1) Trudeau Promises More Arts Funding for Canada

Now that the elections are over, Hyperallergic has put together a simplified outline of Canadian prime-minister Justin Trudeau’s grand scheme for supporting the arts. The prime minister, a former literature student at McGill University, stated during his campaign that he hoped to increase funding for the arts in the country – or at the very least, undo some of the cuts that the arts took under the Harper administration. Among the promised changes are $150 million in annual funding for CBC Radio, and a doubling of the funding for the Canada Council for the Arts. Here’s hoping!

2) NMWA Hosts a Timely Panel Discussion 

The National Museum of Women in the Arts is hosting a panel discussion with several prominent female art professionals on the subject of whether or not there can ever truly be gender equality in the arts. Participants include Hyperallergic editor Jillian Steinhauer, ARTNews editor-in-chief Sarah Douglas, and Guerilla Girl Alma Thomas. If you’d like to watch the panel, it will be streaming live this Sunday at 3:00PM!

3) Do Artist's Evils Bleed Over into Their Works?

Do the crimes of an artist affect the meaning of their artwork? This article in the Guardian offers some interesting insights, In light of the recent seizure of a number of works both made and owned by the painter Graham Ovenden. Several works by the artist, as well as historically important originals by Pierre Louÿs and Wilhelm von Plüschow were recently destroyed at the behest of District Judge Elizabeth Roscoe – causing several art critics to accuse the judge of disrespecting the importance of the artworks. The article highlights the overall inconsistency that has plagued museums over the past century when it comes to restricting the artworks of abusive or criminal artists.

4) ColorSearch App Lets you Search for Art by Colour 

A new app called ColorSearch will be the first of its kind to allow users to search for artworks by colour scheme. The app, released on October 19th, was created by Alexandra Chemla, the brains behind ArtBinder, another app that allows gallery directors to easily share their gallery inventories. Chemla notes that ColorSearch might be used by curators and art scholars to determine how similar colours have been used by particular artists or in particular eras - or by collectors who want to find an artwork to match their decor. 

5) Louis Bourgeois Work Ready for a Record-Setting Sale

Louise Bourgeois’ 1997 sculpture Spider will be up for sale at Christie’s auction house this November, with an estimated price tag of between $25 and $35 million. This means that the work could reasonably surpass the current record for the highest amount paid at auction for an artwork by a female artist. The current record holder is Georgia O’Keefe, whose 1932 painting Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 sold at a Sotheby’s auction house last year for $44.4 million.