Nearly every fine violin bow starts as pernambuco, an endangered Brazilian wood, and its most devoted conservators turn out to be the bow makers themselves, documenting legal stockpiles, tracing the provenance of finished bows, replanting trees by the millions (The New York Times).

In London, theatre owners and Equity negotiated a three-year West End pay deal that averts a strike (WhatsOnStage). On Broadway, Andrew Lloyd Webber answered the closing of Cats: The Jellicle Ball with a plea for owners, unions and producers to convene before “a crisis coming to a head” (Broadway World).

Wyoming’s public TV station will keep PBS programming but drop the branding — “Wyoming’s storyteller first and a member station second” (Current) — a bet that stewardship is valuably local. The countercase: UK universities axed nearly 4,000 humanities and arts jobs in a single year (The Guardian).

And the Louvre heist suspects say the client who hired them was disappointed — he thought they could have taken more (The Guardian). Everyone’s a critic.

All of our stories below.

“A revelatory new biography of the overlooked French Surrealist painter Jacqueline Lamba brings to light her long-rumored affair with Frida Kahlo — all thanks to a cache of newly-discovered love letters. Kahlo specialist Salomon Grimberg has long hoped to revive Lamba’s reputation, which he believes has been unfairly overshadowed by that of her husband, the Surrealist icon André Breton.” – Artnet

Millions of dollars in bets on “Love Island USA” signal prediction platform Kalshi’s push into pop culture, where reality TV fandoms are fueling a rapid surge in entertainment trading volume. – Los Angeles Times

Ono debuted the work at Carnegie Hall in 1964, sitting motionless onstage as people took turns cutting off her clothes with scissors. The Broad in Los Angeles is presenting Cut Piece twice this weekend across the street at REDCAT. The performer, known as MPA, is scared — but not of the scissors. – The Guardian

Over and over again, Americans choose to sever bonds that connect us with each other: We move away from our hometowns, we leave our churches, we quit our unions, we quit our parties, we stay in instead of going out, we donate instead of volunteering, we let friendships fade away. – Matt Pearce

AI summaries differ in speed, scale, and uncertain accuracy, but not in their basic educational function. They compress and translate. They can provide a map before we enter unfamiliar territory. – AI In

“It’s a collection that includes stories which inspired the acclaimed movies ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ and ‘Stand By Me’. Libraries in (four) school districts removed the book. Under a 2022 Utah law, that means it can be removed from schools statewide, since at least three districts banned it.” – Utah Public Radio

Pour out a Scotch and soda — make that a malted milk — for this spry codger of a novel that’s stayed on the dance floor long past when might be expected, leaping over book bans from the right and dodging cancellation from the left. – The New York Times

CNN is more important to the deal than it might seem at first glance, for two simple reasons: Politics, and debt. – The Hollywood Reporter

“What Is an Author?” predicted a future where old ideas about authorship would give way to new questions about technology and power. “What are the modes of existence of this discourse?” Foucault asked. “Where does it come from, how is it circulated” and — perhaps most important — “who controls it?” – The New York Times

Power no longer feels like oppression. It feels like opportunity, a pressure that builds from within, overwhelming our sense of choice with a compulsion to perform. We become both manager and managed. – The New Atlantis

So claims Julian MacKay, who was a principal at the Bavarian State Ballet from 2022 until this week. He says he complained about unfair treatment and threatened to resign, then was dismissed without warning while on sick leave. The company says he was properly terminated in an in-person meeting. – The Violin Channel

The time it takes to process a visa has dramatically increased. The number of available interview slots at U.S. embassies is backlogged. Application costs have surged. And there’s an added layer of uncertainty: paperwork can be perfect, fees can be paid, and yet artists still can be turned away at the border. – NPR

A group of major publishers have filed a lawsuit against Google, accusing the company of illegally using millions of copyrighted books to help build its Gemini artificial intelligence models, in “one of the most prolific infringements of copyrighted materials in history”. – The Guardian

When it opens in 2028, this new Center for Chamber Music will be Seattle’s first permanent venue designed exclusively for chamber music performance, featuring a 271-seat concert hall engineered to create an immersive experience where no listener will be more than 40 feet from the performers. – Seattle Times

“In the opinion of Martha Nussbaum, now 79, …opera can help to fix Western societies that have become nasty, brutish and narcissistic. In particular, we need more men like Cherubino, the cross-dressing boy of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro … than we do Putins, Hegseths, Trumps and Tates.” – The Telegraph (UK) (MSN)

The museum began work on “High Style: The Art of Cannabis Pipes” three years ago, thinking that increasing legalization and acceptance of marijuana made the timing good. Yet the show was cancelled this spring; museum management says it was for logistical reasons. The question: the logistics of what exactly? – The New York Times

“(Starting) in March 2025, (Rudy Mendoza) offered drop-in classes at Logan Square Improv to students who wanted to try playing in either (English or Spanish). The school has grown exponentially since. There are now three full levels of classes for bilingual students. He has a roster of seven other teachers.” – Chicago Tribune

“Proposed legislation to filter the reading choices students can make has brought concern, and budget reductions make some worry about the future of public school librarians. … ‘Right now, a lot of administrators and school boards look at having school librarians as a luxury,” said (union president) Gayle Schmuhl.” – Ohio Capital Journal

“’Bob was always saying he didn’t want Watermill to become an institution,’ said Charles Chemin, Watermill’s new artistic director. ‘He didn’t want to create a Bob Wilson school. But Watermill is filled with the vision of Bob Wilson, with his unique form of composition and his unique way of collaborating.’” – The New York Times

“CEO David Ellison’s … confidantes have pushed him to consider moving its corporate headquarters and reallocating much of its $30 billion in planned spending outside the state” in reaction to the lawsuit. “The considerations may just be a show of brinkmanship, given so much of the industry’s production takes place outside of Hollywood already.” – Semafor

“This proposed combined entity would be the largest employer of writers, with tremendous power to suppress our wages, eliminate opportunities for emerging writers, cut jobs across the industry, and produce less programming,” said Writers Guild of America East president Tom Fontana in a statement. – AP

The annual salary range for the Director starts at $115,000; benefits include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage and a retirement plan with an employer contribution. Flint School of Performing Arts has engaged Management Consultants for the Arts to facilitate this important search; Thomas Pearson, Carlton Ford, and Christopher Mossey are leading the search. A search committee of FIM leadership led by Rodney Lontine hopes to make a final decision by Q4 of 2026, with the new Director beginning work in the first quarter of 2027.

FIM Flint School of Performing Arts (FSPA) is one of the largest community schools of the arts in the country. The school serves roughly 3,500 students of all ages each year on an annual budget of about $2.5 million, with an endowment that covers close to half of operating expenses. More information on Flint School of Performing Arts can be found at https://thefim.org/fspa/.