U.K. Arts Center Lands Seismic $122.4M Gift

The Sainsbury Centre near Norwich, England, has received a landmark gift of £91.2 million ($122.4 million) from Lord David Sainsbury through his Gatsby Charitable Foundation. In other news, Art Basel has appointed Wassan Al-Khudhairi as artistic director for its 2027 Qatar edition; Christie's led New York's spring auction season with $1.3 billion, driven by the S.I. Newhouse collection; Sotheby's brought in $737 million; Phillips rebounded with $115.2 million; and Bonhams achieved $22 million. Pace now represents the Constantin Brancusi Estate, Yinka Shonibare joined Mennour, and several other gallery and museum appointments were announced, including Clarissa Morales as COO of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and new interim leadership at Dallas Contemporary. The Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt will inherit Henrike Naumann's estate, Dubai announced a new Museum of Digital Art, and the Centre Pompidou partnered with Chanel.

New residency in upstate New York will give Indigenous artists access to neon fabrication studio

Lite Brite Neon Studio in Kingston, New York, has partnered with the Walker Youngbird Foundation to launch Native Neon, a residency program providing Indigenous artists with access to neon fabrication. The inaugural recipient is Sarah Rowe, an enrolled member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and of Lakota descent, who receives $50,000, a $10,000 stipend, and a week-long residency to create an immersive neon environment. The studio, known for collaborations with artists like Glenn Ligon and Jeffrey Gibson, aims to lower the technical and financial barriers to working with neon.

Dubai wants to put on a brave face by announcing a new digital art museum

Dubaï veut donner le change en annonçant un nouveau musée d’art numérique

Dubai has announced plans for a new Museum of Digital Art (MODA), designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the firm behind the Burj Khalifa. The five-story museum will be located in the DIFC Zabeel District and feature permanent and temporary exhibitions, immersive experiences, educational spaces, and a digital twin for global access. The announcement comes amid regional turmoil, including Iranian missile and drone strikes on the UAE in March 2025 that damaged infrastructure, disrupted tourism, and reduced the 20th edition of Art Dubai from 120 galleries to just 50 stands.

Who Should Design NYC’s New Billie Holiday Monument?

The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) has revealed six commission proposals for a monument honoring legendary jazz vocalist Billie Holiday, to be installed outside the Jamaica Performing Arts Center in Queens through the Percent for the Art program. The artists in the running are Thomas J Price, Tanda Francis, Nekisha Durrett, La Vaughn Belle, Tavares Strachan, and Nikesha Breeze, and the public is invited to share input on the conceptual designs before the final selection. The monument emerged from the 2018 She Built NYC initiative, which aimed to address the lack of historical monuments dedicated to influential women in the city, and was revitalized in 2024 after delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Villa Borghese è perfetta e non si tocca”. Siamo andati a vedere se è proprio così perfetta

A private company donated a design competition to the Galleria Borghese in Rome, aiming to expand the museum's exhibition spaces and services. Before any winning project was selected, associations like Italia Nostra protested, claiming the initiative would desecrate Villa Borghese. The article's author visited the park to document its current state, finding decay: a wrecked Globe Theatre, neglected ponds, graffiti, trash, dilapidated buildings, and a degraded horse-riding track. The author argues that while the park is defended as "perfect and untouchable," it is actually suffering from real neglect that goes unaddressed by the same groups opposing development.