Advocacy & Public Policy Committee News Alerts v. 12 n. 6, June 2026

Advocacy & Public Policy Committee News support the committee's mission to monitor governmental activities and social justice issues affecting the professional interests of ARLIS/NA and to keep the ARLIS/NA membership informed. The monthly alerts are intended to be conversation starters, help members keep up on public policy issues and alert members to new developments. The articles compiled in the News Alerts bring to the forefront recent news from a range of perspectives designed to elicit discussion; they are not compiled to represent the views of ARLIS as an organization or the members of the Advocacy and Public Policy Committee.

Previous issues can be found here: https://www.arlisna.org/news/appc-news-alert 

Art & Activism 

• Frank, Nicholas. “HMAAC Artwork Receives “Intentional” Damage, Remains on View.” Glasstire, June 10, 2026.    

• Nayyar, Rhea. “Italian Arts Workers Announce Nationwide Strike.” Hyperallergic, June 8, 2026. 

• Peleg, Oren. “Anti-Trump Street Art Collective VJayBombs Goes Viral as LA Becomes a Canvas of Protest.” ARTnews, June 8, 2026.

• Stromberg, Matt. “Unofficial Iraqi Pavilion Pops Up in Venice, but Not That One.” Hyperallergic, June 1, 2026. 

Copyright & Licensing; Open Access 

• Eddy, Jordan, Lauren Tresp, and Natalie Hegert. “Southwest Contemporary Denounces ArtReview USA, an AI Slop Machine Victimizing Creatives.” Southwest Contemporary, June 22, 2026.

• Frank, Nicholas. “Glasstire Issues Takedown Notice In Response to ArtReview USA's Unauthorized Republication of Articles.” Glasstire, June 25, 2026.

• Mullin, Joe. “Congress Just Rushed Through a Disastrous Copyright Office Overhaul.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, June 10, 2026.

• Mullin, Joe. “The NO FAKES Act Could Silence Satire, Commentary, And News.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, June 17, 2026.

Funding

• “American Indian College Fund Receives $2.4 Million Grant to Expand Native Arts Programming.” Native News Online, June 20, 2026. 

• “American Library Association launches national advocacy campaign to fight FCC attack on library funding.” American Library Association, June 25, 2026.

• Farfan, Isa. “House Proposes Slashing Major Arts Education Grant.” Hyperallergic, June 16, 2026.

• Small, Zachary. “Manhattan Borough President Gives $50 Million to N.Y.C. Arts Groups.” The New York Times, June 23, 2026. [paywall]

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access (IDEA) 

• Carrigan, Margaret. “Nearly Half of Mid-Career Women Are Thinking of Leaving the Art World: Report.” Artnet News, June 8, 2026.

• Cassady, Daniel. “Police Investigate Suspected Arson at Boston Museum of African American History.” ARTnews, June 5, 2026. 

• Frank, Nicholas. “BANF Changes Name to Houston In Color, Broadens Mission.” Glasstire, June 11, 2026. 

• Nayyar, Rhea. “Met Museum Announces Free Memberships for NY SNAP Recipients.” Hyperallergic, June 2, 2026. 

• “Phoenix Art Museum Receives 185 Indigenous Artworks in Major Gift.” Artforum, June 11, 2026.

• Walker, Jack. “The Stonewall National Museum, Overflowing with LGBTQ+ History, Seeks a Bigger Space.” The Advocate, June 30, 2026.

Intellectual Freedom/Access to Information 

• Farfan, Isa. “Texas Tattoo Artist Gets 30-Year Sentence Over “Anti-Trump” Zines.” Hyperallergic, June 29, 2026.

• Larson, Elizabeth. “Curating in the Shadows of Spectacle: Strategies for Protecting Artistic Freedom.” National Coalition Against Censorship, June 3, 2026.

• Peet, Lisa. “City of Huntington Beach Ordered to Pay $1M in Freedom to Read Lawsuit.” Library Journal, June 2, 2026. [paywall]

• Perkins, Jamie. “Mass. House Passes Bill Safeguarding Libraries from Book Bans.” The New Bedford Light, June 24, 2026.

• Sarin, Ritu. “Penguin Pulls Plug on Joe Sacco’s Book on Muzaffarnagar Riots.” The Indian Express, June 6, 2026.

• Solomon, Tessa. “New Palestine Controversy at School of the Art Institute of Chicago.” ARTNews, June 9, 2026.

• Solomon, Tessa. “Artists Facing Censorship Can Turn to This New Guideline for Guidance.” ARTnews, June 23, 2026. 

Technology and Digital Privacy

• Barrera, Jorge. “Mexican state uses AI law to arrest online critics.” CBC News, June 2, 2026.

• Bastian, Matthias. “Landmark German ruling declares Google's AI Overviews are Google's own words and makes it liable for false answers.” The Decoder, June 9, 2026.

• Cooper, Quintin, Rindala Alajaji. “VICTORY: Meta Strips Facial Recognition Code From Smart Glasses App After Public Outcry.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, June 8, 2026.

