this...
More ways to help: Stand With Minnesota . How you can tell this is a local MN thing: “We are now just two ladies running this thing as volunteers, so please be patient.”
You can help: a listing of mutual aid organizations to support in...
You can help: a listing of mutual aid organizations to support in Minnesota .
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners sets record for most Oscar nominations: 16! Includes best...
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners sets record for most Oscar nominations: 16! Includes best picture, best director, best screenplay, and best actor (for Michael B. Jordan). Well-deserved…Sinners was the best film I saw in 2025.
Sandcastles
A documentary connecting two Singapores: the Asian country expanded on imported sand and a town in Michigan buried by dunes - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
How to Get Into the Whitney Biennial
Queens Museum leader quits, Gabrielle Goliath sues, vintage gay porn as political art, and more.
Dreams of the far Right
Young Europeans join far-Right movements less out of grievance than out of a profound yearning to believe and belong - by Agnieszka Pasieka Read on Aeon
The big splash
42 years ago, Apple’s 1984 ad ran on the Super Bowl. Once. It’s generally considered the most effective ad of its kind, creating a legend and also a trap. Was this ad the reason the Mac is still around? Or was it Regis McKenna’s work in getting Steve on the cover of more than
Luis Buñuel & Salvador Dalí’s Un Chien Andalou: The Short Surrealist Film That Revolutionized Cinema (1929)
Un Chien Andalou means “an Andalusian dog,” though the much-studied 1929 short film of that title contains no dogs at all, from Andalusia or anywhere else. In fact, it alludes to a Spanish expression about how the howling of an Andalusian signals that someone has died. And
Brazilian Musician Seu Jorge Performs 15 Iconic Bowie Songs in Portuguese to Mark the 10th Anniversary of Bowie’s Passing
In 2004, the Brazilian musician Seu Jorge recorded a series of Portuguese covers of David Bowie songs for Wes Anderson’s film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. The next year, he released a full album of 13 Bowie classics, and in 2016–2017, he even took the songs on tour. Now,
The Most Important Thing to Remember About Your Mother
One of the hardest realizations in life, and one of the most liberating, is that our mothers are neither saints nor saviors — they are just people who, however messy or painful our childhood may have been, and however complicated the adult relationship, have loved us the best