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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL By Lee Lawrence Carved crystal ewer from the late 10th-early 11th century. Photo: The Keir Collection of Islamic Art on loan to the Dallas Museum TEXAS---First came the headlines: One of the world’s leading private collections of Islamic art was headed to the Dallas Museum of Art as a 15-year, renewable loan. It was a coup. After the death of collector Edmund de Unger (1918-2011), almost 2,000 of the seventh- through 19th-century works he acquired over some 50 years seemed destined for Berlin’s venerable Pergamon Museum. But his heirs and the museum parted ways, and the Keir collection (named after De Unger’s London home) veered west to Texas, thanks greatly to the efforts of Sabiha Al Khemir, the DMA’s senior adviser for Islamic Art. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Sam Roberts Phyllis Tickle, a writer and the founding religion editor at Publishers Weekly. Credit Karen Pulfer Focht/Religion News Service TENNESSEE--- Phyllis Tickle , who helped energize the religion publishing market in the 1990s, wrote dozens of books on spirituality and gave voice to a movement that believes Christianity is entering an epochal new phase, died on Sept. 22 at her farm in Lucy, Tenn., north of Memphis. She was 81. The cause was lung cancer, her daughter Rebecca Tickle said. Ms. Tickle was the founding religion editor at Publishers Weekly, the leading journal in the book trade, serving from 1991 to 1994. In that post she identified and covered a rapidly emerging market for religious-themed books and helped publishers tap into its profitability. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Max Bearak A bronze work from the Chola Dynasty, circa 1080-1150. Credit Toledo Museum of Art OHIO---The Toledo Museum of Art has decided to return four pieces of rare Indian artwork on display there to India after concluding that their provenance had been falsified or could not be verified. All four of the ancient objects had been purchased from Subhash Kapoor, a former New York art dealer who is awaiting trial in India. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Ernest O. Disney-Britton Today, A&O releases its first "Shortlist" for the five artist categories of ArtPrize Seven with two works in each of the categories. ArtPrize is Grand Rapid's, Michigan's radically open $500,000 international art competition decided by public vote and expert jury, and A&O was there September 23-25. The five categories are 2D, 3D, Installation, Time-based, and venue. For the public vote, ArtPrize website's Leaderboard keeps ongoing track of the 25 works in each category generating the highest votes. On Monday night, ArtPrize also hosted its fourth annual Jurors’ Shortlist Event where they revealed the juror's twenty finalists in the running to win the Juried Grand Prize. Below is the A&O Shortlist with an *asterisk for overlaps with the Jurors' Shortlist.

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS PHOTO15 supports the creation of The AIDS Monument in the City of West Hollywood. The AIDS Monument will stand as a world class work of art and serve as an internationally known site to memorialize, honor and inform those involved in the fight against AIDS. The Monument will serve as a physical and digital commemoration encouraging conversation while removing the stigma that HIV/AIDS still carries. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS "Saint Germaine of Pibrac" (2009) by Kehinde Wiley. Archival inkjet print on Hahnemuhle fine art paper (30 x 24 in) Saint Germaine Cousin  is the Saint of abandoned people. She was born in the village of Pibrac in France in 1579. "She was gifted with a marvellous sense of the presence of God and of spiritual things," says the Catholic Encyclopdia , "so that her lonely life became to her a source of light and blessing." In 2009, Kehinde Wiley decontextualized her story in the form of a Black male, and this week it one of the works at auction to support the creation of The AIDS Monument in the City of West Hollywood. The online auction ends Oct 2 at 1:00am. [ Bid ]

LOS ANGELES TIMES By Susan Stapleton Japanese sculptor Tatsuo Miyaiima's artwork “Hoto” is on display at the Shops at Crystals. (Al Powers) CALIFORNIA---Japanese artist Tatsuo Miyaiima has his work on display in the United States for the first time. The sculptor, called one of Japan’s most influential artists over the last two decades, brought his work “Hoto” to the Shops at Crystals. “Hoto” translates from Japanese into “treasure pagoda,” a nod to a Buddhist story about a jeweled tower that rises from the earth, floating in the air and covering half the Earth. Miyaiima often takes Buddhist tales and translates them into his own works. [ link ]

HYPERALLERGIC By Louis Bury Clifford Owens, “Untitled” (2015), C-print, 30 x 30 inches (all images courtesy the artist and INVISIBLE-EXPORTS) NEW YORK---At Invisible-Exports , Owens’s eponymous exhibit reaches back to his prior repertoire of performance gestures as a way of subtly moving his practice forward. Known for his charisma and his derring-do, Owens uses his body — and, often, the bodies of his audiences — as the primary material for risqué explorations of race, sexuality, identity, etiquette, and art history. Love them or hate them, Owens’s provocative self-exposures, at once calculated and spontaneous, will likely continue happening in one form or another. [ link ]