• Farfan, Isa. “Hundreds of Artists Ask NYC Mayor to Ban AI in Schools.” Hyperallergic, June 23, 2026.

• “In a New Documentary, Artists Get Candid About AI.” Hyperallergic, June 22, 2026. 

• Klosowski, Thorin. “Canada Is Forging Ahead with Its Dangerous Surveillance Bill.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, June 18, 2026.

• Major, Darren. “New privacy bill would give Canadians right to request companies delete AI deepfakes.” CBC News, June 15, 2026.

• McKinney, India. “Victory! 702 has Expired!” Electronic Frontier Foundation, June 12, 2026.

• Sims, Daniel. “Hackers tricked Meta's AI chatbot into handing over Instagram accounts, including Obama's.” Techspot, June 2, 2026.

• Sledge, Matt, and Sam Biddle. “Philly Cops Admit That They’re Tracking “First Amendment Activity” Critical of AI.” The Intercept, June 1, 2026.

• Tunney, Catharine. “Ottawa moves to restrict social media for kids under 16.” CBC News, June 10, 2026.

• Whittaker, Zach, Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai. “In major privacy win, Supreme Court rules geofence warrants are protected by privacy rights.” TechCrunch, June 29, 2026.

Workplace 

• Di Liscia, Valentina, and Rhea Nayyar. “Pace Cuts 50 Workers and 50 Artists, Citing a ‘Broken’ Gallery Model.” Hyperallergic, June 4, 2026. 

• Durón, Maximilíano. “Guggenheim Museum Workers Vote to Strike Amid Contract Negotiations.” ARTNews, June 30, 2026.

• Eddy, Jordan. “For This Borderlands Museum, Moving Art Across the Line Is a Moral Imperative.” Southwest Contemporary, June 9, 2026.

• Farfan, Isa. “New School Lays Off Nearly 90 People, Dealing Blow to Humanities.” Hyperallergic, June 5, 2026.

• Farfan, Isa. “Seattle Art Museum Workers Vote to Unionize in Landslide Election.” Hyperallergic, June 18, 2026.

• Nayyar, Rhea. “Charleston’s African American Museum Furloughs All Staff.” Hyperallergic, June 11, 2026.

Miscellaneous 

• Bowley, Graham, and Tom Mashberg. “With New Seizures, Value of the Met’s Looted Artifacts Tops $95 Million.” The New York Times, June 30, 2026. [paywall]

• Burnett, Victoria, and Pablo López Luz. “Bounty of Frida Kahlo Art Emerges in Mexico’s Restored Museum.” The New York Times, June 8, 2026. [paywall]

• Doran, Anne. “Colorado Governor Signs Artist Corporation Bill into State Law.” ARTnews, June 3, 2026. 

• Doran, Anne. “Mexico Demands a Halt to an Auction of Mexican Artifacts in Colorado.” ARTnews, June 5, 2026. 

Special News Alert: 47th Presidential Administration and Cultural Heritage

• Allen, Greg. “As the Country Turns 250, Why Won’t Its Museums Meet the Moment?” ARTnews, June 7, 2026.

• Battaglia, Andy. “Kennedy Center Tells Court It Won’t Reschedule Cancelled Shows, Even as Two-Year Closure Is Blocked.” ARTnews, June 22, 2026. 

• Battaglia, Andy. “National Trust, Mid-Fight with Trump over White House Ballroom and Kennedy Center, Elects New President.” ARTnews, June 23, 2026. 

• Farfan, Isa. “Heritage Groups Sue Trump Over “Garden of American Heroes".” Hyperallergic, June 18, 2026. 

• Farfan, Isa. “Winning Penn Station Redesign Features Trump’s Name.” Hyperallergic, June 8, 2026.

• Solomon, Tessa. “Higher-Ed Groups Decry Proposed Federal ‘Earnings Test’ That Could Decimate Arts Education.” ARTNews, June 2, 2026.

• Jacobs, Harrison. “How Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch’s Lunch With Trump Actually Went Down.” ARTnews, June 23, 2026. 

• Jacobs, Harrison. “National Park Service Orders Removal of Quotes at Bunker Hill After Visitor Complains of ‘Woke’ Ideology.” ARTnews, June 5, 2026. 

• Solomon, Tessa. “Coalition of Attorneys General File Amicus Brief in Support of Suit to Halt Construction of Trump’s Triumphal Arch.” ARTnews, June 17, 2026. 

• Solomon, Tessa. “Following Federal Order, Kennedy Center Begins Removing References to Donald Trump.” ARTnews, June 5, 2026. 

• Solomon, Tessa. “Kennedy Center Establishes New Endowment in President Trump’s Name.” ARTnews, June 15, 2026. 

• Solomon, Tessa. “Trump To Divert $90 M. in National Park Revenue to D.C. Construction Projects.” ARTnews, June 4, 2026. 

• Solomon, Tessa. “US State Department Seeks Designs ‘Exemplifying America’s Exceptionalism’ for Venice Architecture Biennale.” ARTnews, June 26, 2026.

This issue of News Alerts was compiled by Caroline Clavell, Torie Quiñonez, Madison Sussman, and Sarah Wade.