Theo Belci

SFMoMA lays off 20 employees amid persistently low attendance and rising operational costs

The museum says its visitor numbers are just 65% of what they were pre-Covid

Hammer-wielding thieves steal $100,000 Chagall print from Manhattan gallery

The theft from Carlton Fine Arts on Madison Avenue has led the gallery’s owner to beef up his security systems, at great expense

US university museum returns five looted antiquities to Italy

Two of the objects will be handed over the Italian authorities, while three will remain on view at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta

Frick museum in Pittsburgh postpones Islamic art exhibition over fears it would appear ‘insensitive’ or ‘traumatic’ amid Gaza war

Local Muslim and Jewish organisations have questioned the decision, suggesting it risks conflating historic Islamic art and Hamas

Dallas Museum of Art lays off 8% of its staff

In the midst of a $150m expansion project, the museum has also cut its public hours to reduce costs

SFMoMA acquires more than 100 works by artists with disabilities

The acquisitions mark a new partnership between the museum and Bay Area non-profit Creative Growth Art Center; the museum also acquired works from Creativity Explored and Nurturing Independence through Artistic Development

Cleveland Museum of Art sues the Manhattan District Attorney to retain ownership of $20m bronze statue

The museum had revised its own prior research in an apparent attempt to keep a headless sculpture believed to depict Marcus Aurelius

Eight US cities receive $1m grants for public art projects tackling climate change, homelessness and more

The third edition of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Arts Challenge is supporting projects across the country, from Honolulu to Philadelphia

Proposed US legislation would penalise use of AI to generate someone’s likeness without their consent

The No Fakes Act has been proposed by four US Senators and garnered support from organisations representing creative industries

Looted antiquities worth $19m returned to Italian authorities in New York

Some of the 19 artefacts handed over by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office had ties to notorious traffickers

Analysis of fossilised footprints suggests humans were in the Americas 5,000 years earlier than previously thought

New findings about a set of footprints at White Sands National Park are prompting archaeologists to revise the timeline of human history on the continent