ARTFORUM Nan Goldin, Pawel’s Back, East Hampton, 1996, 1996, cibachrome print. NEW YORK---The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College has received a gift of 500 photographs from photographer, curator, and collector Jack Shear. The works included in the donation span the history of the medium and include pieces by Berenice Abbott, Diane Arbus, Eugène Atget, Richard Avedon, Nan Goldin, Emmet Gowin, Katy Grannan, Lewis Hine, Peter Hujar, Sally Mann, Robert Mapplethorpe , Vik Muniz, Catherine Opie , Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz , Carrie Mae Weems , Edward Weston, and Joel Peter Witkin, among others. [ link ]

DETROIT NEWS By John Serba Philip Campbell, Indianapolis, Indiana – "Your Catfish Friend," Philip Campbell, DeVos Place, installation is one of the top 100 GRAND RAPIDS, MI---Nineteen of ArtPrize 2015's 100 public favorites are from the greater Grand Rapids area. Another 26 are from other Michigan cities, with 52 from elsewhere in the United States. Three artists are international. The entries are culled from Top 25 lists in four categories - two-dimensional, three-dimensional, installation and time-based - revealed by ArtPrize Tuesday morning, Sept. 29. The list isn't final, subject to change as more votes are tallied. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Robin Pogrebin Nicole Eisenman , the artist, was in the meat section of a Fire Island grocery store, buying bacon. Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer and star of the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton,” thought it was the cable company calling to beg him to reconsider his recent service cancellation. Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of the best-selling nonfiction book “Between the World and Me,” was at home in his Paris apartment when the call came. These three were among the 24 people selected as 2015 fellows of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The fellowships, which have come to be known as “genius grants,” come with a stipend of $625,000 over five years — no strings attached. [ link ]

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS By Rick Brettell Alexander Gorlizki’s focus is on objects, such as "All in Threes," a hand-tufted wool rug in his exhibit at the Crow Collection of Asian Art. TEXAS---The Crow Collection of Asian Art and the Dallas Museum of Art have simultaneously, but without coordination, commissioned two artists to create contemporary installations that evoke the arts of India. Alexander Gorlizki , whose enchanting two-room installation is at the Crow, is not of Indian origin. Gorlizki uses Indian craftspeople with whom he has collaborated for years to assist him in remaking common objects like a Rolodex, a painting, a carpet, a sculpture, a vessel and wallpaper. [ link ]

FORWARD By Allison Kaplan Sommer Image: Michal Fattal Nobody intentionally set out to make Sukkot and Simchat Torah feminist holidays. Yet, slowly but surely, these two Jewish festivals have evolved into a time of year when the envelope is pushed when it comes to women’s participation, even in Orthodox communities in which egalitarian practice isn’t easily accepted. On Sukkot, more and more women are buying and using Sukkot objects like the lulav and etrog, and helping to build and spending time in the Sukkah. On Simchat Torah reading from and celebratory dancing with the Torah on the holiday that celebrates the sacred scroll, and reading from it has become something that even women in very traditional communities are not willing to forgo. [ link ]

FORWARD By Dotty Brown Joshua Koffman's “Synagoga and Ecclesia in Our Time” is of two women seated next to each other, much like two sisters. PENNSYLVANIA---Nearly 50 years after the Vatican officially proclaimed Jews free of guilt in the killing of Jesus, Pope Francis made a surprise change to his schedule on the final day of his U.S. tour to convey his own message of respect for the Jewish people. In an unannounced event, the pontiff stopped Sunday to bless a sculpture commissioned by the Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia that repudiates a centuries-old anti-Semitic image. [ link ]

ARTNET | NEWS By Henri Neuendorf Erling Kagge is a Norwegian art collector, explorer, mountaineer, publisher, and lawyer. He gained fame for being the first person to walk to the South Pole alone, and he has also climbed Mount Everest. Today, he runs the publishing company Kagge Forlag, which he founded. One of his most recent releases is the book A Poor Collector's Guide to Buying Great Art , in which Kagge narrates how he built his impressive art collection.... [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS  Shimon Attie: Untitled Memory (projection of Axel H.), 1998, Ektacolor photograph, Edition 1 of 3, 32 × 38 3/4 inches Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York WASHINGTON---Every 10.5 minutes someone becomes infected with HIV. HIV/AIDS has touched nearly every American in some way. This fall, Tacoma Art Museum will present "Art AIDS America," a groundbreaking exhibition that underscores the deep and unforgettable presence of HIV in American art. Ten years in the making, the exhibition of more than 115 works debuts at TAM on Saturday, October 3, 2015. Since its discovery, AIDS has shaped art, politics, and religious expression. Tacoma Art Museum : " Art AIDS America " (October 3, 2015 – January 10, 2016); 1701 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, WA; (253) 272-4258; TacomaArtMuseum.org

