Advocacy & Public Policy Committee News Alerts v. 12 n. 9, September 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

• Cieslik, Emma. “Activists Unveil Quilt Honoring Thousands Disappeared by ICE in Minnesota.” Hyperallergic. September 28, 2026. 

• Frank, Nicholas. “Fort Worth Nonprofit Set to Revitalize Former KKK Headquarters into Arts-Focused Community Center.” Glasstire, September 2, 2026.

• Gustines, George Gene. “A New York City Comic Book Offers Tips on Rights and ICE Encounters.” The New York Times, September 16, 2026. [paywall]

• Lee, Anna. “Minnesota State Fair Removes Anti-Trump Crop Art After Artist Was Harassed.” Hyperallergic, September 1, 2026. 

• Lee, Anna. “NYC’s Shelter Population Speaks Out in Public Art Project.” Hyperallergic, September 18, 2026. 

• Nayyar, Rhea. “Museum of the City of New York Inaugurates New Activism Center.” Hyperallergic, September 28, 2026.

• Solomon, Tessa. “At Spring/Break’s First Edition in the Old CBS Newsroom, (Almost) Everything Is Political.” ARTnews, September 24, 2026. 

Copyright & Licensing; Open Access 

• Bellan, Rebecca. “Microsoft exec called AI scraping ‘the largest theft of labor in human history,' new unredacted filings reveal.” TechCrunch, September 17, 2026.

• Douglas, Sarah. “Artist Documentary Maker Art21 Launches Searchable Archive of Unseen Footage.” ARTnews, September 15, 2026.

• Durón, Maximilíano. “Artists Rights Society Launches Partnership with Samsung to License Artworks on Digital Displays.” ARTnews, September 30, 2026.

• Ha, Anthony. “Authors push back as publishers and agents make claims on Anthropic settlement.” TechCrunch, September 6, 2026.

• Mehta, Ivan. “Suno replaces its AI models with a new one trained on licensed music as copyright suits pile up.” TechCrunch, September 9, 2026.

• Silberling, Amanda. “US government sides with OpenAI on issue of training LLMs on copyrighted material.” TechCrunch, September 2, 2026.

Funding

• Boucher, Brian. “Beyoncé Gives the Studio Museum in Harlem a $2 M. Gift on Her Birthday.” ARTnews, September 5, 2026. 

• Institute of Museum and Library Services. “The Institute of Museum and Library Services is Accepting Fiscal Year 2027 Grant Applications to Strengthen America’s Cultural Heritage.” September 9, 2026. 

• Lee, Anna. “Four Artists Win MacArthur “Genius” Grants.” Hyperallergic. September 29, 2026.

• Mendez, Malia. “New York Performing Arts Library Gets $60 Million Gift for Preservation.” New York Times, September 16, 2026. [paywall]

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access (IDEA) 

• Artforum. “Sámi Artist Network Dáiddadállu Receive Munch Award For Artistic Freedom.” September 29, 2026.

• Battaglia, Andy. “Pots By Enslaved Artist David Drake Returned to Family from Milwaukee Art Museum.” ARTnews, September 28, 2026. 

• Farrar, Teju Adisa. “The Missing Colors of Black American Pigment-Making.” Hyperallergic, September 2, 2026. 

• Guerrero, Desiree. “Alabama Targets Books about Transgender People.” The Advocate, September 4, 2026.

• Lee, Anna, and Valentina Di Liscia. “An Unequal Artist Legacy Field Defines Who Gets to Be Remembered.” Hyperallergic, September 23, 2026.

• Mohammed, Hikmat. “Blind Man Sues the British Museum Over Lack of Bayeux Tapestry Audio Tours.” ARTnews, September 30, 2026.

• Native News Online. “Indigenous Scholars Establish Guidelines for Governance of Indigenous Data in Scholarly Publishing.” September 3, 2026.

• Nayyar, Rhea. “Met Museum Brokers Return of Three Artworks to Nigeria.” Hyperallergic, September 22, 2026. 

• Schafer, Amelia. “‘These Records Are Priceless’: 3 National Archives Locations Set to Close without Tribal Consultation.” Indian Country Today, September 7, 2026. 

• Uribe Guardiola, Amalia. “In Queens, Immigrant Women Sew a Truer Atlas.” Hyperallergic, September 7, 2026. 

Intellectual Freedom/Access to Information 

• Artforum. “In About-Face, Hyperallergic Paywalls Content.” September 28, 2026. 

• Jensen, Kelly. “‘We Need To Tell The Story’: Literary Advocates Nationwide Reflect On Five Years of Relentless Attacks on the Freedom to Read.” BOOK RIOT, September 18, 2026.  

• Korosec, Kirsten. “US automakers could soon be forced to include AM radio for free.” TechCrunch, September 16, 2026.

• Rasekh, Shahrzad. “Inside the 3,000-Zine Library in a Texas Living Room.” Hyperallergic, September 1, 2026.

