– The Party is Present: Marina Abramovic, who has been known to throw a controversial party or two, threw a high-concept soiree at Sundance in honor of the documentary "Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present." All guests wore white labcoats (ring a bell?) and noise canceling headphones; they were forbidden to speak for an hour. (The silence was supposed to echo Marina's own during her MoMA retrospective performance.) Robert Redford, who said he spent an entire day at Abramovic's MoMA show, called the event "fabulous." [NYMag] 

– Smithsonian Attendance Declines: The Smithsonian's annual attendance declined by two percent last year, but 29 million people still visited the museum complex. Officials said the decline could be attributed to the leveling off of visitors enticed by the 2009 movie, "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian." [WaPo]

– Have England's Cultural Tastes Gone Conservative?: That's the question critic Jonathan Jones is asking in light of the success of "conservative" landscape painter David Hockney's exhibition at the Royal Academy and the Victorian TV phenomenon "Downton Abbey." [Guardian] 

– North Carolina May Get Its First Civil War Museum: A museum devoted to North Carolina's role in slavery, the Civil War, and the civil rights movement has been proposed in Fayetteville. "North Carolina was kind of like a microcosm for the entire country for this war," said David Winslow, who is overseeing the project. [FayObserver]

– ICA Boston Gets a Boost: Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art announced that the museum's director and chief curator positions have been endowed for the first time in its 75-year history. The endowment is part of a $50 million fundraising campaign, of which $25 million has already been contributed. [Art Daily] 

– Museum Head Hits the Beach: Bolton Colburn, who recently stepped down as the head of the Laguna Art Museum, has been appointed executive director of the Surfing Heritage Foundation. The avid surfer brought his hobby into the museum for its 2002 "Surf Culture" exhibition. Now Colburn will help the Surfing Heritage ramp up its presence in the museum world. Hang ten! [LAT]

– Artists Help Scientists Save Birds: Scientists teamed up with a group of artists to restore an island wildlife sanctuary near San Jose, California. The artists created ceramic "love shacks" to allow birds to lay their eggs in a protected environment. [Mercury News] 

– Arts Make Green for Michigan, Study Says: A new study makes the case that the arts can be profitable in Michigan. In Detroit alone, according to the report, the city's 28 arts organizations had total direct expenditures of more than $127 million and employed 2,657 staff. Tourists spend a total of $2 billion statewide on arts and culture. [HuffPo]

– India Art Fair Goes International: The India Art Fair launches its fourth edition today in a new custom-built space and with a renewed international outlook. Its director sold a 49 percent stake in the fair to the founders of the Hong Kong Art Fair, who promise to bring in a global network of galleries and collectors. [NYT]  

– High-Impact Performance: Jori Finkel recounts two recent Pacific Standard Time performances, one by Richard Jackson and another inspired by Niki de Saint Phalle, that used projectiles as tools for painting and instruments for ceding control. Neither one, however, went totally according to plan. [LAT]  

– Lord of the Rings Goes LEGO: LEGO is planning to put out a series of sets based on the popular "Lord of the Rings" movies. Early shots of the new products show a collection of mini-hobbits and a towering Gandalf (white plastic beard included). [Toy News]

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