— Dead Animal Artist Preps Taxidermy Pony for PULSE: The Dutch artist Tinkebell has run afoul of animal lovers in the past with sculptures that involve animal carcasses and unconventional taxidermy — she received so much hate mail when she made a purse out of her own cat that she published a book of it, "Dearest Tinkebell." Her latest concoction — premiering at Frieze Week satellite fair PULSE — is a full-sized stuffed horse made to look like a "My Little Pony" toy. [HuffPo]

— Frieze Week Shrinks: Even with all the hype about the fair-driven art economy, there seems to be strain — particularly at the lower end. In the lead up to Frieze New York this week, the Red Dot Art Fair announced that it would not make an appearance after all following a dispute with its hotel venue. Now, the tenacious small-fry fair PooL has also announced that it is bowing out, supposedly over a disagreement about parking spaces at its venue. Don't worry, though: PooL is already planning its coming edition in Guadeloupe. [ITA]

— "Adam and Eve" Fight Could Alter Nazi-Loot Law: The drawn-out legal battle over Lucas Cranach the Elder's 480-year-old diptych "Adam and Eve" between Los Angeles's Norton Simon Museum and Marei Von Saher — who claims rightful ownership of the paintings that were stolen from her fateher-in-law Jacques Goudstikker, a Jewish-Dutch art dealer, after the Nazis invaded Holland in 1940 — is reaching its conclusion. If Von Saher's recent appeal fails, she will not only lose any claim to the Edenic pair, but the case could set a new precedent for the repatriation of Nazi-looted art. [LAT]

— "The Scream" Sale in Pictures: ARTINFO's Shane Ferro was in the audience at Sotheby's last night as the last version of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" set a new auction record. Check out her photos of the salesroom, if you want to know what a crowd looks like when someone decides to pay $120 million for something. [ATE]

— U.K. Arts Council Spending Drops Six Percent: Confirming the fears of the man artists who've spoken out over arts cuts in England, Arts Council England's (ACE) just-released annual report for the 2010-11 season reveals that the public arts funding agency pumped £588 million ($950 million) into the country's cultural sector, down six percent from 2009-10's £625 million ($1.01 billion). ACE chief executive Alan Davey warned that this year's drop may be worse: "There are good arts organisations across the country now facing tough decisions." [TheStage]

— Graffiti Versus "The Wire": Street artist Gaia has put together the first-ever graffiti festival for Baltimore, dubbed Open Walls. Gaia positions the festival, which will feature artists including John Ahearn and Swoon, as an attempt to combat urban blight: "We have this aesthetic conjuncture of people moving back to the city," he said. "We've been experiencing divestment for sixty, seventy years now, so its about time." [San Francisco Bay Guardian]

— Developing Countries Buy Up Dutch Religious Art: On average two churches close every week in the Netherlands, but all the religious artifacts adoring their walls are finding devoted new owners abroad. Enterprising Dutch religious art experts are selling the shuttered places of worship's stock of crucifixes, pews, paintings, and even altars to the thousands of new Catholic and Protestant churches opening in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. [Reuters]

— The Portland Art Surge: Moving (slightly) beyond the "Portlandia" stereotypes, Peter Plagens writes that the Oregon burg is a place where, despite an underdeveloped commercial gallery scene, there is a "residual roughness and collective spirit" that may just make it the incubator for the next big thing in art. Sort of. "To be blunt, Portland's art scene has a lot of no-no on its lips but yes-yes in its eyes," Plagens concludes (that's being blunt?). [WSJ]

— New Florida Museum for Avant-Garde Kids Opens: This weekend marks the opening of the new headquarters of the Young at Art Museum in Davie, Florida, an art center for kids whose Web site advertises itself as a place for "Waves, Warhol, Wonderland, and WOW!" The $26-million museum boasts galleries for all ages, and kicks off with attractions including "inflatable art sculptures" and a graffiti garden where visitors can paint with a street artist. [Miami Herald]

— Are Firefighters to Blame for Nasher's Woes?: In an odd take on the ongoing battle between the Nasher Sculpture Park and its neighbor, Museum Tower — whose reflective surface has flooded the park with light, causing major disruptions — Bloomberg weighs in to blame it all on the Dallas Police & Fire Pension System, which backs the flashy condo tower. Apparently, the fund, which is also a major investor in "American Idol," is a particular risk-taker, and the super-flashy exterior of Museum Tower is a symbol of its roguish investment strategy. [Bloomberg]

— Romanians Rib Nude Statue: A new statue of Romania's Emperor Trajan standing nude with a wolf in his arms outside the National History Museum in Bucharest has drawn ridicule from Romanians who find the bronze sculpture by the late artist Vasile Gorduz profoundly embarrassing. The museum's curator Ernest Oberlander Tarnoveanu said: "I am not a prude or a conservative, but the statue should never have been erected here because of its doubtful artistic quality." [Telegraph]

ALSO ON ARTINFO:

"It’s Like Someone Turned a Tap On”: How Pacific Standard Time Transformed the Market for California Minimalism

"The Scream" Scares Up $120 Million and Shatters Records at Sotheby's Epic Impressionist and Modern Sale

ARTINFO's Guide to the Events and Parties of New York's Inaugural Frieze Week, Ranked by Coolness

Art-Tech Watch: Experimental Art Rental Startup Bets on Turning Your Office Into a Salesroom

Helsinki Nixes Plans for a Guggenheim, Unwilling to Pick Up the Tab for a "Rich, Multinational Foundation"

5 Tantalizing Hints About the Met’s Upcoming Schiaparelli and Prada Show