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Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

Kate Smith singing 'God Bless America' before a Philadelphia Flyers home game at the Spectrum in Philadelphia circa 1970s.

Philadelphia Flyers Remove Statue of Singer Kate Smith Amid Allegations of Racism

The team will also no longer play Smith’s famed rendition of ‘God Bless America’

Helvetica Now marks the typeface's first redesign since 1982's Helvetica Neue

The Helvetica Typeface Has Been Redesigned for the Digital Age

Helvetica Now is the first update to the sans serif typeface in 36 years

Canadian Museum Association Receives $1 Million to Foster Reconciliation With Indigenous Peoples

The funding is part of a broader effort to address lasting damages caused by the residential school system

A 19th-century illustration of 'Sleeping Beauty' by artist Gustave Doré

Barcelona School Commission Evaluates 600 Children’s Books for Sexist Content

One-third of the books were removed for promoting gender stereotypes at a critical point in childhood development

Jews being led for deportation in the Warsaw Ghetto, during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943.

100 Jewish Families to Celebrate Passover Seder at Site of Warsaw Ghetto

Traveling from Israel, Europe and the United States, the families will come together on the 76th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Flowers are laid on a bridge in front of the Notre-Dame-de Paris Cathedral in Paris.

Five Things We’ve Learned in the Aftermath of the Notre-Dame Fire

Here’s how France is rebuilding in the wake of the disaster

Cool Finds

Ring Containing Charlotte Brontë’s Hair Discovered in Attic

The piece of mourning jewelry includes an inscription and a little door covering a plaited lock of the Jane Eyre author’s hair

The cathedral as Victor Hugo would have seen it when he wrote The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

‘The Hunchback of Notre-Dame’ Shoots to Top of France’s Best Seller Lists

Victor Hugo wrote his famed novel at a time when the cathedral was in crisis

Beta Writer’s debut work consists of about 250 pages of compiled research, sorted into chapters based on subject matter.

Publisher Releases First Textbook Written Entirely by an Algorithm

“Beta Writer” isn’t the next great American author, but its debut work shows promise for AI-assisted research

Faithfuls kneel on the new restored Holy Stair (Scala Santa) at San Giovanni in Laterano in Rome.

Trending Today

For the First Time in 300 Years, Pilgrims Can Climb These Holy Marble Steps

Worshippers can kneel up the 28 steps some believe Jesus ascended to receive his death sentence

Palestinians gather to perform the Friday prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in Jerusalem

A Small Fire Broke Out at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque as Flames Ravaged Notre-Dame

The blaze left the Islamic holy site largely untouched, damaging a single mobile guard booth

Religious artifacts saved from Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral stored in a room of the Paris City Hall on April 16.

What Happened to Notre-Dame’s Precious Art and Artifacts?

Officials say the ‘main works of art’ were saved. But others have been lost or seriously damaged

Young Thug wore a dress by designer Alessandro Trincone on the cover of his 2016 mixtape

Boston Museum Launches First Large-Scale Exhibition on Non-Binary Fashion

The show features a tuxedo worn by Marlene Dietrich, a suit worn by David Bowie and contemporary designs by Rei Kawakubo

A firefighter is seen fighting the flames at Notre-Dame Cathedral on April 15, 2019

Historic Notre-Dame Cathedral Salvaged From Blaze

After a tense few hours, firefighters announce they saved the landmark from ‘total destruction’

The planned museum is set to be built in Poissy, home of Le Corbusier's famed Villa Savoye

The Controversy Over the Planned Le Corbusier Museum

Scholars, architects have accused France’s culture ministry of “complicity in an attempt to rehabilitate” Le Corbusier’s legacy

"We didn’t just want to view Weimar from its ending,” exhibition curator Simone Erpel says

What the Weimar Republic Can Teach Us About Modern Democracy

A Berlin exhibition draws on some 250 artifacts to explore questions of democracy past and present

David Bradley, "Hopi Maidens," 2012

David Bradley Retrospective Captures Lasting Legacy of Contemporary Native Artist

More than 30 works from his nearly 40-year career are featured in the traveling show, now in Los Angeles

"Landscape 8P" (1473) will be on display in the Italian town of Vinci's castle to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Leonardo's death this May.

Was Leonardo da Vinci, a Famous Lefty, Actually Ambidextrous?

A study finds that one inscription on an early Leonardo drawing was penned with the artist’s left hand, while another was written with his right

Edvard Munch, "Self-Portrait with Tulla Larsen," ca. 1905

British Museum Reunites Portrait That Edvard Munch Sawed in Half to Avenge His Fiancée

The Norwegian painter split the canvas in two following a violent breakup with partner Tulla Larsen

A trio of air conditioners failed to meet manufacturer recommendations regarding the use of separate circuit breakers and grounding devices

A Faulty Air Conditioning Unit Sparked the Brazil National Museum Fire

The September 2018 blaze destroyed the 200-year-old building and reduced the majority of its 20-million artifact collection to ash

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