— Turrell Nabs National Medal: James Turrell is set to receive the National Medal of the Arts from President Obama next week at the White House. Turrell is being honored for “capturing the powers of light and space” in a way that “builds experiences that force us to question reality, challenging our perceptions not only of art, but… of the world around us.” Other honorees include Linda Ronstadt, Bill T. Jones, and Maxine Hong Kingston. [LAT]
— Winklevii Invest in Paddle8: Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twins famous for their very public fight with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, have announced their investment in online auction house Paddle8. The twins are also well known for their support of the burgeoning digital currency bitcoin, which Paddle8 hasn’t committed to as an accepted form of currency yet, but has considered as an idea for future sales. Tyler said in an email to Fast Company, “The art market is global and like many global markets it currently feels the pain, inefficiencies, and high-costs of our current payment systems. Bitcoin rethinks the way we transfer value. It is borderless, frictionless, and instant and should be able to bring these qualities to art transactions just like any other transaction.” [FastCo]
— Met Head Becomes US Citizen: British-born Metropolitan Museum of Art director Thomas P. Campbell was among those who became US citizens in a naturalization ceremony hosted at the museum yesterday. Campbell and 74 others pledged allegiance in the American Wing’s Charles Englehard Court. “I am humbled and proud to be sharing this day with my fellow new citizens and delighted to be in this magnificent space for this occasion,” Campbell said. [Gallerist, WSJ]
— Museum for African Art Cuts Budget: The budget for the still-under-construction Museum for African Art has been cut by $40 million from its previous $135 million estimate, due to difficulty raising the funds. [NYT]
— Is Art Theft Really the Third Biggest Criminal Trade? A June 2014 conference at NYU’s School of Law named art theft the third highest-grossing criminal trade in the world over the past 40 years, according to Newsweek, but Art Market Monitor’s Marion Maneker points out that “grossing” doesn’t acknowledge that most art thieves actually don’t make big bucks off their loot since it’s hard to sell stolen goods. [Newsweek, Art Market Monitor]
— Celebs Ban Together Against Venice Ships: Celebrities Cate Blanchett, Susan Sarandon, and Calvin Klein have penned a letter to Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Ministry of Culture Dario Franceschini calling for a ban against cruise ships in Venice. [Speakeasy]
— Gallerist has an interesting look at artist assistant jobs. [Gallerist]
— The DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities has cancelled Mia Feuer’s climate change art installation, which was set to be installed in the Anacostia River. [Grist]
— The Albany Museum of Art’s director Karen Kemp has resigned. [Albany Herald]
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