— Hofman’s Duck to Hit Virginia: The next stop for Florentijn Hofman’s wildly popular giant rubber duck will be the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia. The duck is scheduled to float in front of the museum from May 17 to 26 in celebration of its newly renovated building. “I don’t understand how or why this works,” said museum director Bill Hennessey. “But there’s something about this duck that simply makes people happy.”[Hampton Roads]
— Smithsonian Names New Head: Cornell University president and practicing cardiologist David J. Skorton has been named as the new secretary of the Smithsonian and will assume the job in July 2015. Skorton says his first trip to a Smithsonian Museum was to the Museum of Natural History as a boy. “I remember being awed, impressed and excited and slightly scared by some mammal or other. It definitely left an impression on me.” [NYT]
— Pollock “Mural” Myth Upended: According to new research done by conservators at the Getty, Jackson Pollock’s “Mural” from 1943 was not actually created overnight. Previously, the 20-foot mural was believed to have been painted in one night’s burst of energy, but the Getty believes it was actually done over several days or weeks. The mural, which is on loan from the University of Iowa Museum of Art, is on view now through June 1. [LAT]
— Former Bloomberg Architecture Critic Speaks Out: Bloomberg News’s former architecture critic James S. Russell has spoken out to condemn the company’s elimination of culture coverage in favor of luxury and lifestyle content. [James S. Russell]
— Carolee Schneeman Considers Her Legacy: “My work became a bridge that had to be crossed by young feminists working with their bodies.” — 73-year-old performance artist Carolee Schneeman looks back at her career ahead of her first solo show in the U.K. [The Guardian]
— Poland’s Most Important Arts Patron: Art collector Grazyna Kulczyk, the richest woman in Poland, talks the art scene in Poland on the occasion of a show of works from her collection in Madrid. [FT]
— A new program at Williams College loans students artworks from the school’s art museum. [WAMC]
— The United Arab Emirates have tapped Sheikha Hoor Al-Qasimi to curate their 2015 Venice Biennale pavilion. [Artforum]
— Here’s a report from the Bitcoin Art Fair that was staged in San Francisco last week. [Coin Desk]
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