Slate magazine has posted (again) a great explanation of how conservators repair priceless paintings. The piece was originally published after casino magnate Steve Wynn tore a hole in his $139 million Picasso last year. (Also check out our March 2007 issue's Ask the Experts column, in which our own Michael Skalka describes the delicacy of repairing a cut canvas. You can get a copy of that issue here.) 

Boxes chock-full of nominations for our artists over 60 feature are nearly crowding me out! We've started narrowing down the field, and we are very happy with the work we've been seeing!

The members of the 2007 class of MacArthur Fellows have some thinking to do. Each year, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation gives no-strings-attached grants to two dozen or so gifted individuals with lots of potential. The list this year includes writers, engineers, biologists—and visual artists Whitfield Lovell and Joan Snyder.

The $500,000 is tax-free and paid in quarterly installments over five years, the idea being to take away any financial burden that might inhibit the recipients' creative flow. (Only one catch: You can't nominate yourself, and neither can your friends. The finalists and winners are selected by anonymous nominators and an anonymous committee.)

Lovell, 47, of New York City, does installations and tableaux on antique wood of people, often African-Americans who have not been memorialized by history, as he explains in a video interview. He says one of his biggest challenges as an artist has been making ends meet. He hopes to move on to bigger and more ambitious projects with the help of the grant.

Snyder, 67, of Brooklyn, New York, likens getting a MacArthur fellowship to having a baby. "I think I'll probably get a lot more calls," she says in her video interview when asked about how the grant will affect her. Her abstract paintings often incorporate found objects and elements of collage, and show a very personal evolution over her four-decade career.

Later on this week, I'll post a picture of the boxes and boxes of envelopes so you can see for yourself how big the pool is. As we go through submissions, we'll be sending out letters letting people know whether they made it. Please don't call or e-mail asking us if you are going to be in the feature or if we've reviewed your work yet. We kindly ask for your patience—we've got our work cut out for us!