Governments Re-Enter Arts Funding; Scotland, California Lead

Governments are reclaiming their involvement in the arts after years of detachment. Scotland is leading the way with a guaranteed minimum income initiative for 2,000 artists, inspired by a similar program in Ireland, and has introduced a sixth national performing company focused on traditional music. California is adjusting its tax policies, offering credits to newsrooms that employ journalists and revising its film credit, which had faced criticism from studios. Meanwhile, internal documents obtained by The New York Times indicate that the Kennedy Center plans to remove a prominent outdoor sculpture following the Trump administration's influence. In Hong Kong, independent bookstores are encountering heightened challenges due to the national security law, as reported by AP. Additionally, 6ABC notes that Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences, which has been around for 200 years, will close its museum this month. In Britain, Ivan Hewett highlights in The Telegraph that rising costs are excluding the working class from art creation, prompting a class-conscious response. In Japan, AFP reports that volunteers are painstakingly relocating Hirosaki Castle's tower back to its original foundation using ropes.