Lauren O'Neill-Butler
@laurenoneillbutler.bsky.social
Writer, editor, educator, and Florida ex-pat. Author of The War of Art: A History of Artists’ Protest in America.
http://www.lo-b.com
http://www.lo-b.com
Pinned
Ursula K. Le Guin: “The exercise of imagination is dangerous to those who profit from the way things are because it has the power to show that the way things are is not permanent, not universal, not necessary.”
My favorites now on view in Chelsea:
Charisse Pearlina Weston at
Shainman
Jennifer Packer at Sikkema
Vivian Browne at Ryan Lee
Charisse Pearlina Weston at
Shainman
Jennifer Packer at Sikkema
Vivian Browne at Ryan Lee
November 22, 2025 at 12:00 AM
My favorites now on view in Chelsea:
Charisse Pearlina Weston at
Shainman
Jennifer Packer at Sikkema
Vivian Browne at Ryan Lee
Charisse Pearlina Weston at
Shainman
Jennifer Packer at Sikkema
Vivian Browne at Ryan Lee
Read way too many depressing things today. Goodnight.
November 21, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Read way too many depressing things today. Goodnight.
"Currently, about 40 percent of the U.S. population lives in a state that has at least one state-level law restricting classroom speech at the college and university level. Is that something we’re OK with as a country? Do we really think that our First Amendment rights are that fungible?"
Former Professor on How New College of Florida Lost Its Way
Amy Reid was one of President Corcoran’s most vocal critics while she served as faculty representative on the Board of Trustees. Now she reflects on her fight to save the college she knows and loves.
www.insidehighered.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:16 PM
"Currently, about 40 percent of the U.S. population lives in a state that has at least one state-level law restricting classroom speech at the college and university level. Is that something we’re OK with as a country? Do we really think that our First Amendment rights are that fungible?"
“Quiet! Piggy” is a decent name for a movement against Trump.
November 18, 2025 at 6:47 PM
“Quiet! Piggy” is a decent name for a movement against Trump.
Olney Marie Ryland, Bronx Museum, 2016, cabinet-grade plywood, acrylic, acrylic paint, stucco, and mixed-media artworks.
From Ryland’s show at the St. John’s/Yeh Gallery. Perhaps one of my faves of the year?
From Ryland’s show at the St. John’s/Yeh Gallery. Perhaps one of my faves of the year?
November 17, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Olney Marie Ryland, Bronx Museum, 2016, cabinet-grade plywood, acrylic, acrylic paint, stucco, and mixed-media artworks.
From Ryland’s show at the St. John’s/Yeh Gallery. Perhaps one of my faves of the year?
From Ryland’s show at the St. John’s/Yeh Gallery. Perhaps one of my faves of the year?
“Press & Pull,” one of the best shows of the season, closes tomorrow at The James Gallery, CUNY. Go!!
November 15, 2025 at 2:40 AM
“Press & Pull,” one of the best shows of the season, closes tomorrow at The James Gallery, CUNY. Go!!
I had a few things to say about the Secret Handshake's Trump-Epstein sculpture for The Boston Globe (in short, it's effective but also gross).
Thanks to Julian E.J. Sorapuru for reporting on this.
Thanks to Julian E.J. Sorapuru for reporting on this.
Trump can’t make Epstein go away. A statue of the two in Washington, D.C., won’t scram either. - The Boston Globe
A sculpture of the two men, much like the political controversy surrounding their relationship, refuses to die.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 14, 2025 at 6:26 PM
I had a few things to say about the Secret Handshake's Trump-Epstein sculpture for The Boston Globe (in short, it's effective but also gross).
Thanks to Julian E.J. Sorapuru for reporting on this.
Thanks to Julian E.J. Sorapuru for reporting on this.
Love the ending of this bio for Samia Halaby, a wonderful artist and activist:
"When Samia is not busy traveling to international shows and speaking, she retreats to her TriBeCa studio where she enjoys being a recluse as if she’s in a cave or a lone sailor in a deep submarine."
"When Samia is not busy traveling to international shows and speaking, she retreats to her TriBeCa studio where she enjoys being a recluse as if she’s in a cave or a lone sailor in a deep submarine."
Our Founder — Samia A Halaby Foundation
About Samia Halaby
www.samiahalabyfoundation.org
November 13, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Love the ending of this bio for Samia Halaby, a wonderful artist and activist:
"When Samia is not busy traveling to international shows and speaking, she retreats to her TriBeCa studio where she enjoys being a recluse as if she’s in a cave or a lone sailor in a deep submarine."
"When Samia is not busy traveling to international shows and speaking, she retreats to her TriBeCa studio where she enjoys being a recluse as if she’s in a cave or a lone sailor in a deep submarine."
Thanks, Cyan!! @powells.bsky.social
November 13, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Thanks, Cyan!! @powells.bsky.social
Essential reading. Also, great framing with Octavia Butler as source and inspiration.
What Climate Change Will Do to America by Mid-Century
Many places may become uninhabitable. Many people may be on their own.
www.theatlantic.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Essential reading. Also, great framing with Octavia Butler as source and inspiration.
People who use Amazon as a rental service and brag about it are 🤮. Just stop. You’re not hurting Amazon or Bezos at all.
