A D.C. moment:

The new official portraits of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama found a home in the National Portrait Gallery just in time for Presidents Day. The normally quiet gallery—a Smithsonian building visitors often neglect because it’s not situated along the National Mall—was swamped with crowds over the weekend to see the additions to the collection.

By World Journalism Institute students Myrna Brown, Paul Butler, Alex Duke, Steve Patton, Hannah Phillips, Andrew Shaughnessy, Dane Skelton, Russell St. John, Brigitte Sylvestre, and Marty Van Driel—with Marvin Olasky

A New York moment:

By the piers in swanky Battery Park City, curators set up a very serious outdoor sculpture show. The intended audience: dogs. Yes, this was an art show specifically for dogs, and because of the high demand, owners had to reserve time slots for their dogs to experience the art. “What was your favorite art, Harry?” a staffer asked an unresponsive poodle. The assembled gallery visitors were mostly childless, and the “exhibits” seemed designed for Instagram purposes.

On March 7, a bronze statue popped up on Manhattan’s Bowling Green at the intersection of Broadway and Whitehall. The timing, one day before International Women’s Day, is no accident: “Fearless Girl” faces the “Charging Bull” of Wall Street with feet spread, hands on hips, and puny chest thrust out like an 8-year-old insisting she will not, absolutely not, clear the table because it’s her brother’s turn.

NEW YORK—A public art controversy is brewing on Wall Street. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has denied Arturo di Modica, the sculptor of the famous “Charging Bull” statue, his request to remove the new “Fearless Girl” statue installed facing the bull. 

The “Charging Bull” monument has stood alone on Wall Street since 1989. But in March, a bronze statue of a small girl appeared, facing down the bull. The “Fearless Girl,” sculpted by Kristen Visbal, was supposed to stand in front of the bull for a few days, but now city officials say it may stay long-term. 

On a derelict building foundation in Austin’s Castle Hill neighborhood, graffiti artists have painted a cacophony of vibrant colors, squiggles, and shapes. For years the abandoned hillside site was empty except for three tiers of retaining walls surrounded by a cyclone fence. A planned condominium project fell apart with the 2008 economic crash.

NEW YORK—Museums in New York have responded to the controversial executive order on immigration and refugees by highlighting art from the cultures of countries affected by the temporary travel ban. 

President Donald Trump’s new, more limited order, signed today, focuses on six of the seven originally blocked countries: Syria, Iran, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, and Somalia. Gone from the list is Iraq, but Iraqi applicants still face “additional scrutiny.”