Technology and Digital Privacy

• Alajaji, Rindala, and Dave Maass. “The High Crime of “LMAO”: How Cops Are Treating Flock's Mass Surveillance As a Joke.” Electronic Frontier Foundation. September 14, 2026.

• Greene, Julien. “‘It’s really disturbing’: Yukoners say AI-generated website dangerous.” CBC News, September 28, 2026.

• Hsu, Jeremy. “Iran strikes on Amazon data centers caused permanent loss of customer data.” Ars Technica, September 16, 2026.

• Korosec, Kirsten. “Your car and its mobile app are probably handing over all kinds of data to tech companies.” TechCrunch, September 29, 2026.

• Penny, Ethan, and Dan Milmo. “Oxford lets OpenAI train its AI models on Bodleian Library.” The Guardian, September 26, 2026.

• Perez, Sarah. “Reddit is killing RSS feeds and ending public API access because of AI bots.” TechCrunch, September 30, 2026.

• Whittaker, Zack. “Florida and Texas move to block Flock cameras over privacy concerns.” TechCrunch, September 1, 2026.

Workplace 

• Di Liscia, Valentina. “Met Museum Breaks Ground on New Modern and Contemporary Wing.” Hyperallergic. September 15, 2026. 

• Nayyar, Rhea. “School of Visual Arts Ends Photography MFA Program.” Hyperallergic. September 11, 2026.

• Nayyar, Rhea. “Striking Workers Shutter Three V&A London Locations.” Hyperallergic. September 9, 2026. 

• Nayyar, Rhea. “Unions Reach Tentative Agreements at Brooklyn Museum and American Folk Art Museum.” Hyperallergic. September 29, 2026.

• Nayyar, Rhea. “Whitney Museum Union Sets Strike Date Ahead of Major Roy Lichtenstein Show.” Hyperallergic. September 28, 2026.

• Short, Aaron. “Artists Fear Displacement as ChaShaMa Forced to Vacate Studios.” Hyperallergic. September 17, 2026.

Miscellaneous

• Arratia, Eurídice. “What Happens After Repatriation?” Hyperallergic, September 24, 2026. 

• Bowley, Graham. “Can a Museum Accept Artifacts With Slim Records? Toledo Has a Plan.” The New York Times, September 1, 2026. [paywall]

• Davich, Julie Brener. “Kasseem Dean and Alicia Keys Team Up with Bonhams for Initiative That Gives Artists a Cut of Secondary-Market Sales.” ARTnews, September 9, 2026.

• Davis, Ben. “Wall Labels Are in a Sorry State. Here’s How to Fix Them.” Artnet News, September 9, 2026.

• Kriticos, Christian. “Remember Filmstrips? These Dedicated Souls Are Racing to Save Them.” The New York Times, September 4, 2026. [paywall]

• Lee, Anna. “El Museo Del Barrio Apologizes for Renting Space for 9/11 Conspiracy Event.” Hyperallergic, September 24, 2026. 

• Lee, Anna. “Trust in US Museums Grows Across Party Lines, Survey Finds.” Hyperallergic, September 9, 2026.

• Lubow, Arthur. “New Home for Aperture Photography Center.” The New York Times, September 17, 2026. [paywall]

Special News Alert: 47th Presidential Administration and Cultural Heritage

• Artforum. “Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Terminates Consultation on Trump’s Arch Project.” September 30, 2026. 

• Aton, Francesca. “Kennedy Center’s Future Hangs in the Balance as Report Warns of Imminent Closure.” ARTnews, September 14, 2026. 

• Boucher, Brian. “Vietnam Veterans File Restraining Order to Block Progress on Trump’s 250-Foot Triumphal Arch.” ARTnews, September 5, 2026. 

• Boucher, Brian. “White House Accuses Smithsonian of Discrimination, Threatens To Cut Federal Grants.” ARTnews, September 3, 2026. 

• Di Liscia, Valentina and Anna Lee. “Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch Steps Down Amid Trump’s Attacks.” Hyperallergic. September 8, 2026. 

• Durón, Maximilíano. “House of Representatives Holds Billionaire Collector Leon Black in Contempt Regarding Epstein Subpoenas.” ARTnews, September 16, 2026.

• Lee, Anna. “Duo Calls to Oust Leon Black in Protest Outside MoMA.” Hyperallergic, September 22, 2026. 

• Lee, Anna. “Trump to Break Ground on ‘Triumphal Arch’ Before Federal Approval.” Hyperallergic, September 4, 2026. 

• Mohammed, Hikmat. “In a Letter to President Trump, Artist Kehinde Wiley Asks to Repurchase His Painting Removed from US Embassy.” ARTnews. September 29, 2026. 

• Native News Online. “NABS Raises Concerns Over Proposed National Archives Closures.” September 9, 2026.

• Nayyar, Rhea. “Another Abstract Public Artwork Faces Trump’s Senseless Ire.” Hyperallergic, September 14, 2026.

• Pogrebin, Robin. “Trump Administration Outlines Plan for Signs Outside Smithsonian Museum.” The New York Times, September 16, 2026. [paywall]

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