MACON, Ga. -- Macon-Bibb leaders say a $100,000 plan will grow the community's arts and culture. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has provided the funding. Leaders say more than 50 art and community groups in Macon have created a committee and will develop a plan that they say will add to existing plans, consider obstacles and opportunities, and steer investments in the city's arts and culture.

"Macon knows Macon, and you are the only people who can tell us what is special and unique about your place," vice president of Lord Cultural Resources Joy Bailey-Bryant says.

Bailey-Bryant says LCR wants to help Macon grow and focus on the community's health and well-being by focusing on the arts.

"We are finding all kinds of information around the arts helping people to live longer lives. And that is really important, so those are the types of things that we are looking at and working to do in Macon and we also want to attract more people here," says Bailey-Bryant.

Join Joy Bailey-Bryant, Vice President of Lord Cultural Resources, on June 18th as part of the AAMC Foundation’s three-part webinar series. Created by Judith Pineiro, Executive Director of AAMC Foundation, the series will take a refreshed look at the subject of management. The Environment discussion is the second installment in the series and will investigate workplace cultures and structures, as well as how personal and organizational success are impacted by how we manage and are managed. The AAMC Foundation offers webinars on essential skills and timely issues within our arts community and are open to all.

From niceties to negotiations, navigating cultural intelligence on the global stage can be a challenge. Should you shake hands? Bow? Exchange gifts? Understanding the subtleties of business culture can make or break deals in new and unknown markets. Watch this webinar to learn how to negotiate and communicate with business people abroad. Kathleen Brown, Senior Practice Leader at Lord Cultural Resources is part of the expert panel.

QUEBEC - The Quebec government's latest attempt to legislate on secularism could find its way into the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. The Legault government's Bill 21 would prohibit public servants in positions of authority — including teachers, police officers, Crown prosecutors and prison guards — from wearing religious symbols on the job. The museum, which has exhibits exploring issues that include freedom of religion and conscience, said it is planning to refresh its exhibit on Quebec's attempts to deal with secularism.

Recognizing the potential of arts and culture to drive community connection and economic growth, a community-wide Cultural Planning Process has been launched in Macon-Bibb County with the aim of increasing arts access and engagement across the area. A steering committee of more than 50 arts, cultural, and community organizations has been formed to develop an arts and culture strategic plan that will build on the work of existing city master plans, address regional challenges and opportunities, and guide future investments in the arts and culture sector. The international cultural planning firm Lord Cultural Resources (LCR) has been engaged to facilitate the planning process. LCR also led the facilitation of the Chicago Cultural Plan in 2012, which has been downloaded over 200,000 times as well as for cities like Decatur, Georgia and Dallas, Texas.

Women have caught up and now lead the visual arts sector across the country.
TORONTO — Women now dominate Canada's most powerful visual arts jobs, including four of the five director positions in major art galleries from Vancouver to Halifax, which experts say is having a direct impact on exhibitions, public programming and national collection building. This trend sees women as the chief architects of what visitors will view in some of the country's most significant art galleries such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. At the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the president and CEO, and senior curator are women. Lord Cultural Resources is currently working with the Art Gallery of Hamilton in developing a Strategy for Future Success.

More institutions are offering free admission, late-night parties to get the next generation through the door. Gail Lord, president of museum consultancy Lord Cultural Resources, says making admission free to museums and galleries like the AGO needs to be tried out for more than a year since 'you don't change human behaviour in one year.'

Museums around the world face a growing challenge getting people through the doors. In a radical move, the Art Gallery of Ontario is offering free admission to those under 25. But can low prices today lead to prosperity in the future?

Niagara-on-the-Lake culture buffs can explore historical connections between Bermuda and NOTL on a fundraising trip organized by the Niagara Historical Society and Museum this November. The trip will cost $4,100 per person based on double occupancy and $5,200 per person for single occupancy. Applications for the historical society’s excursion are being accepted until May 30. Gail Lord, president and co-founder of Lord Cultural Resources, said it’s more than just a tour. “It’s really about people with similar or related histories getting together. I think that’s what people ultimately like about travel. It’s not just about going to see a place. It’s about creating relationships with people,” she said. Lord Cultural Resources worked with Bermuda cultural Tourism authority on a Strategic Plan.

