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The Headlines

Good morning!

The Headlines

Shelly C. Lowe, the Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, has stepped down from her position, “at the direction of President Trump,” reports The New York Times.

The 1965-founded NEH awards major grants to museums, historic sites, universities, and libraries, among others. A scholar of higher education, Lowe was the first Native American to lead the federal organization and was appointed by former President Joseph R. Biden.

Her dismissal is being viewed as yet another example of anti-DEI measures being undertaken by the current administration. It comes amid reports of significant budget cuts to key units that support public art preservation.

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Experts have positively authenticated a rare artwork by French painter Eugène Delacroix, which will be heading to auction later this month, reports Le Figaro and AFP.

The 20 inches x 24 inches study in oil, on canvas, depicts one of the artist’s favorite subjects: lions. They can be seen lounging and sleeping in seven different postures, rendered in fluid, almost sketch-like strokes. It was discovered in a private home near Tours.

“The owner wasn’t sure that it was a Delacroix. When I came into the living room, my attention was immediately drawn by its magnetism. It was very moving. We regularly see Delacroix oeuvres in museums, but very rarely in private hands,” said Malo de Lussac, an expert who authenticated the piece.

It is valued at 200,000 to 300,000 euros and will be sold at the Drouot auction house on March 28.

The Digest

Archaeologists have unearthed the torso of a 12th or 13th-century statue of Buddha in Cambodia’s Angkor temple complex, which matches a head found at the site nearly a century ago. The 3.75-foot-tall torso, and 29 fragments that appear to be from the same sculpture, were discovered at Angkor’s Ta Prohm temple, reports the Associated Press.

Staff at the Paris digital, music, and media arts museum, Gaîté Lyrique, have evacuated the institution, ahead of its takeover by nearly 450 young migrants, who have been squatting in the building for months. According to reports in Le Figaro, the migrants claim that they are minors and therefore deserve to be housed and supported by the government. However, authorities have previously ruled that they were not children, and should be considered undocumented adults.

Earlier this year, the museum staff refused to force the squatters out of the building, especially during the cold, winter months. But as the weather warms up and the migrants are threatening to break into the museum’s internal spaces, staff decided to evacuate the institution on Monday, March 11.

This summer, the public will get a closer glimpse of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s new David Geffen Galleries. The museum will be opening parts of the plaza around the new galleries designed by Peter Zumthor and offering donors and members tours of the empty building in June, plus, a site-specific performance by Kamasi Washington will be held in the new building June 26-28.

A new proposal for renovating Penn Station appears to take cues from Trump’s classical architecture order. Renderings of the design presented by the Grand Penn Community Alliance (GPCA) show a classical facade lined with Doric columns and a park plaza in place of Madison Square Garden.

The Kicker

Artists are moving away from New York’s bustling Lower East Side, and finding welcoming homes in Bushwick and the South Bronx, reports Elephant. These new artist haunts, “offer the perfect balance of ambiance and solitude, fostering creativity without the distractions of busier districts,” says Jo Rosenthal in a recent article for the publication.

As reported by Art News, the Lower East Side has lost a third of its artists since 2010. But while some artists are leaving the city entirely—enticed by lower living costs and the potential to forge new professional opportunities—others are choosing to stay within the city limits, seeking out more affordable outposts within the five boroughs.

Among those who have recently made the move from the Lower East Side is painter Zoë Argires, who recently resettled in Bushwick with her dog, Maisie. After 10 years on the Lower East Side, Argires says she was ready for a change of scenery. She also feels that her art practice benefits from being in a part of the city where she can walk to the bodega in her pajamas.

“Outside my