LOS ANGELES TIMES By Leah Ollman "Kazunori Hamana, Yuji Ueda, and Omani Workshop" curated by Takashi Murakami. Courtesy of Blendus.com CALIFORNIA---The presentation of Japanese ceramics at Blum & Poe is spectacular, but two other aspects of the current show are also noteworthy. The first, and most likely to get visitors through the door, is its guest curator: Takashi Murakami . The second remarkable aspect of the show is its stunning installation. One thing he is not typically associated with is quiet elegance, in which this show abounds. The Blum & Poe project reveals, tucked within Murakami's expansive enterprise, a deep respect for the humble and the down-to-earth. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By TAHLIB, Curator "Your Catfish Friend" by Philip Campbell at ArtPrize This first thousands of ArtPrize Seven visitors this week gave a big  thumb's up  for a monumental 26-panel, 22.5 by 11.5 foot catfish in Grand Rapids, MI. Installed at the convention center, it is carved from African mahogany and painted with high flow acrylic. The design infused with spiritual symbolism, is adapted from the same tattoos found on the artists own body. ArtPrize is now open, and that's why "Your Catfish Friend" (above) by Philip Campbell is our  NEWS OF WEEK .

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Nicolas Rapold Tahar Rahim as an Armenian refugee in “The Cut.” Credit Gordon Muehle/Strand Releasing HOLLYWOOD---Fatih Akin’s “The Cut” brings the monumental scale of an epic to the Armenian genocide of 1915 without toning down the murderous cruelty and upheaval of the events. Great care is taken with the panoramic vistas of Turkish badlands and richly detailed interiors, the searchingly cyclical motif of the score and the portrayal of the wearying, touch-and-go ordeals of encountering friends and enemies on the road. But there’s a recurring — and frankly mystifying — shortfall when it comes to the screenplay, by Mr. Akin and Mardik Martin. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Manohla Dargis Warren Jeffs being escorted to trial in “Prophet’s Prey,” a documentary by Amy Berg. Credit Sam Brower/Showtime HOLLYWOOD---To watch “Prophet’s Prey,” Amy Berg’s tough and disturbing documentary about a secretive, polygamous Mormon fundamentalist sect with unsettling roots in the region, is to grasp, perhaps, the unspoken reason the Arizona tourism office seems to be suggesting that visitors drive right on by. “Prophet’s Prey” was written and directed by Ms. Berg, whose earlier documentaries include “Deliver Us From Evil,” a contemporary horror story about Oliver O’Grady, a Roman Catholic priest and admitted pedophile who evaded punishment as he was moved from parish to parish for decades. He was finally defrocked and deported to Ireland, after doing time in prison. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Charles Isherwood Andrew Garman as the pastor of an evangelical megachurch, with from left, Linda Powell, Larry Powell and Philip Kerr. Credit Sara Krulwich/The New York Times NEW YORK---Religious beliefs evolve, just as people do, in ways good and bad. But they rarely change quite as suddenly as in “The Christians,” Lucas Hnath’s softly mesmerizing drama about a schism that arises in an evangelical megachurch. In this terrific play about the mystery of faith, and how religion can tear people apart just as it can bring them together, a revelation experienced by the pastor causes a potentially disastrous rupture in the congregation. [ link ]

QUANTARA.DE By Asiem el Difraoui and Antonia Blau Nowhere does the Koran forbid images. Moreover, Muslims also wanted to distinguish themselves from Christianity, which itself debated the issue of imagery for a long time before St John of Damascus finally won the war of the icons. As a Father of the Early Church, a man who was highly knowledgeable about Islam and a minister of a caliph, John of Damascus was himself probably trying to draw a distinction between Christianity and Islam and even Judaism, which is why he allowed the Church to make the visual its principal means of communication. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS PENNSYLVANIA---Explore the role religious liberty played in early America and learn how freedom of religion became a right guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. " Religious Liberty and the Founding of America ," at the National Constitution Center is open now thought January 3,, 2016. The interactive display focuses on religious liberty in the colonies and the Constitution and the legacy of religious liberty. The historical materials on display, all lent for this show, include a 1741 Benjamin Franklin printing of Pennsylvania's Charter of Privileges, and writings by George Mason and Thomas Jefferson.

