Thursday's Art Notes

_People visit an exhibition of Chinese artist Huang Yong Ping called 'Wu Zei', a 25 meters wide octopus, on November 18, 2010 in Monaco, at the first day of the exhibition 'Mediterranean Sea' at Monaco's oceanographic museum. Photo by Valery Hache/ AFP/ Getty Images_ * Jasper Johns, Maya Angelou and Yo-Yo Ma will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, via the "Los Angeles Times":http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/11/jasper-johns-yo-yo-ma-awarded-president-medal-of-freedom-from-obama.html. * The New York Times "recalls":http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/arts/music/18doors.html the culture battle over Jim Morrison's famous 1969 indecent exposure conviction, in light of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's announcement that he will seek posthumous clemancy for the late musician. * A developer in Baltimore proposes building a monumental metal sculpture that he says would distinguish the city like St. Louis' Arch or Paris' Eiffel Tower, via "The Baltimore Sun":http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-turner-sculpture-20101117,0,341614.story * The Christian Science Monitor "has a roundup":http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Arts/2010/1117/The-women-of-pop-art?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+feeds/arts+%28Christian+Science+Monitor+|+Arts/Entertainment%29 of new museum exhibits that try to expose the way women artists were often excluded or marginalized by the men in different art movements. * A postcard art campaign in El Paso, Tx. tries to change the city's current reputation and distance itself from its border neighbor Juarez, Mexico, via the "Houston Chronicle":http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/travel/news/7300466.html. * Voice of America "has a dispatch":http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Artist-Goes-on-Trial-in-Beijing-108919544.html on a Chinese artist who is on trial after he led a protest against propety developers who were tearing down fellow artists' studios. * Robert De Niro announces a new art prize for a mid-career painter in honor of his artist father, Robert De Niro Sr., via "Variety":http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118027675. * AFP "talked to":http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gV82q0WnVdGpkee8vKNGurUJAYBA?docId=CNG.438ddadadb273d576b4f7d93e6ba6d24.451 the shy widow of poet Charles Bukowski about a new exhibit about the late writer at a museum north of Los Angeles.