Posted inNews

NEA Now Funds Video Games

The National Endowment for the Arts now funds a hotly-debated form of art: video games. With the newly designated “Arts in Media” program, $10,000 to $200,000 grants from the organization can now be used to fund the production of digital games, multimedia art work and interactive applications.

Posted inNews

Budget Cuts May Kill a $9.5 Million Art Grant Program

The list of domestic spending cuts for the new national budget announced by the US government this morning includes $13 million in funding cuts for both the NEA and the NEH, but that’s just the start of the damage. $8.5 million has been cut from the NGA budget, and reduced funding to a program that supports Washington’s private artistic organizations by 75 percent.

Posted inNews

Will a Government Shutdown Close DC Museums?

This weekend, the usually free National Gallery of Art might not be. In fact, it could not be open at all. With the possibility of a government shutdown looming as a result of disagreements between Democrats and Republicans over the national budget, public museums may be the first institutions to close their doors at the end of this week.

Posted inOpinion

How Can Art Writing Exist Online?

Even after the website’s sale to AOL for $315 million, Huffington Post still declines to pay its volunteer bloggers. In reaction, Post contributors from art sites ArtScene and Visual Art Source have announced a “strike” against writing for the website. The action begs the question, how can art writing remain viable online?

Posted inArt

WTF is… an Art Fair?

Okay, so, this week is New York City’s art fair week. This may sound like a carnival replete with Ferris wheels, clowns and cotton candy, but it’s not, at least in the literal sense. An art fair is like a carnival in that there’s a lot of excess noise, visual information and people yelling over each other. But an art fair is actually a clearinghouse for art works, a pow-wow of dealers, galleries, curators and collectors that’s part tribe meeting and part shopping mall. n the US, the major players are basically Art Basel Miami Beach, a sister fair of Art Basel founded in 2002 occurring annually every December, and New York City’s Armory Show, founded in 1994 and taking place in March.