ARTDAILY 15th-century Tibetan sculpture of Gayadhara, Tibet, circa 15th century. Photo: Bonhams. NEW YORK---Bonhams saw an international community of collectors competing for top-quality treasures during its week of Asian art sales in New York, September 13-14. Primarily drawn from several superior private collections, the works were curated by Bonhams’ expert team of Asian specialists with a discerning focus on the current interests of Asian art collectors. Notable among the top lots sold were the powerful 15th-century Tibetan sculpture of Gayadhara, achieving $209,000, as well as a superb 14th/15th-century Tibetan Buddha and prabhamandala (above), which brought $185,000. [ link ]

DW The Durga idol had been stolen before being sold to a German museum. GERMANY---The federal state of Baden-Württemberg is returning the statue called "Durga Mahishasuramardini" to the Republic of India "for ethical reasons", Arndt Oschmann from the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts stated on Wednesday. Indian ambassador S. E. Vijay is to receive the statue of the eight-armed goddess later on Wednesday in Berlin. According to Arndt Oschmann, the Linden State Museum for Ethnology in Stuttgart bought the statue in the year 2000, using funds from Baden-Württemberg's Museum Foundation. The stone idol cost $250,000. [ link ]

UCONN TODAY By Detail from Ancestral Woman Dreaming 1990, acrylic on canvas, by Colin Tjapanangka Dixon. CONNECTICUT---"Dotted Dialogues: Contemporary Indigenous Art from Central Australia” comprises acrylic paintings and sculpture highlighted by colorful dotted patterns based on the iconography of the Aboriginal culture. While art has often been inspired by religion in Western civilization, the art of Aboriginal culture inspired by religion is also linked to specific land. “The religious dimension is about identity,” Dussart says. “Religion is tethered to the land, and you are tethered to both. Unlike Christianity, it cannot be exported. This cannot be owned by anybody else than those people who inherit the rights to those particular stories on those specific sites.” [ link ] William Benton Museum of Art : “ Dotted Dialogues: Contemporary Indigenous Art from Central Australia ” (Ends October 11, 2015); 245 Glenbrook Road, Storrs, CT; (860) 486-4520; benton.uconn.edu

MOUNTAIN EXPRESS By Alli Marshall An abstract of the burning bush by Daniel Nevins NORTH CAROLINA--- Daniel Nevins sent samples of his work to Candlewick Press, a children’s book publisher, in the mid-1990s. It took the company almost two decades to respond to the Asheville-based artist’s query, but it was worth the wait: Candlewick paired Nevins with writer Amy Ehrlich, and together they created "With a Mighty Hand: The Story in the Torah." The exhibition at UNC Asheville is intended, Nevins says, to be a conversation between the humanities and the visual arts as they meet in book form. [ link ]

THE WASHINGTON POST By Gary P. Steuer In an interview in the Financial Times , Bill Gates equated donating to a museum with blinding people. Seriously. He was referencing the ethicist Peter Singer, whose work has fostered the “effective altruism” movement:... The effective altruists’ completely dispassionate assessment of “value” — lives saved per dollar — does not allow for a holistic approach to what makes a healthy society. n addition, many of the things that are important to our souls — beauty, hope, joy, tolerance, inspiration — are fostered through the arts. They may be very hard to sufficiently measure in a world of purely data-driven philanthropy. This does not mean they are not important. [ link ]

THE HUFFINGTON POST By Lisa Derrick For the Catholic faithful, baptism begins at birth, and Silver's interpretation, Baptism, is of birth: a vertical line, a gash really, smeared and reddish, bifurcates the canvas, rending the Veil CALIFORNIA--- Diane Silver's "Sacrament" at Coagula Curatorial through October 4, 2015 offers a completely different experience of religion, exploring the Seven Sacraments of Catholicism through abstract art. No matter how concrete a theology, no matter how many tomes are written or people tortured and killed over their beliefs (or lack thereof), in the end religion and faith are abstractions that cannot not be codified into one singular meaning. Using a limited palate with plaster, bone, wax, ink and hemp, Silver moves herself and the viewer through the Seven Sacraments in a meditative series of large scale canvases. [ link ]

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Pope Francis witnesses the donation of a Saint John’s Illuminated Bible to the Library of Congress WASHINGTON, DC---The Library of Congress today received as a gift from Saint John’s Abbey and University an Apostles Edition of The Saint John’s Bible, a work of art with more than 1,130 pages and 160 illuminations that reflect life in the modern era, measuring 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide when open. It is the first handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned by a monastery since the invention of the printing press, more than 500 years ago. The Library will place the rare edition on public exhibition beginning Saturday, Sept. 26. The gift of this Apostles Edition, made possible by GHR Foundation , was made in the presence of Pope Francis, following his address to a joint meeting of Congress. [ link ]

