What’s on now at San Francisco museums, May 2026

San Francisco museums are navigating a mix of upcoming exhibitions and financial challenges in May 2026. SFMOMA is closing "KAWS: Family" on May 3 and opening "Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal" from May 16 to September 13. The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts has suspended operations due to funding issues, and SOMArts is also facing a budget gap. Meanwhile, the Museum of Craft and Design presents "Video Craft" through August 16, and the Letterform Archive hosts "Black Memory Scholar: The Language of Storytellers" and "Piet Zwart: Brand Architect." SFMOMA has announced three SECA award winners—CrossLypka, Em Kettner, and Chanell Stone—who will exhibit from December 2026 to May 2027, and the museum continues to showcase "Reimagined: The Fisher Collection at 10" and new installations by Alexander Calder, Claes Oldenburg + Coosje van Bruggen, and Rose B Simpson.

'Mayday' call from gallery looking for new home

Trapezium Arts, a community arts group in Bradford, UK, has issued a 'mayday' call for help to find a new home after being told it must vacate its current space in the Kirkgate Shopping Centre by June 18. The centre is slated for demolition to make way for a 1,000-home City Village development. The group, founded eight years ago by a collective of local artists, has been operating out of empty retail units and will open its final exhibition at 54 Kirkgate on Saturday, titled 'May Day!', running from May 2 to 30.

No, the closed Museum of Comics in Milan has not found a new home in Brianza

No, il Museo del Fumetto chiuso a Milano non ha trovato la nuova sede in Brianza

The Museum of Comics (Museo del Fumetto) in Milan, which suspended operations in June 2025 due to a €180,000 debt to the city, has not found a permanent new home despite online rumors. Instead, the Fondazione Franco Fossati, which runs the museum, has secured temporary storage for its archive in Desio (Monza-Brianza) for up to two years, using spaces granted free of charge by the local municipality. The archive—containing over 500,000 items including publications, original boards, and memorabilia—will be cataloged and preserved there, but the museum itself remains closed to the public.

23rd Annual Student Art Show Celebrates Students’ Connection to the Santa Barbara Channel

On May 7, the community gathered at Jodi House Gallery for a reception and awards ceremony hosted by Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, celebrating the 23rd Annual Student Art Show. High school students from Carpinteria to Goleta submitted 120 pieces interpreting the Santa Barbara Channel, with 50 selected for the show. Awards were juried by Meagan Stirling, Associate Professor of Art at Westmont College. First place went to Aricin Marshall for his ceramic sculpture *Tide Bound – Hollister Ranch*, second to Josefa Olivio for *Channel Islands Fox*, and third to Jocabed Carranza for *After the Tide*. The Environmental Ethic Award was given to Maria Rojo for *Insufferable Freedom*, and the Juror’s Choice Award to Madeline Adler for *Sea Life vs. Pollution: The Ongoing Battle*. Honorable mentions included Sophia Lam, Alejandro Miranda, and Camila Sandoval.

Art Beat: Color Play exhibit is ‘must see’

Color Play, a new exhibition featuring hand-blown glass by Tyler Boles and mixed-media works by Sue Cranston, opened at Art’s House in River Falls on April 30 and runs through June 12. A Meet the Artist event is scheduled for May 6. Boles presents vibrant bowls, vases, and wine goblets, while Cranston’s work explores girlhood and memory through digital prints, vintage school chairs, and layered text, with prices ranging from $10 for digital prints to $750 for original pieces.