The artist gained international acclaim making sculptures out of the wreckage in his neighborhood. Now he must effectively destroy his work in order to save it. ‘It’s a special street,’ he said. ‘It’s a special place that — that I can’t leave. I can hear it talking to me.’

The Heidelberg Project has become, in recent years, one of the most visited sites in Detroit, attracting 200,000 visitors annually. Lord Cultural Resources facilitated a Visioning Workshop to help plan for the future of the Heidelberg Project.

Most Torontonians aren't going to museums. To attract new visitors, the Art Gallery of Ontario is making admission free all year for some and cheaper for others. “Toronto attendance at museums is average,” says Toronto-based museum planner and consultant Gail Lord. “I don’t think average is good enough for Canada’s largest and most diverse city with some of the country’s largest museums. Average is a problem."

“It’s my favourite program,” says Bennett, who also leads school groups through the gallery. “The conversations we have are always surprising to me. They see something, it triggers a memory, they have unique insights.”

Lord Cultural Resources is currently working with the Art Gallery of Hamilton in developing a Strategy for Future Success.

Official launch of 45th annual Indigenous Art Exhibition at the Woodland Cultural Centre on May 25, 2019 at 7pm.

The Woodland Cultural Centre is thrilled to present our 45th annual Indigenous Art Exhibition. Join us for the Opening Reception on May 25, 2019 at 7pm with light refreshments offered and live musical performance. This exhibition provides a space for established and emerging Indigenous artists to display and sell their work in a professional gallery setting. The exhibition runs May 25 through July 27, 2019 at the WCC and showcases new art from all across Turtle Island. The Woodland Cultural Centre is pleased to announce Deron Ahsén:nase Douglas as this year’s featured artist for Indigenous Art 2019! Douglas’ oil paintings are heavily influenced by his culture, spirit and experiences. In this body of work his paintings display the resilience, allure and spirit of the Onkwehón:we.

A Canadian $10 bill featuring Nova Scotia civil rights pioneer Viola Desmond has been named the best in the world. The International Bank Note Society has announced the Desmond bill won the coveted Bank Note of the Year Award for 2018, beating out top designs from places like Switzerland, Norway, Russia and the Solomon Islands.
The $10 bill also features an image of Winnipeg's Canadian Museum of Human Rights, as well as part of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Each nation is taking the opportunity in Venice to reach international audiences. Amid the global heavyweights unveiling their pavilions at the opening of the Venice Biennale last week, a few quieter, yet no less significant narratives were unfolding in the far corners of the Arsenale and next to the Grand Canal.

Cabinet has approved the creation of 9 new cities across the country which will be implemented in a phased approach. The decision was taken on Monday during the weekly Cabinet sitting held at State House Entebbe. The first phase of the new cities will include Arua, Mbarara, Gulu, Jinja, Fort Portal and will take effect on July 1, 2020. This will be followed in July 2021 by other new cities of Mbale and Hoima. In July 2022, other towns of Lira and Entebbe will also be elevated to city status.

The Chinese Pavilion is more approachable and fun than ever before—and that's no accident. The Chinese Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale is arguably the least Chinese it has been since it officially launched in 2005. And that is no accident. Curator Wu Hongliang sought to create a show emphasizing the similarities between contemporary Chinese society and the rest of the world.

In recent years, museums have been reevaluating admissions policies as part of a push to engage with under-represented audiences. Among such institutions is the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, which earlier this year announced it was dropping admission fees as part of a larger inclusivity program. Now the Art Gallery of Ontario in Canada is trying another tack in an attempt to diversify its audience and gain new members.

Over the last few months, there has been a lot of tension between Italy and France concerning the loan of major works by Leonardo da Vinci to the Louvre for what will most likely be a blockbuster exhibition commemorating the 500th anniversary of da Vinci’s death (May 2, 1519). While all of that, which was eventually smoothed out, was going on, though, three smaller museums in Italy secured the loan of two major works by da Vinci from the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Hermitage is set to loan Madonna and Child (The Benois Madonna) (1478-1480) and the Madonna and Child (The Litta Madonna) (c. 1495) to the Italian museums starting as early as June.

