Monster Mash: Artists protest Smithsonian’s act of censorship; Ai Weiwei stopped from leaving China
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More controversy: Protesters marched in Washington, D.C., on Thursday in protest of the Smithsonian’s recent decision to censor a video by artist David Wojnarowicz that depicts Jesus Christ covered with ants. (Washington Post)
Dissident: Artist Ai Weiwei said Chinese government officials have stopped him from leaving the country minutes before he was to board his plane. (The Guardian)
New job: Brett Abbott, the associate curator in the department of photographs at the J. Paul Getty Museum, will be leaving to assume the post of curator of photography at the High Museum in Atlanta. (Art Daily)
The economy, again: Hit hard by the loss of subscribers and other revenue since the economy went bad, FCLO Music Theatre (formerly Fullerton Civic Light Opera) could possibly cancel its 2011 season. (Los Angeles Times)
Merger: The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company will merge with Dance Theater Workshop to form a new entity called New York Live Arts. (New York Times)
From the depths: The Los Angeles County Natural History Museum will be studying a mysterious, ribbon-shaped oarfish that washed up on the shores of Malibu this week. (Los Angeles Times)
Heading home: The 19th century painting by Edgar Degas that was recently found at a New York auction is heading back to France. (CNN)
Economic unease: Protests against government cuts to funding for the arts in Italy could affect the opening night at Milan’s La Scala opera house next week. (Reuters)
Legal ruling: A court in Paris has ordered a dealer to return seven sculptures to the estate of artist Alexander Calder. (New York Times)
Also in the L.A. Times: Theater critic Charles McNulty reviews ‘West Side Story’ at the Pantages; art critic Christopher Knight on the Smithsonian’s controversial decision to censor a video art work featuring Jesus Christ.
-- David Ng
