1) Brooklyn Museum's ASK App Promotes Viewer Engagement 

The Brooklyn Museum’s pioneering ASK app (introduced for Android in May) is proving a resounding success according to this Hyperallergic reviewer. The app allows visitors to the museum to connect in real time to any one of a group of staff who are there specifically to answer questions about artworks. The museum went through a lengthy process of research and planning to come to the conclusion that visitors to the museum crave spontaneous, conversational interactions and information about the works, the sort of informal learning that can’t be recreated with information cards or wall plaques. The instant messaging app provides a way for visitors to engage with the artworks on a deeper, more personal level.

2) Street Corner in Manhattan Named in Bill Cunningham's Honor

Following the recent passing of beloved New York fashion photographer Bill Cunningham, a street corner in Manhattan has been named in his honor. The corner of 57th Street and 5th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan will now be known as Bill Cunningham Corner, said NY mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement Thursday morning. The photographer, whose work was frequently published in The New York Times, used to stand on the corner and look out for individuals who had put together exceptionally great outfits. Cunningham didn’t discriminate between classes in his work, photographing both wealthy high-fashion patrons and thrift store junkies.

3) Art Experts Speculate on the Effects of Brexit

The Art Newspaper has interviewed a number of arts professionals on how they feel Britain’s decision to leave the European Union will eventually affect the art market, both in Britain and abroad. While many echo the sentiment that it is too early to tell what long-term effects will come of the vote, opinions seem to oscillate between faith in Britain’s longstanding reputation as a fine arts hub, and fears that the Brexit will put a damper on collaborative efforts by artists, curators and gallerists throughout the E.U.

4) History of Emoji Now in Book Form

Finally, a history book about something that matters: emoji. The Story of Emoji, by UK writer Gavin Lucas, serves as a cultural timeline of the rise of the smiley faces and other small symbols that we use to enhance our texts, Facebook posts and tweets. The book documents the evolution of these pictographic symbols, from their initial use by a Japanese service provider in 1999, all the way up to their prevalence and widely imaginative appearance today. While they are often maligned as being unprofessional, the book points out that emoji serve an important purpose in making our texts more more efficient, and replacing some of the emotional context that is lost in text-based forms of communication.

5) Peter Doig Being Sued for Claiming he Did Not Paint This

Artist Peter Doig is embroiled in a very strange art-related lawsuit. The painter is being sued by a former Canadian corrections officer who owns a landscape painting that he claims was painted when Doig was a young inmate at the Thunder Bay Correctional Facility in Ontario. When the former officer reached out to Doig with a photo of the painting, Doig stated that he had not painted it. The painting’s owner reacted by suing, claiming that Doig had ruined his plan for selling the painting at a high price due to its prestigious providence. In order to win the case, the onus is on Doig to prove that he did not paint the landscape, by proving that he was not at the correctional facility in question four decades ago.