Museum of Modern Art’s proposed 82-story, 1,000-foot tower clears final hurdle gets final OK

MoMA 82-story tower approved by NYC Council

New York’s Metropolitan returns ancient pharoanic artifact to Egypt

The Met returns Egyptian artifact

CAIRO — New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art will return to Egypt a fragment of an ancient pharoanic shrine it purchased from a collector, Egypt’s antiquities department said Monday.

Miami Art Museum Director resigns as facility prepares to break ground on new building

Miami Art Museum Director resigns

MIAMI — The director of the Miami Art Museum has resigned, effective immediately.

Louisville’s 21c basks in glow of No. 1 ranking in magazine survey of top US hotels

Louisville hotel wins top ranking

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Wade Johnson has plopped down in plenty of hotels, but the business consultant ranks his stays at 21c Museum Hotel in downtown Louisville as a one-of-a-kind experience.

Istanbul exhibition in Paris seeks to reveal the Turkish city’s multicultural soul

PARIS — The glories of Istanbul have arrived in Paris.

Ring with 32-carat diamond, owned by Leonore Annenberg, sells for $7.7 million at NYC auction

NEW YORK — A square, 32.01-carat emerald-cut diamond that billionaire philanthropist Leonore Annenberg bought for her 90th birthday sold for $7.7 million at auction on Wednesday.

Organizers say ArtPrize will come back to Grand Rapids next year

GRAND RAPID, Mich. — A new art festival held this fall in Grand Rapids was so successful that organizers say they’ll do it again next year and maybe even make it an annual event.

Louvre exhibit on masterpieces at Mpls museum

MINNEAPOLIS — Works of art by Michelangelo and Vermeer are among 62 items from the Louvre in Paris now on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Canadian billionaire Guy Laliberte calls his 10-day mission to space a success

STAR CITY, Russia — Guy Laliberte, a billionaire who once worked as a stilt-walker and fire-eater, said Tuesday that he accomplished his mission by using a 10-day trip to the International Space Station to promote a humanitarian cause.

French museum to return Egyptian artifacts after Egypt cuts ties with Louvre

PARIS — France’s culture minister agreed Friday to return five painted wall fragments to Egypt after a row over their ownership prompted the Egyptians to cut ties with the Louvre Museum.

French museum experts agree to return Egyptian artifacts after Egypt cuts ties with Louvre

PARIS — France’s culture minister agreed Friday to return painted wall fragments to Egypt after a row over their ownership prompted the country to cut ties with the Louvre Museum.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Phantom’ returns _ and this time he’s haunting Coney Island

LONDON — The Phantom of the Opera is coming back — but this time, he’ll be haunting the amusement park at New York’s Coney Island.

Andrew Lloyd Webber takes ‘Phantom’ sequel to new locale _ Coney Island

LONDON — The Phantom of the Opera is coming back — but this time, he’ll be haunting the amusement park at New York’s Coney Island rather than the Paris opera house.

Exhibition of Van Gogh’s letters shows careful craftsman, not troubled genius

AMSTERDAM — While Vincent van Gogh has become almost as famed for his troubled mind as for his paintings, a new exhibition in the Van Gogh Museum seeks to remind us there was more method than madness to his style.

Andrew Lloyd Webber making ‘Phantom’ sequel moved to new locale _ Coney Island

LONDON — The Phantom of the Opera is coming back — but this time, he’ll be haunting the amusement park at New York’s Coney Island rather than the Paris opera house.

Egypt severs ties with France’s Louvre over disputed artifacts from ancient tomb

CAIRO — Egypt’s antiquities czar took his campaign to recover the nation’s lost treasures to a new level on Wednesday by cutting ties with one of the world’s premier museums, the Louvre, over disputed artifacts.

Egypt’s antiquities chief cuts ties with Louvre museum over ’stolen’ artifacts

CAIRO — Egypt said Wednesday its antiquities department severed ties with France’s Louvre museum because it has refused to return what are described as stolen artifacts, one of the country’s most aggressive attempts yet to reclaim relics from some of the world’s leading Egyptology collections.

The Overdue Funeral: 160 years later, Edgar Allan Poe to get proper send-off to the sepulcher

BALTIMORE — For Edgar Allan Poe, 2009 has been a better year than 1849. After dozens of events in several cities to mark the 200th anniversary of his birth, he’s about to get the grand funeral that a writer of his stature should have received when he died.

McDonald’s to hang out its shingle near Mona Lisa’s home in the Carrousel du Louvre

PARIS — French culture and American convenience will come together in December — thanks to plans by the McDonald’s restaurant chain to hang its shingle in the shadow of the Louvre.