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.”
"The fundamental problem is that it elevates diversity over quality..." –Sebastian Smee, @washingtonpost.com
When you read something like this think twice about what the critic might really be saying. Historically, making claims for quality over diversity has been a way of shutting people out.
When you read something like this think twice about what the critic might really be saying. Historically, making claims for quality over diversity has been a way of shutting people out.
December 4, 2025 at 2:38 AM
"The fundamental problem is that it elevates diversity over quality..." –Sebastian Smee, @washingtonpost.com
When you read something like this think twice about what the critic might really be saying. Historically, making claims for quality over diversity has been a way of shutting people out.
When you read something like this think twice about what the critic might really be saying. Historically, making claims for quality over diversity has been a way of shutting people out.
Thank you @thisiscolossal.com for naming my book a favorite of the year!
From gardens to nail art to artist-led activism, these books are the Colossal team’s favorites of the year.
Our Favorite Books of 2025
From gardens to nail art to artist-led activism, these books are the Colossal team's favorites of the year.
www.thisiscolossal.com
December 3, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Thank you @thisiscolossal.com for naming my book a favorite of the year!
Same here. From Chris Kraus’s latest, The Four Spent the Day Together.
December 2, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Same here. From Chris Kraus’s latest, The Four Spent the Day Together.
Last night my dear friend told me he’d given up reading my book for another, and then I found the evidence! I get it!
November 29, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Last night my dear friend told me he’d given up reading my book for another, and then I found the evidence! I get it!
From the exquisite Diane Simpson show at Arts & Letters
November 26, 2025 at 1:56 AM
From the exquisite Diane Simpson show at Arts & Letters
Elated that my book was named a book of the year by NPR, and thank you to Chloe Veltman for this sweet write up. (Also love that the book is labeled as “all geek to me”!)
November 24, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Elated that my book was named a book of the year by NPR, and thank you to Chloe Veltman for this sweet write up. (Also love that the book is labeled as “all geek to me”!)
Reposted by Lauren O'Neill-Butler
Remember that striking Starbucks workers are asking you not to buy Starbucks right now
November 24, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Remember that striking Starbucks workers are asking you not to buy Starbucks right now
Reposted by Lauren O'Neill-Butler
Puzzled by shock at Trump/Mamdani presser. Long history of autocrats opportunistically--& temporarily--embracing enemies. I think Mamdani's right to use the moment. Suspect he gets it's just that. & also knows Trump sees he gets a little "winner" shine & can later say "I gave him a chance."
November 22, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Puzzled by shock at Trump/Mamdani presser. Long history of autocrats opportunistically--& temporarily--embracing enemies. I think Mamdani's right to use the moment. Suspect he gets it's just that. & also knows Trump sees he gets a little "winner" shine & can later say "I gave him a chance."
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.