BLOUIN | ARTINFO By Nicholas Forrest Gustave Moreau (Paris 1826–98) Saint Sebastian 1870–5. Oil on canvas; 115 x 90 cm. Paris, Musée Gustave Moreau, inv. 214\ ITALY---“ Divine Beauty: From Van Gogh to Chagall and Fontana ” at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence from September 24, 2015 to January 24, 2016 explores the relationship between art and religion from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century through more than one hundred works by some of the best known Italian and international artists. The artists featured in the exhibition include renowned Italian artists such as Domenico Morelli , Gaetano Previati , Felice Casorati , Renato Guttuso , Lucio Fontana , and Emilio Vedova , as well as international masters such as Vincent van Gogh , Jean-François Millet , Edvard Munch , Pablo Picasso , Max Ernst , Georges Rouault , and Henri Matisse . [ link ]

SLUG MAGAZINE By  Rheanna Sonnichsen Run DMC WYOMING--- Aaron Wallis is one of those artists that makes you want to buy a house full of his artwork when you meet him because of how he instantly deflates any preconceived notation that well-educated artists are pretentious. Wallis’ Street Bible artwork is like looking at Baroque-style, gold-leaf haloed, filigree-framed, Louvre-inspired images that are historically reserved for holy Roman Catholic Church deities. Wallis said, “The early Christian martyrs were regarded as criminals by the Romans, and I don’t think it’s a complete stretch intellectually to say the criminals of today may be thought of differently in the future.” [ link ]

KNOXVILLE NEWS SENTINEL By Amy McRary Tibetan Buddhist monk Lobsang Tashi demonstrates the process for Camille Clark, 8, who worked on a portion of the community sand mandala painting at the McClung Museum Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015.  TENNESSEE---A team of Tibetan Buddhists monks are at the McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture this week creating a sand mandala painting — a colorful, detailed and temporary design invoking enlightenment and healing. Four of the five monks from the Derpung Loseling Monastery in Atlanta will paint with shades of blue, green, yellow, pink, red and charcoal-black sand to make what's called a green tara design . On Friday the monks will dust away the design they created, sweeping up the sand as a symbol of life's impermanence. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS PENNSYLVANIA---The Vatican has arranged an exhibition at the Convention Center during the week of pope's visit to Philadelphia. " Verbum Domini II: God's Word Goes Out to the Nations " will be on display through Saturday. First shown at the Vatican, it consists of more than 80 artifacts from the Museum of the Bible, a $400 million structure now going up near the Mall in Washington, DC. The exhibit from the Museum of the Bible's Green Collection includes 80 rare texts, including Papyri from the third and fourth centuries.

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Eve M. Kahn One of the Canon Table pages from 1256.Credit The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles CALIFORNIA---The J. Paul Getty Museum, after years of legal wrangling over eight pieces of colorful medieval parchment in its collection, announced on Monday that it has recognized a different rightful owner: the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America. The pages, which the illuminator T’oros Roslin painted in the 13th century, were somehow separated a century ago from the rest of a religious manuscript, the Zeyt’un Gospels, which has been preserved at the Matenadaran institute in Armenia. Church officials are donating the pages to the Getty. [ link ]

AL ARABIYA NEWS By Staff Writer A Muslim pilgrim helps a fellow pilgrim on Mount Mercy on the plains of Arafat during the annual haj pilgrimage, outside the holy city of Mecca. (Reuters) SAUDI ARABIA---Hajj pilgrims from around the world gathered at Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to stand in prayer till sunset in one of the most important days of the Islamic calendar. Some 2 million pilgrims packed should-to-shoulder for an emotional day of repentance and supplication. Many wept as they raised their hands toward the sky, asking for forgiveness and praying for loved ones. [ link ]

EASTERN COURIER By Meghan Lawrence Tiffany Singh’s site-specific installations deal with notions of ritual and sacredness. They are multi-sensory works with swarms of ribbons, flowers and bells. NEW ZEALAND---Buddhism is at the heart of Tiffany Singh's latest art installations. The Auckland artist will have 12 works on display in her upcoming exhibition " Mahabhuta: The Great Element " jointly presented at Uxbridge Centre for Arts and Culture and the Fo Guang Shan Temple. The multi-sensory exhibition aims to bring together the diverse communities of East Auckland and explore what is sacred in contemporary society.  [ link ]

KUWAIT NEWS AGENCY By Mahdi Al-Nimr Image from the Islamic art exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale museum in Rome ITALY---The "Art of the Islamic Civilization" exhibition, organized by Kuwait's Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiyah (DIA), is one of the most important international exhibitions that the Italian capital has ever hosted, showcasing histori pieces and manuscripts from the old culttural heritage of the Islamic civilization, which dates back to over 1,000 years. [ link ]

