Arts & Culture

WASHINGTON — The Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum reopened its 1.3-acre Sculpture Garden on Saturday, October 31, after a four-year renovation led by the artist-architect Hiroshi Sugimoto. Entrances increase from two to five, and a 60-foot-wide entrance from the National Mall has been restored. Nearly 60 works are on view, up from about 35, including 21 from the original 1974 installation. New pieces include Elmgreen & Dragset's 28-foot "Eight" and works by KAWS and Huma Bhabha. Sugimoto also reopened an underground passage closed since the 1980s as "Passage of Reflectance," lined with polished stainless-steel walls. The opening show on the West Lawn is Yoshitomo Nara's "Sentinels of Stillness," on view through next fall. The design was once contested by the Cultural Landscape Foundation, which objected to its departure from Gordon Bunshaft's original scheme.

NOVATO, Calif. — The Eames Institute last Tuesday unveiled plans for a museum on the former Birkenstock campus in Novato, California. The 88-acre property along Highway 101 was bought for $36 million in 2025. The San Francisco Standard reports that tax records suggest Joe Gebbia, the Airbnb co-founder who now serves as the U.S. chief design officer, may have given tens of millions of dollars to the nonprofit. The money reportedly passed through a donor-advised fund, a vehicle that allows anonymous giving. The Standard says the institute has never publicly disclosed how it raised its money. Gebbia's early funding of the institute was already known, but the paper says the records show he is the probable source of much larger sums. The institute lends artifacts, acts as fiscal sponsor for several Sonoma-based groups and runs an artist residency at its Eames Ranch near Petaluma. The donor link is the Standard's reading of tax records. The institute has not confirmed it in the reporting reviewed.

SEOUL — Korean publishers asked lawmakers on Monday to extend tax credits to book content. Film, video and webtoons already receive them. At a National Assembly forum, Korean Publishers Society leaders said overseas AI companies are buying books in bulk for training while domestic rights holders cannot see the details. The push follows reporting by the Korea JoongAng Daily. Citing shipping data and exhibits from the Bartz v. Anthropic case, it estimates Anthropic bought about 166 metric tons of Korean books, roughly 414,000 volumes, through Better World Books. It also reports large Japanese and Taiwanese shipments. Japan's publishers association has questioned distributor Nippon Shuppan Hanbai, and Nikkei Asia says the buying was likely legal but has angered publishers. In New York, Publishers Lunch reports that Judge Sidney Stein's docket holds dozens of amicus briefs in the OpenAI and Microsoft copyright cases, now fully briefed for summary judgment.

Lakeside Book Company announced Monday that it has acquired Bradford & Bigelow, a printer serving K-12, higher-education and trade publishers. B&B will run as a division of Lakeside. Its facilities in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and Newton, New Hampshire, stay open with current teams and management. Lakeside says customers gain access to its print, store and sell options across North America, plus international manufacturing through its PAKSmart offering. Publishers Weekly reports the deal expands Lakeside's presence in those three markets. Separately, Publishers Lunch reports that Ingram has taken up distribution and printing work as publishers struggle with supply problems and libraries cope with the closure of Baker & Taylor. Ingram chief content officer Phil Ollila said he expects no perfect holiday season but sees no major disruption within Ingram's control.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Laika's 'Wildwood' has some of the year's best reviews and an A CinemaScore, but it is a long way from recouping its cost. The studio has not disclosed the budget, which is widely reported at about $100 million. According to Fortune, the film opened in third place on Oct. 23 with roughly $12.3 million. It then fell only 39% over Halloween weekend, to an estimated $7.5 million, for a domestic total near $26 million. Worldwide it stands at nearly $36 million. Box Office Mojo's final figures later put the weekend closer to $8.9 million. The Hollywood Reporter notes that the film is generating Oscar talk and carries a 99% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes. Fortune attributes Laika's ability to take such a risk to backing from Nike co-founder Phil Knight, whose son Travis Knight directed the film. Streaming, home video and an awards run are expected to add revenue.

LOS ANGELES — Four new films open this weekend, and forecasters see a close fight for the top spot. Toho's 'Godzilla Minus Zero' is tracking at $25 million to $35 million, according to trade outlet Boxoffice Pro. It carries a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score and was shot for Imax. Independent forecaster Todd Thatcher predicts a $36.2 million opening for it and $30.5 million for Warner Bros.' animated 'The Cat in the Hat.' Boxoffice Pro's earlier tracking had the Dr. Seuss film at $40 million to $50 million, and more recent estimates are lower. Thatcher puts Sony's 'Ramayana: Part 1' at about $11.9 million for Friday through Sunday, with a Thursday opening. The 2023 predecessor, 'Godzilla Minus One,' opened to $11.4 million and went on to win the franchise's first Oscar. Searchlight's 'Wild Horse Nine' also opens.

Several notable piano recitals fall in the next week. On Thursday, November 5, Yulianna Avdeeva plays Boulez, Ravel, Fujikura and Chopin at Berlin's Pierre Boulez Saal. The same night, according to the New York Classical Review calendar, Simone Dinnerstein plays Bach's Inventions and Sinfonias at Miller Theatre. Between them she places a Brad Mehldau suite and Keith Jarrett's Tokyo encore. On Tuesday, November 10, Hélène Grimaud gives a recital at San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall. She plays Beethoven's final sonata, Op. 111, and Schubert's Sonata in B-flat, D.960. The symphony's programme note describes the two works as late testaments by contemporaries. Pierre Boulez Saal also lists Schaghajegh Nosrati in Bach's Goldberg Variations on November 28. Listings are from the venues' own schedules, and dates are subject to change.

CHICAGO — The Chicago Symphony Orchestra's annual report for 2025-26 shows record box-office income and a smaller deficit. Slipped Disc relayed the figures on October 27. The orchestra gave more than 200 paid concerts in venues of 250 to 2,500 seats and sold 294,000 tickets, its highest total since 2018-19. Ticket revenue passed $23.9 million, a record. About 60,000 unique households bought tickets, including 30,000 first-time buyers. Total revenue was $78.5 million against operating expenses of $79 million, leaving a net deficit of $460,000. The board called that a significant improvement. Reader comments on the report note that the orchestra still carries about $100 million in debt from the Symphony Center renovation. The figures come from the orchestra's own report as relayed by Slipped Disc, and the full document was not reviewed.

MEMPHIS — The Memphis Symphony Orchestra brings its Tunes & Tales storytime programme to Shelby County schools on Wednesday and Thursday. The programme pairs storybooks with live orchestral music. It runs in schools and public libraries. On Wednesday, November 4, it visits Macon-Hall Elementary in the morning, then Cromwell Elementary and Compass Community School's Frayser campus in the afternoon. On Thursday, November 5, it visits Libertas School of Memphis and Macon-Hall Elementary in the morning and Grahamwood Elementary in the afternoon. The orchestra's larger holiday dates come next. It plays John Williams's score live to the film Home Alone at the Orpheum on Saturday, November 28, at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Robert Moody then conducts Magic of Memphis at the Cannon Center on Saturday, December 5, at 7:30 p.m.