Two galleries in downtown San Jose will be hosting open-to-the-public furry art shows concurrent with Further Confusion 2012, from January 12 (Thursday) to 21 (Saturday).

The stated objective of these shows is to get high-quality furry art out in the public, and to introduce San Jose's downtown gallery scene to the wealth of furry artwork. Local news media representatives will be invited to visit.

There is an open call for artwork, including con-badges, which will be printed by the show; the submission deadline is December 31. The shows are being organized independently of Further Confusion by its Art Track events lead, B. Root, creator of webcomic The Dawn Chapel.

The KALEID gallery and comic book publishers Slave Labor Graphics are hosting the shows.

In a recent journal (now deleted), Dragoneer reported the 'new' furry convention, Furry Beach, to be a scam. Its advertising movie was made using clips from a variety of furcons and furmeets.

Since the announcement, the convention's website has gone offline and the fkandfriend's deviantART account, linked to the convention's PayPal account, has been deactivated.

High school artist and fursuit builder Ludicrousy is featured in an interview with the Orange County Register, in which she describes her move to Orange County High School of the Arts, and the discovery of her passion for costuming:

... as I started to explore my art work, I said 'You know, I can do a lot more here than just be someone who goes to college.' [...] I felt like I found what I'm supposed to do with my life.

Watch: Ludicrousy's red wolf Kawl entertains students and supports the Make It Better Project.

A link-sprinkled news post in TIME discusses the possibility for a state-wide animal-abuser registry in California. [credit: Doodles/furryne.ws]

The proposed registry is estimated to cost anywhere from half-a-million to a million dollars to setup, plus another $300,000-$400,000 annually.

While nobody really wants to support animal abuse, an editorial from the Fresno Bee notes the current proposal does not have the backing of pet food vendors, whose products would be taxed to fund it, and suggests it duplicates the work of private anti-abuse organizations.

A new furry convention, Antheria, has been announced. The event is to take place October 1-3 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport hotel.

Cartoonist Stan Sakai, musician Matthew Ebel (Hali of Firpine) and ConFurence founder Mark Merlino are listed as guests of honor. 2 and Uncle Kage are also to attend.

The convention has an Ancient Roman theme. Hotel rates start at $99, while registration is being offered at levels of $35, $60 and $100.