Malcolm Gay

1 week ago | bostonglobe.com | Malcolm Gay

Schorer had flown from Brussels the day before with the painting he now carried in his hands, a winter scene by the acclaimed Dutch Golden Age artist Hendrick Avercamp. The artwork was stolen nearly half a century earlier in a sensational 1978 heist from the baronial estate of Helen and Robert Stoddard, a Worcester industrialist. The Avercamp picture, along with numerous other paintings and other valuables taken from the home that night, had not been seen since. Local officials were stumped.

1 month ago | bostonglobe.com | Malcolm Gay

The National Endowment for the Arts has terminated a grant supporting the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, museum director Kristy Edmunds said Tuesday. “As painful as this is financially, what is more so is the diminishment of our revered national agencies and their staff after decades of service in elevating our national creativity, innovation and cultural contributions,” Edmunds wrote in an email to supporters.

1 month ago | bostonglobe.com | Malcolm Gay

The National Endowment for the Arts began notifying arts groups in Boston and beyond that the agency was rescinding grants and grant offers, a development many in the cultural sector have been bracing for as the Trump administration seeks greater influence in the cultural sphere. The emails, which began arriving just hours after President Donald J.

1 month ago | bostonglobe.com | Malcolm Gay

Berklee College of Music has ousted GRAMMY Award-winning trumpeter Nicholas Payton after a conservative news outlet surfaced social media posts he made in 2020 critical of Jewish people. Payton, who was named chair of Berklee’s brass department last fall, announced on social media that Berklee officials had told him last week that he had “24 hours to resign or be terminated.”Berklee officials confirmed Payton’s ouster but did not provide further details or give a reason for his dismissal.

1 month ago | bostonglobe.com | Malcolm Gay

The Mellon Foundation announced Tuesday that it will provide $15 million in emergency funding to the Federation of State Humanities Councils in an effort to counter federal funding cuts earlier this month that affected state humanities councils across the country. The emergency funding to the membership group comes after the National Endowment for the Humanities eliminated some $65 million in grants to state humanities councils.