This museum in a bleak outpost has one of the world’s greatest collections of avant-garde art, rescued from Stalin’s clutches by an electrician. But now it needs a rescue of its own.

The shift will be funded with a $10 million donation from MOCA Board of Trustees President Carolyn Clark Powers, who says: “Charging admission is counterintuitive to art’s ability and purpose to connect, inspire, and heal people.”

There are few artistic movements that have had a more lasting and widespread impact beyond the art world than the 20th-century design school of Bauhaus, founded in 1919. It's almost hard to believe that this artistic movement and design style – still present in everything from Ikea furniture to cars to sunglasses – is turning 100 this year.

Between 2019 and 2020, the world will receive three new cultural venues that aim to establish themselves as references in the history of Egypt and Mexico, and the urban art of the world, which will be located in the Parisian capital.

After Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton and numerous other celebrities attended a star-studded gala Wednesday night at the new Statue of Liberty Museum, the museum on Manhattan’s Liberty Island opened its doors to the public. The 26,000-square-foot museum, located behind the Statue of Liberty on the island’s west side, features three gallery spaces that aim “to inspire visitors and educate them about the Statue of Liberty in interactive and thought-provoking ways,” the museum says.

Since making her American debut in 1886, the Statue of Liberty has become one of the world’s most famous attractions. Some five years in the making, the new museum — which, like Liberty Island and neighboring Ellis Island, is managed by the National Park Service — provides a multisensory experience for the millions of people who visit every year during trips to New York.

There’s so much going on in New York, it's easy to forget this metropolis is a world-class museum city, with a collection of institutions so revered it could go canvas-to-canvas with Paris and London. Here are nine New York City museums worthy of your attention.

While some people associate the month of May with flowers, mothers and they Stanley Cup playoffs, those of us that work in the world of heritage look forward to this month for another reason.

At this time each year the Ontario Museum Association carries out an initiative called May is Museum Month which celebrates Ontario’s 700-plus museums, galleries, and heritage sites. Another important event this month, which can trace its roots back to 1977, is the celebration of International Museum Day which will take place on May 18, and is a worldwide initiative of the International Council of Museums.

Landscape architecture firm gustafson porter + bowman has won a competition to re-imagine the area surrounding the Eiffel Tower in Paris. the project involves the transformation of the site around a central green axis, which contains a series of different landscapes. Spanning an area of 54 hectares, the first phase of the development is to be completed in time for the 2024 Olympics, which will be held in the French capital for the first time since 1924.

From an Olson Kundig–designed home in Idaho to Studio Gang's Aqua Tower in Illinois, these structures stand out among all the rest in their respective state lines.

Each state has its own claim in possessing stunningly beautiful architecture, buildings that further add to the ever-changing tapestry that is American culture. So much so, that we at AD decided to break down each state in the U.S. (including Washington, D.C.) to determine which building stands out among all the rest. At its core, architecture moves past its function as merely a building and turns into a landmark once it's made a distinct presence on a city's identity. We believe these structures do just that.

The current approach to its restoration fails to take account of the interconnected structural “engineering” of Gothic architecture. Strengthening and restoring the structural system of Notre Dame must, therefore, be the primary goal in the rebuilding process, and it will certainly require more time than initially thought (President Macron announced the cathedral would be restored within five years).

The Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming (I.M.) Pei has died, aged 102, his family confirmed to the New York Times. The designer of many dramatic Modernist museums over a six-decade career, Pei is perhaps best known for his bold glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre Museum, which caused widespread debate and vocal resistance when it opened 30 years ago, but has since been embraced as a landmark piece of architecture museum in the world. “Pei gave the museum a heart,” a statement issued by the Louvre says, “helping make it what it is today—the world’s number one museum”

The cathedral’s 19th-century additions are as much part of its history as its Gothic vaults, says a former director of Unesco’s World Heritage Centre.

The great restoration will in itself be an "architectural gesture", one of the most complex imaginable, even though less eye-catching than the virtuosity we have come to expect from contemporary architecture.