ARTNET | NEWS By Henri Neuendorf Qing dynasty Tibetan Thangka (18th century) Photo: Sotheby's NEW YORK---A finely embroidered Buddhist thangka was sold for $1.5 million at Sotheby's, New York on Wednesday. Estimated to sell for between $80,000 and $120,000, the artwork fetched 15 times the expected price. The 18th century Qing dynasty thangka hung in an Arizona home for decades. The artwork was bought by the collector Wilton D. Cole and his wife in 1971 and passed down to their children, who were reportedly unaware of the artifact's value. Eventually, a private collector from Asia landed the artwork with a winning bid of $1,510,000. [ link ]

ROBB REPORT Rain Room was previously exhibited at London’s Barbican Centre (October 4, 2012–March 3, 2013), and the Museum of Modern Art in New York (May 12—July 28, 2013). CALIFORNIA---The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and RH Restoration Hardware announce the West Coast debut of "Rain Room" (2012), an immersive work by the London-based artist collective Random International . Within this large-scale installation, water falls continuously to create a cacophonous interior downpour that pauses wherever a human body is detected. Upon entering this surreal environment, visitors can move through this space freely, protected from the water falling all around them. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Neil MacFarquhar The Moscow Cathedral Mosque, which replaces a much smaller structure built in 1904, took a decade to build. Credit Yuri Kadobnov/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images RUSSIA---The most elaborate mosque ever built in Moscow, a city that is home to one of the largest concentrations of Muslims in Europe, was opened on Wednesday by President Vladimir V. Putin. Mr. Putin, in brief remarks, called the new, modern mosque the biggest in Europe and said that it was a worthy addition to a capital and a country built on the idea of uniting different nationalities and faiths. The mosque is a central part of Russia’s efforts to develop its own system of Muslim religious education and training to counteract extremists seeking recruits, the president said. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS PENNSYLVANIA---Just in time for the Pope’s visit, and part of this year’s Fringe Festival, Philadelphia Sculptors will present “Pope Up,” an exhibition of 2D and 3D works centered around all things “Popish.” From the traditional to the offbeat and humorous, the show will present contemporary artists’ approaches to religion and its meanings and interpretations. The exhibition is free. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Vivian Yee Photo Some of the tens of thousands of handwritten messages in the "Knotted Grotto," a temporary art installation outside the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. Credit Mark Makela for The New York Times He may be the world’s foremost Catholic, but to his fans, Pope Francis is more Martin Luther King Jr. than Pope Benedict XVI . He speaks, and millions listen — whether they are Muslim or Baptist, Hindu or atheist. The breadth of his appeal can be traced, in part, to the role he has carved out as a champion of causes beyond the scope of church doctrine. A New York Times/CBS News poll conducted in early September found that 45 percent of respondents saw Francis more as a leader and humanitarian spokesman for all people, regardless of their religion, than as simply the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. [ link ]

ARTDAILY Maestro di Okolicsnó, Il compianto di Cristo 1500-1510. Tempera a olio e albume su tavola di abete, con doratura, 133x99 cm. ITALY---From Raphael to Schiele marks a new departure for the programme of exhibitions at the Palazzo Reale in Milan : the organization of exhibitions of the most important gallery collections in the world, which the general public may not be familiar with and which may not be easily accessible. The Budapest Museum of Fine Arts houses one of the finest collections of works of art in the world, with masterpieces from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. During Expo Milan 2016 , 76 works from the collection traveled from Budapest to be exhibited in the rooms of the Palazzo Reale in Milan from 17 September 2015 to 7 February 2016. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS NEW YORK---Opening in October 2015, the New Museum will present the first New York survey exhibition of the work of Jim Shaw (b. 1952). Over the past thirty years, Shaw has taken a " connoisseurial approach to pop culture " moving between painting, sculpture, and illustrations to build connections between America’s political, commercial, and religious histories. Michigan-born Shaw collects religious pamphlets , created his own religion , and according to Artnet , NYC's "the New Museum is turning him loose to display the multifaceted results of his explorations." New Museum : " Jim Shaw: The End is Near " (Oct. 7, 2015-Jan. 10, 2016); 235 Bowery, New York, NY; (212) 219-1222; newmuseum.org

