America knew it needed public housing but designed the system to fail wapo.st/4jzvXvc

"Bernini imposed order on a site cluttered with history and violence, but it was an imperfect order of theatrical contrivance, not the Platonic perfection of ideal forms." washingtonpost.com/entertainment/…

A trove of ancient art, hidden for 70 years, begins an American tour wapo.st/4mhibjg

We are hollowing out civil society, which we once took for granted, as something to be built up in other places, without a viable political culture. Now, we begin to feel its loss at home. washingtonpost.com/entertainment/…

A splendid exhibition looks at small animals, raising big questions wapo.st/3So1aGg

"Sargent wasn’t proposing just a portrait but a collaboration, in which both artists — one a painter, the other a performer on the social stage — would work together to advance each other’s interests." washingtonpost.com/entertainment/…

"Andy Warhol in Iran" sets up a potentially powerful set of conflicts. It offers a history lesson. And it wants a sharper edge. washingtonpost.com/entertainment/…

The Kennedy Center finance woes are real and the result of the new leadership. "Mismanagement by the new leadership is becoming a real problem for the health of the organization..." Travis M Andrews washingtonpost.com/entertainment/…

Monday’s Smithsonian Board of Regents meeting will decide the future independence of the institution, and museums across the country. wapo.st/3HmM2GL

Speaking with the *NewsHour about the Smithsonian and the Trump administration's efforts to fire the director of the National Portrait Gallery USA National Portrait Gallery. pbs.org/newshour/show/…

The army dodged a crisis of messaging and image yesterday. washingtonpost.com/entertainment/…

Trump wanted a military spectacle. Instead, he got a history lesson. You should always read Philip Kennicott wapo.st/3HXJcZ1

The Met opens a dazzling wing of non-European art wapo.st/45G2r3k

A devastating look at the human toll of cutting USAID. washingtonpost.com/world/2025/06/…

For your Fourth of July amusement, a look at how the United States commemorates its dead presidents. First, with modest grave markers, then with sumptuous mausolea and memorials, and now with giant theme parks cum libraries. washingtonpost.com/entertainment/…

Paranoia, trauma, ghosts and uncertainty: The Turn of the Screw at the Santa Fe Opera 🌈⚡️🌵 open-air opera #SantaFeOpera. philipkennicott.substack.com/p/brittens-tur…

Thinking about conspiracy theories, actual conspiracies and the troublesome problem of distinguishing between them. washingtonpost.com/entertainment/…

Experts I asked about the Oval Office ornamentation and gilding just laughed. But there are serious issues at stake, not least: What will the new 90,000-square-foot ballroom look like, and will the process be open and transparent? washingtonpost.com/entertainment/…

The administration's argument with art, playing out in its campaign against Smithsonian independence, also seems to be an argument with tradition, empathy and the core values of Christianity. #art #smithsonian washingtonpost.com/entertainment/…

That anyone in the administration could even broach the idea of censoring this image is stunning. Audacious and ignorant. This is extraordinarily worrying when it comes to the "content review" at the Smithsonian and other institutions. washingtonpost.com/entertainment/…