Republicans derail women’s history museum with anti-trans rule
Republican attempt to erase trans women could derail long-awaited Smithsonian museum
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/trans-women-erased-womens-museum
Institute of Museum and Library Services Grant Guidelines Take Political Turn Under Trump – ProPublica
Grant Guidelines for Libraries and Museums Take “Chilling” Political Turn Under Trump
Former Institute of Museum and Library Services leaders from both political parties expressed concern that the new funding guidelines could encourage a more constrained or distorted view of American history.
by Jaimie Seaton for ProPublica
February 6, 2026, 10:30 am
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.
A library in rural Alaska needed help providing free Wi-Fi and getting kids to read. A children’s museum in Washington wanted to expand its Little Science Lab. And a World War I museum in Missouri had a raft of historic documents it needed to digitize. They received funding from a little-known federal agency before the Trump administration unsuccessfully tried to dismantle it last year.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is now accepting applications for its 2026 grant cycle. But this time, it has unusually specific criteria.
In cover letters accompanying the applications, the institute said it “particularly welcomes” projects that align with President Donald Trump’s vision for America.
These would include those that foster an appreciation for the country “through uplifting and positive narratives,” the agency writes, citing an executive order that attacks the Smithsonian Institution for its “divisive, race-centered ideology.” (Trump has said the museum focused too much on “how bad slavery was.”) The agency also points to an executive order calling for the end of “the anti-Christian weaponization of government” and one titled Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again.
The solicitation marks a stark departure for the agency, whose guidelines were previously apolitical and focused on merit.
Former agency leaders from both political parties, as well as those of library, historical and museum associations, expressed concern that funded projects could encourage a more constrained or distorted view of American history. Some also feared that by accepting grants, institutions would open themselves up to scrutiny and control, like the administration’s wide-ranging audit of Smithsonian exhibits “to assess tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals.”
The new guidelines are “chilling,” said Giovanna Urist, who served as a senior program officer at the agency from 2021 to 2023. “I think that we just need to look at what’s happening with the Smithsonian to know that the administration has a very specific goal in mind when it comes to controlling the voice of organizations and museums across the country.”
An agency spokesperson told ProPublica it is not unusual for the institute to publish directors’ letters with grant applications, and that this one informs readers “about this Administration’s thematic emphases in the semi-quincentennial year.” He did not comment on criticisms that those letters insert political themes into a historically nonpartisan program.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, IMLS is working to revitalize our cultural institutions, urging less traditional applicants to consider working with us, and to promote civic pride and a deep sense of belonging among all Americans,” he said, adding that any institution that “meets programmatic requirements and goals” outlined in the funding opportunity “will receive all due consideration and undergo peer review.”
Continue/Read Original Article Here: Institute of Museum and Library Services Grant Guidelines Take Political Turn Under Trump — ProPublica
#AmericanHistory #ControlFunding #FundingGuidelines #IMLS #InstituteOfMuseumAndLibraryServicesIMLS #JaimieSeaton #PoliticalTurn #Politics #ProPublica #SmithsonianInstitution #Trump #TrumpAdministration #Voices
You Can See a Swirling Sculpture Made of 8,000 Books at a Library in Prague – Smithsonian Magazine
You Can See a Swirling Sculpture Made of 8,000 Books at a Library in Prague
Officials are managing an influx of tourists coming to see “Idiom,” a seemingly infinite tunnel of books by the artist Matej Krén, at the Municipal Library
By Christian Thorsberg, Correspondent January 16, 2026
Inside Idiom, which uses mirrors to provide the illusion of infinite length Omar Marques / Anadolu Agency / Getty ImagesNearly 30 years after a dizzying sculpture fashioned from books was first installed at the Prague Municipal Library in the Czech Republic, literature lovers on TikTok and Instagram have turned the artwork into a viral fascination and unexpected tourism hotspot.
Idiom, created by Slovak artist Matej Krén, features roughly 8,000 books stacked into a tower. Mirrors placed on the top and bottom give the illusion of infinite length, and a raindrop-shaped entryway invites visitors to peek inside the wormhole—almost like they’re literally disappearing into a good book.
“The Idiom is meant to symbolize the infinity of knowledge,” according to a description of the sculpture on the library’s website. “[Books] are like bricks to [Krén], but they contain much more information, destinies, stories and knowledge. He puts them into the form of dwellings: primitive on the one hand, infinitely intelligent on the other.”
During peak travel seasons, the library estimates that 1,000 people per day are visiting the installation. Omar Marques / Anadolu Agency / Getty ImagesThe installation made its debut at the Sao Paulo International Biennial in 1995, and in 1996 it was brought to Prague. It was first exhibited for a summer at the Jiri Svestka Gallery, which in the 1950s was a communist warehouse of banned books, before moving to its permanent home at the library in 1998.
For years, Idiom stood as little more than a familiar fixture, with its fame generally limited to the regular library-goers in the Czech capital. But beginning in 2022, the sculpture gained renown by going viral on BookTok, the pocket of TikTok dedicated to discussions of books and writing. Algorithms on Instagram similarly pushed the sculpture to the forefront of feeds.
“Kids that were in Prague looking into their phones suddenly saw a cool thing that they liked and they wanted to see it as well,” Czech journalist Janek Rubeš told Radio Prague International in 2023. “And as it is in today’s world, everyone wants to have the same picture or same video, because it looks cool and they can get likes.”
Quick fact: Idiom on the cover of Science
A photo of the sculpture was featured on the magazine’s cover in January 2011.In that issue, researchers analyzed a massive collection of 5.2million books to study cultural trends.
Today, librarians and local tourism officials are bewildered at the foot traffic the sculpture generates. During peak travel seasons—such as Christmas and Easter—more than 1,000 people each day endure wait times of more than two hours to snap a photograph.
“We’ll have to deal with it in some way, because working with tourist crowds is a completely different service from that we have provided up to now,” Lenka Hanzlikova, a spokesperson for the library, tells Agence France-Presse (AFP). “Most readers laugh about it and say it’s bizarre, but we have had people who wanted to return books and joined the queue.”
Continue/Read Original Article Here: You Can See a Swirling Sculpture Made of 8,000 Books at a Library in Prague
#8000Books #CzechRepublic #Czechoslovakia #Idiom #Instagram #Library #MatejKren #MunicipalLibrary #Prague #Slovak #SmithsonianInstitution #SmithsonianMagazine #SwirlingSculpture #TikTok
The Smithsonian Faces New Pressure to Submit to Trump’s Will
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/arts/design/smithsonian-trump-pressure.html
Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, c.1920s - BS Reynolds Postcard
I don't remember hearing about this before, but the #FoucaultPendulum at the #SmithsonianInstitution in #WashingtonDC, was removed in 2008, and there are no plans to re-install it, ever.
I don't know about you, but the Foucault pedulums at the #FranklinInstitute in Philadelphia and at the #Smithsonian are two of the things that inspired me to pursue #Science.
It upsets me to know that it was removed and won't be reinstalled.
Trump smashed the U.S. Capitol and the White House, piercing the soul of the nation as Joe Biden predicted
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.advocate.com/voices/trump-pierces-national-soul
𝗪𝗜𝗞𝗜𝗣𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗔 𝗣𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬
✧ Nobel Prize in Physics ✧
The Nobel Prize in Physics is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to those who have made the most outstanding contributions to humanity through physics. It is widely regarded as the most prestigious award that a scientist can receive in that field. One of the five Nobel Prizes established ...
#Nobel #Physics #AlfredNobel #SmithsonianInstitution #Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Physics
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