QUARTZ | INDIA By Girish Shahane Husain’s "Saraswati" is a good illustration of the way modern artists reinvent traditional icons: Its very simplicity makes it a fine exemplar. MF Husain , India’s most important painter, was the most prominent victim of such malicious re-contexting in India. Before the 1990s, nobody suggested he was insulting the faith. And yet, in his 81st year, Husain was targeted by right-wing Hindu groups for supposedly insulting their faith, a charge that was to hound him till the end of his life, leading ultimately to his leaving the country he cherished. For those who ask why Husain painted Hindu figures naked and not Muslim ones, the answer is simple: he aimed to work with traditions and reconfigure them, and there are no traditions of nude Islamic paintings the way there are of Hindu icons. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Dalia Sussman and Bill Marsh A large majority of Catholics say the direction of the church has changed at least somewhat under the leadership of Francis. And over all, eight in 10 Catholics approve of the direction Pope Francis is leading it, including a majority who approve strongly. More than six in 10 Catholics, moreover, view him favorably; a mere 3 percent view him unfavorably, while the rest have no opinion. That is a far higher level of favorability than expressed for Pope Benedict at the end of his papacy, and is more similar to Pope John Paul II’s rating at points in his time leading the church. [ link ]

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER By Stephan Salisbury "St. Francis - The Piazza" by Benton Spruance is in "Woodmere Welcomes Pope Francis: Biblical Art from the Permanent Collection" at the Woodmere Art Museum to Oct. 18. PENNSYLVANIA---As Philadelphia prepares to welcome Pope Francis this week, its museums and cultural institutions are offering visitors opportunities to engage with religion - and, sometimes, not just one. On view, not surprisingly, are historical documents of the Catholic Church and treasures from the Vatican. But Dead Sea Scroll fragments, an ancient illuminated Quran, a Sumerian tablet, and George Washington's assurances to the Jews of Rhode Island also are out there. [ link ]

BLOUIN | ARTINFO By Lucian Harris, Art+Auction Zheng Huaxing, a collector Guangdong province, purchased this 21 inch high Yongle era gilt-bronze image of a seating Shakyamuni Buddha for $30.3 million. (Sotheby's) Over the past few years, demand for Buddhist art has rocketed, driven primarily by the new generation of superrich Chinese collectors obsessed with reclaiming parts of what they consider their lost cultural heritage. How much the Buddhist art market will continue to flourish at its current level is also hard to predict. The more wealthy American museums are also prepared to make purchases, often acting with the help of donors. Any art market boom always carries with it the specter of a forthcoming crash, but in the case of Himalayan bronzes , the signs seem to indicate that the only way is up. [ link ]

CHABAD The Torah Scroll - "Ki MiTzion" by Yoram Raanan After the destruction of the Temple, the rabbis endorsed the idea of creating individual places of worship to accommodate the dispersed Jewish population. The synagogue came to take over some of the functions of the Temple and was sometimes called Mikdash Me’at or the “Little Temple.” The focal feature of every synagogue is the ark which holds the Torah scrolls. Three times a week, when the scrolls are taken out of the Ark for the weekly portion to be read, the words "Ki MiZion tetzei torah u'dvar Hashem miYerushalayim" are sung in a melodious tune. [ link ]

ART DAILY AFP PHOTO / POOL - Tony Gentile CUBA---Pope Francis (L) shakes hands with Cuban President Raul Castro during his welcome ceremony upon his arrival at Jose Marti international airport in Havana on September 19, 2015. Pope Francis on Saturday urged the United States and Cuba to pursue their nascent reconciliation as he arrived in Havana on the first leg of a high-profile trip that will also take him to the US.[ link ]

ARTNEWS This week Skate’s released its " Fall 2015 Art E-Commerce and Media Report ," taking a particularly close look at Kickstarter and the Dutch online auction house Catawiki, which “raised $82 million in funding in July, eclipsing any of its peers with the size of this funding round,” according to Skate’s. Impressive. The accompanying graph shows where Catawiki stacks up in the race to build an online audience against seven competitors, from online-only Paddle8 to giants like Sotheby’s and Christie’s, who are hoping to convert their brick-and-mortar expertise into digital gold. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Randy Kennedy Detail of "Untitled" (2015) by Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri. Acrylic paint on canvas. 72.05 × 60.24 inches. Credit Salon 94 gallery NEW YORK---Mr. Tjapaltjarri (his full name is pronounced war-lehm-peer-ing-ah jah-pal-jah-ree), has taken up painting on canvas with two brothers , adapting ceremonial designs that Pintupi men used on rocks, spears and their bodies. The paintings that have made him a sought-after figure in the Desert Painting movement, which arose in the 1970s and sowed international interest in Aboriginal art, are in one sense transcriptions of the stories. The show runs through Oct. 24 at the Salon 94 gallery on the Bowery , near the New Museum. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By TAHLIB, Curator "Tower of Babel" (2015) by Barnaby Barford Now in its 26th season, the  Indianapolis Men's Chorus interprets both secular and religious music in powerful ways that promote empathy and celebration. This week, A&O co-founder, Gregory Disney-Britton, auditioned and began rehearsals as IMC's newest member. To celebrate, we acquired a bone china replica of a Christian bookstore that also serves a dual purpose. It's No. 2201 of 3,000 storefronts in " Tower of Babel " by Barnaby Barford , and it's our NEWS OF WEEK .