November 9, 2025 at 6:00 PM
People who use Amazon as a rental service and brag about it are 🤮. Just stop. You’re not hurting Amazon or Bezos at all.
Reposted by Lauren O'Neill-Butler
Who will be the first to sue an AI company for defamation when a fake quote is attributed to them? Of course we could all sue for plagiarism, all us writers....
November 8, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Who will be the first to sue an AI company for defamation when a fake quote is attributed to them? Of course we could all sue for plagiarism, all us writers....
She should be alive today.
November 8, 2025 at 3:10 PM
She should be alive today.
Tonight! My last book event (to date), where I'll be bringing it all back home with the great Carrie Moyer:
huntercollegeartgalleries.org/events/2025/...
huntercollegeartgalleries.org/events/2025/...
November 6, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Tonight! My last book event (to date), where I'll be bringing it all back home with the great Carrie Moyer:
huntercollegeartgalleries.org/events/2025/...
huntercollegeartgalleries.org/events/2025/...
This is the first time that I feel like I’ve won—that we’ve won—in my couple of decades-plus of living in NYC. The smiles on the faces of parents and kids in queens this early morning says it all, leaving me no regrets about not attending that party last late night.
November 5, 2025 at 1:54 PM
This is the first time that I feel like I’ve won—that we’ve won—in my couple of decades-plus of living in NYC. The smiles on the faces of parents and kids in queens this early morning says it all, leaving me no regrets about not attending that party last late night.
Reposted by Lauren O'Neill-Butler
Down with the cowardly gerontocracy.
November 5, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Down with the cowardly gerontocracy.
Reposted by Lauren O'Neill-Butler
“As a visual artist, I want to live in the city I love and actually afford it instead of constantly feeling like I’m being priced out.” —Samhita Kamisetty
These Artists Want You to Vote for Mamdani
They're mural painters, sculptors, hat-makers, and gallery workers — and they’d like to keep living in New York City.
hyperallergic.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:19 PM
“As a visual artist, I want to live in the city I love and actually afford it instead of constantly feeling like I’m being priced out.” —Samhita Kamisetty
Reposted by Lauren O'Neill-Butler
Someone give Lex $2 million so they can launch a politics version of Teen Vogue. Do it now. No strings attached.
November 3, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Someone give Lex $2 million so they can launch a politics version of Teen Vogue. Do it now. No strings attached.
Election Day jitters? Join me tonight at ISCP in Brooklyn for a lively chat with artist Marianne Villiere.
November 4, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Election Day jitters? Join me tonight at ISCP in Brooklyn for a lively chat with artist Marianne Villiere.
Reposted by Lauren O'Neill-Butler
thank you for all the support; the statement from our union is now live here with some more reporting.
now that this is public I can confirm that the majority of today’s layoffs were women of color. there are no longer any Black women working at Teen Vogue.
now that this is public I can confirm that the majority of today’s layoffs were women of color. there are no longer any Black women working at Teen Vogue.
November 3, 2025 at 11:25 PM
thank you for all the support; the statement from our union is now live here with some more reporting.
now that this is public I can confirm that the majority of today’s layoffs were women of color. there are no longer any Black women working at Teen Vogue.
now that this is public I can confirm that the majority of today’s layoffs were women of color. there are no longer any Black women working at Teen Vogue.
This news is slow to hit the US but very exciting.
“The First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria - which negotiated the Treaty on behalf of Indigenous Victorians - welcomed the milestone with Co-Chair Ngarra Murray calling it a ‘historic moment for our people.’”
“The First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria - which negotiated the Treaty on behalf of Indigenous Victorians - welcomed the milestone with Co-Chair Ngarra Murray calling it a ‘historic moment for our people.’”
Victoria makes history with passage of Australia's first Treaty bill
Victoria's historic Treaty bill has passed the state's upper house, paving the way for it to be formally signed before the end of the year and marking the first such agreement to be signed in Australi...
nit.com.au
November 3, 2025 at 2:10 PM
This news is slow to hit the US but very exciting.
“The First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria - which negotiated the Treaty on behalf of Indigenous Victorians - welcomed the milestone with Co-Chair Ngarra Murray calling it a ‘historic moment for our people.’”
“The First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria - which negotiated the Treaty on behalf of Indigenous Victorians - welcomed the milestone with Co-Chair Ngarra Murray calling it a ‘historic moment for our people.’”
Happy Día De Muertos to all who celebrate💀
November 1, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Happy Día De Muertos to all who celebrate💀
Reposted by Lauren O'Neill-Butler
If Mamdani wins, it will demonstrate that progressive Democrats, running within the party, can win elections based on popular working-class reforms—that is, if they aren’t thwarted by their own party leadership.
The Biggest Threat to Mamdani’s Agenda Isn’t Trump—It’s Wall Street
Wall Street destroyed New York City’s social welfare economy in 1975. Avoiding that fate under Mayor Mamdani will require popular movements to discipline the super rich.
inthesetimes.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:19 PM
If Mamdani wins, it will demonstrate that progressive Democrats, running within the party, can win elections based on popular working-class reforms—that is, if they aren’t thwarted by their own party leadership.
So much sewage bubbling up from the streets of SoHo today. The ironies couldn’t be richer.
October 30, 2025 at 9:47 PM
So much sewage bubbling up from the streets of SoHo today. The ironies couldn’t be richer.