Amanda Gorman, the youngest poet to ever perform at a US presidential inauguration, moved audiences across the nation with her perspective as “a skinny black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one.” 

See the first photograph of a US presidential inauguration from James Buchanan’s swearing-in in 1857. The shot was captured when the recent discovery of the wet-plate collodion process allowed for crisp captures of landmark moments to be faithfully documented and easily disseminated.

Artist Adrian Wilson bade farewell to Trump by remixing New York City street signs with cheeky messages.

See the best inauguration memes, from Bernie Sanders’s mittens to Lady Gaga’s Hunger Games-esque brooch.

A stuffed bird, a framed photograph of Trump with the Chinese president, and a bust of Abraham Lincoln were some of the items that were seen carried out of the White House after Donald Trump’s second impeachment, leading correspondents to wonder if the works belonged to the federal government.

The director of the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage said the Taq Kasra, a 1,500-year-old Persian archway, is in “dangerous and critical” condition and needs immediate support to prevent further collapse.

The city of Chicago, Illinois promised $2.5 million in grants to local cultural organizations. It will allocate $500,000 to commission up to 10 public artworks; $250,000 for small local projects; and $1.7 million for nonprofit arts organizations throughout Chicago.

A pristine copy of Batman No. 1 (1940) recently became the most expensive Batman title ever sold, and a rejected 1936 Tintin cover illustration became the most expensive work of comic book art to go to auction.

Shani Peters was named the 2021 national artist-in-residence of the Mississippi Museum of Art’s Center for Art and Public Exchange.

The Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation Art Prize will be awarded to Porfirio Gutiérrez, and the Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation Minnesota Art Prize will be awarded to Jovan C. Speller.

Rele Gallery from Nigeria will open an outpost in Los Angeles, California on February 1.

Flora Yukhnovich is now represented by Victoria Miro gallery.

Mary Catherine Bateson (1939–2021), writer and anthropologist | Washington Post

Roger Mandle (1941–2021), museum director who helped establish the Massachusetts Design Art & Technology Institute and helmed the Qatar Museums Authority and Rhode Island School of Design | New York Times

Elijah Moshinsky (1946–2021), opera director | Opera Wire

Randy Parton (1953–2021), country singer and brother and collaborator of Dolly Parton | CNN

Margo St. James (1937–2021), artist and sex worker advocate | SFist

Helga Weyhe (1922–2021), bookseller at one of Germany’s oldest bookstores | New York Times