St Peter’s Seminary will not be saved by the Scottish government

Our daily round-up of news from the art world 

St Peter’s Seminary will not be saved by the Scottish government | A new report by Historic Environment Scotland has recommended that the A-listed St Peter’s Seminary, near Cardross in Scotland, should not be purchased by the state. The report found that making the dilapidated structure safe for the public could cost more than £13m over two decades; it recommended instead that the post-war brutalist masterpiece by Gillespie, Kidd & Coia, be allowed to undergo ‘curated decay’ – a process for which the Scottish culture secretary Fiona Hyslop has expressed support, though it is also likely to require millions of pounds of investment.

Wellcome Collection appointed Melanie Keen as new director | The Wellcome announced today that Melanie Keen has been appointed as its next director. Keen, who is currently director and chief curator at Iniva (the Institute of International Visual Arts), will take up the role this autumn.

Designs for extension to New Museum revealed | The New Museum in New York is to double its gallery space with a new extension. Designed by architects OMA, the angular structure will replace the museum’s premises at 231 Bowery, currently used for storage and for the New Inc start-up lab.

Aliph fund announces $6.3m for war-zone heritage projects | Aliph, the Geneva-based International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas, has allocated $6.3m to 14 new projects. The projects include an effort to protect and conserve the Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan, which has sustained a number of attacks by the Taliban in recent years, and the restoration of the Raqqa Museum in Syria.

Recommended reading | In the London Review of Books, Alice Spawls reflects on a display of automata by Paul Spooner in the window of architects Rodic Davidson. In Frieze, Kirsty Bell reviews an exhibition of Jana Euler’s virtuosic and grotesque shark paintings.