FORBES MAGAZINE By Scott Mendelson ,CONTRIBUTOR 'Black Mass' Review: 'Mortdecai' Was Better - Forbes HOLLYWOOD---"Black Mass" is an episodic and ultimately unsatisfying cinematic retelling of a relatively uncinematic story. The story of James “Whitey” Bulger and his decades-long alliance with the FBI is certainly an interesting piece of history, but that doesn’t mean it necessarily requires a feature film version. Yes, for the record, Johnny Depp is fine here as Mr. Bulger. It’s an often understated performance, with only enough scenery-chewing to splice into a trailer, but it’s still Depp doing the so-called “funny hat” turn. [ link ]

RELIGION NEWS SERVICE More than 81 million U.S. adults identify themselves as Catholic. But how they live that identity — how they connect to the church beyond celebrating the popular Pope Francis — adds up very differently. Only about 1 in 3 adult Catholics (31.4 percent), chiefly older women, attend Mass in any given week, according to a survey of 1,007 self-identified Catholics by the Catholic research agency, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. The same 2008 CARA study , “Sacraments Today,” shows participation in the faith’s seven sacraments, such as baptism, Communion and confirmation, has been dropping steadily with each succeeding generation. [ link ]

ARTNET | NEWS By Christie Chu The Beggruen Institute , an independent research group founded by art collector and financier Nicolas Berggruen, launched the Berggruen Philosophy and Culture Center in Los Angeles on Wednesday, which is backed by an advisory board including political scientist Francis Fukuyama, writer Alain de Botton , economist Amartya Sen, and journalist Fareed Zakaria, among others. The abstract program will include a partnership between American and Chinese universities; an "ideas contest" co-sponsored by the Aspen Institute; and an annual $1 million prize awarded by an international jury. [ link ]

THE GUARDIANS By Alexis Soloski Linda Powell, left, Andrew Garman, Larry Powell and Philip Kerr in The Christians. Photograph: Joan Marcus/Supplied NEW YORK---Whether or not you believe in God, you should believe in Lucas Hnath. Hnath is a youngish playwright with an interest in form, argument and the stories we tell in order to consolidate our lives and beliefs. At The Christians, you enter the Playwrights Horizons main stage to a room transformed into a luxurious, queasily tasteful megachurch – lots of polished wood, cultivated greenery and recessed lighting. Mature plays about faith aren’t typical. [ link ]  Playwrights Horizons : " The Christians " (Extended through October 25, 2015); 416 West 42nd St. (between 9th & 10th Aves.), New York, NY; (212) 564-1235; phnyc.org

HYPERALLERGIC By Melissa Stern Jim Shaw, “The Burning Bush” (2013) (detail), acrylic on muslin backdrop with two acrylic, muslin and plywood cut-outs  MASSACHUSETTS---There’s a big, funny, emotional, and political exhibition at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA). The exhibition, entitled Entertaining Doubts, presents a massive retrospective of the Los Angeles-based artist Jim Shaw . The work is at once universal in its popular imagery and intensely personal in its self-expression. It would be a bore and frankly remove all the magic from the art to try to decipher everything in this dizzying mix. I find a deep sense of anxiety in the art, amidst its equally apparent humor. [ link ] Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art: " Jim Shaw: Entertaining Doubts " (Ends January 2016), 1040 Mass MoCA Way, North Adams, MA;(413) 662-2111; MassMoCA.org

THE HINDU By M. Sai Gopal Shekhar displaying his Ganesha idols at West Marredpally in Secunderabad.– File Photo: Nagara Gopal INDIA--- If you have more than 16,845 idols of Ganesha, you are bound to walk into record books! This is what has happened to P. Shekhar, whose lifetime love affair with the idols of the elephant God has earned him a rightful passage into the Guinness Book of World Records for dedicating his life to collecting rare and unique idols of Ganesha. A bank employee by profession, Mr. Shekhar has varied interests but all related to Ganesha. When he is not collecting idols, then he is writing a book ‘Vishwa Vinayaka’ that covers Ganesha temples across the world. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Michael Paulson Harriett D. Foy, Josh Young and cast Photo by Joan Marcus NEW YORK---“ Amazing Grace ,” the first musical to open on Broadway this season, will also be the first to close: its producers announced Wednesday night that they would shutter the production next month. The musical, about the early British abolitionist John Newton, opened to weak reviews and performed poorly at the box office throughout its run. The show, which cost $16 million to mount, had been marketed to Christian and African-American audiences, counting on the inspirational story of Newton’s religious conversion, and the stark depiction of the slave trade, to interest new ticket buyers, but that strategy did not succeed. [ link ]