More than 200 posters a day are being converted to make them more accessible to the public. The National Museum of American History is now finishing a massive project to digitize 18,000 of its old political and military posters to make them easily accessible and to expand awareness of figures and issues long vanished from the headlines.

Supported by a $40,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the survey is attracting attention among American art museums because it measures not just how much time visitors spend on digital educational devices, but how interactive displays affect their experiences with art.

The former San Jose Tech Museum of Innovation has been reborn. It’s new name and vision: The Tech Interactive. “The world was calling us,” Tim Ritchie, President and CEO of The Tech Interactive, told San José Spotlight.

The Department of Canadian Heritage is contributing $464,000 to assist in a national tour of the Kenojuak Ashevak: Life and Legacy exhibition. “As president of the Kinngait Arts Foundation and someone who knew Kenojuak very well, I am honoured to announce this important partnership with Canadian Heritage,” says Jimmy Manning. “A prominent artist member of the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative and an ambassador for Cape Dorset’s cultural community, this exhibition celebrates the life and legacy of one of Canada’s most beloved national treasures.”

Every two years, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City presents a survey of contemporary work aiming to represent the current state of art-making in the U.S. Throughout its nearly century-long history, the Whitney Biennial has been a showcase for significant American artists on the rise. It has also remained a flashpoint for public protest and a stage for larger cultural tensions bubbling beyond the gallery walls.

An altered replica of the Whitney Museum’s spring guide, released by the collective (D)IRT, was created in an effort to educate museum visitors about the Whitney’s relationship to gentrification, diversity, and controversies surrounding its board.

The Hong Kong Spring season (24-29 May) offers a wealth of works boasting historical significance and distinguished provenance, from magnificent jewels to Chinese classical and modern paintings and important ceramics. Every May, Christie’s in Hong Kong draws collectors and art lovers from across the world for its spring sales season. Among the key categories on offer this year are 20th-century and contemporary art, Chinese classical and modern paintings, and Chinese ceramics and works of art. In the luxury arena, there will be dedicated auctions of magnificent jewels, important watches, fine and rare wines, handbags and accessories.

The best way to take the pulse of contemporary art worldwide may be by visiting the Venice Biennale’s national pavilions. Representing a “plurality of voices,” as Biennale president Paolo Baratta said at a press conference on Wednesday, these spaces are fertile ground for artists to address the current state of their countries and the world at large. And at the 58th Venice Biennale this year, alongside Ralph Rugoff’s exhibition, “May You Live in Interesting Times,” artists are sending cogent messages to their governments, encouraging community, and telling fresh stories that build empathy. Here, we share the 10 most dynamic and captivating pavilions in the Arsenale and Giardini.

We are a unique historic house museum located in Crown Heights and our work preserves the history of one of the largest free black communities in pre-Civil War America. For 50 years, we’ve used arts, culture, education, and historic preservation to make this history relevant and resonant for contemporary audiences. But all of this work is in jeopardy. We’ll be forced to shut Weeksville’s doors by July if we are not able to close a budget gap.

Wendy McLeod MacKnight was 50 years old and a senior civil servant in the David Alward government when she made the bold decision to leave her job. Six years and a lot of hard work later, she's starting to see some success as a children's author. "It's been an amazing ride so far," McLeod MacKnight said during an interview at her home in Hanwell, southwest of Fredericton.

OSLO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - From “breathing walls” that recover energy and filter air to urban farms on rooftops, cities around the world are experimenting with creative ways to become carbon-neutral, aiming to make no contribution to global warming.

Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) Kashmir chapter, and Gurgaon based firm Dronah are at the job.

With its rich history, Srinagar is in the race of becoming part of UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN). If it manages to get the status, the city’s image as a hub of exquisite art and craft will get a huge boost bringing in a plethora of benefits for years to come.

It is hard to comprehend the speed at which the creative economy is transforming parts of the Estonian capital, Tallinn. The redevelopment effort of Telliskivi took a radical approach by focusing solely on the creative economy. The mission statement of the Creative City was to provide a "fertile ground for fragile ideas".