A nationwide general strike, called for Friday, January 30, 2026, in protest of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minneapolis, has prompted numerous art galleries and organizations to close their doors. Major commercial galleries like Gagosian, David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, and Pace Gallery, alongside institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles and the Drawing Center, are participating in the shutdown.
A significant number of New York art galleries, including major players like Pace Gallery, David Zwirner, and Marian Goodman, will close on January 30 to join a nationwide general strike protesting expanded Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. The strike is a response to allegations of federal overreach, including the use of deadly force against protestors and the detention of Native Americans, which have fueled widespread outrage.
Belgium plans to revoke the museum status of Antwerp's Museum of Contemporary Art (M HKA) and transfer its 8,000-work collection to Ghent's Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art (Smak), canceling a promised $93 million new building. The proposal by Flemish culture minister Caroline Gennez has sparked resignations, legal challenges, and backlash from artists including Luc Tuymans and Anish Kapoor, who call it unlawful and a threat to cultural independence. A parliamentary hearing is expected in January 2026.
The Flemish government's plan to dissolve M HKA, a contemporary art institution in Antwerp, has been met with legal opposition after the museum initiated a legal review that claims the move would be illegal. The review, presented to the press on Tuesday with artists Luc Tuymans and Otobong Nkanga in attendance, argues that the government's proposal—which would close M HKA, transfer its collection to Ghent, and rebrand S.M.A.K. as the Flemish Museum of Contemporary and Current Art by 2028—contains "flagrant illegalities." The plan has drawn widespread condemnation from museum directors and artists, including Anish Kapoor, who demanded the removal of his work from M HKA's website.
President Trump's proposed spending legislation, known as the "Big Beautiful Bill," includes $40 million for the procurement of statues for the National Garden of American Heroes. The funds, appropriated to the National Endowment for the Humanities for fiscal year 2025 and available through 2028, will support life-size statues of 250 historical figures, with selected artists receiving up to $200,000 per statue. The garden, first announced in a 2020 executive order, is a priority for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and requires realistic depictions in materials like marble or bronze.
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has announced a new grant program to fund statues for President Trump’s National Garden of American Heroes, a sculpture garden first proposed in 2021. The garden will feature life-size statues of 250 notable Americans, with a location still to be determined. Selected artists, who must be U.S. citizens, can receive up to $200,000 per statue, which must be made of traditional materials like marble or bronze and depict figures in a realistic style. The application deadline is July 1, and the project is jointly funded by the NEH and the National Endowment for the Arts with a total of $34 million, drawn from federal grants originally allocated to other cultural programs but later canceled by the administration.
The Louvre Museum board has voted to raise ticket prices by 45% for visitors outside the European Economic Area, effective January 14. The price will increase from €22 ($25) to €32 ($37), affecting tourists from the United States, Britain, and Russia. The move is part of a broader effort to fund infrastructure upgrades and security improvements following a high-profile heist in October in which thieves stole nine pieces of jewelry worth an estimated $102 million from the Apollo Gallery. The museum's director, Laurence des Cars, acknowledged that the institution has "very inadequate" and "outdated" security systems, and a full overhaul is not expected until 2032.
Works by Edgar Degas and Ben Nicholson are among the artworks donated to UK public collections through the government's Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) and Cultural Gifts Schemes (CGS) between April 2024 and March 2025. The total value of objects gifted reached £59.7 million, settling £39.3 million in tax. Degas's pastel *Ballet Dancers* (1888) was allocated to the National Gallery in London, settling £7.9 million in tax, while three paintings by Ben Nicholson went to Kettle's Yard in Cambridge and a fourth to Pallant House Gallery. Other donations include 73 photographs by Bill Brandt to Tate, a Vanessa Bell still life to the Charleston Trust, and works from the Radev Collection.
The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History has restored a placard for President Donald Trump to its impeachment display, updating it with new information. The change follows controversy after a temporary placard mentioning Trump was removed, which drew criticism from Democratic leaders and concerns about political interference at the Smithsonian. The museum stated the removal was due to the placard not meeting standards in appearance and presentation, and that no administration requested the change.
A retired General Services Administration official, Mydelle Wright, has accused the Trump administration of attempting to demolish four historic federal buildings in Washington, D.C., including the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building. The allegation was made in a supplemental declaration filed in a lawsuit brought by preservation groups. Wright claims the White House is soliciting demolition bids without GSA involvement, which she says has sole authority over such processes. The Cohen building houses significant New Deal-era murals by Ben Shahn, Philip Guston, and Seymour Fogel, and has been described as "the Sistine Chapel of the New Deal." The Trump administration has halted a planned green renovation and listed the building for accelerated disposition, raising fears of demolition and loss of the artworks.
The Getty Foundation has awarded an additional $1.8 million to its Black Visual Arts Archives initiative, bringing total funding to $4.5 million across 20 awards. The program supports institutions in processing, digitizing, preserving, and activating archival collections related to Black artists and arts organizations in the US. Grantees include Afro Charities, the Auburn Avenue Research Library, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Charles H. Wright Museum, Morgan State University, the South Side Community Art Center, the University of Chicago’s South Side Home Movie Project, and the David C. Driskell Center. Notable discoveries include footage of the original Wall of Respect mural from the South Side Home Movie Project.
The Getty Foundation has awarded $1.8 million in grants to eight institutions through its Black Visual Arts Archives initiative, a multi-year program aimed at increasing access to archival collections related to Black artists and arts organizations. The grants will support processing, digitization, and public programming at venues including Afro Charities, Auburn Avenue Research Library, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Charles H. Wright Museum, Morgan State University, South Side Community Art Center, the University of Chicago's South Side Home Movie Project, and the David C. Driskell Center. This brings Getty's total funding for the initiative to $4.5 million since 2022, supporting 20 grants nationwide.
The article is a guide listing museums and monuments in Paris and the Île-de-France region that offer free admission, either permanently or on specific occasions like the first Sunday of each month. It highlights venues such as the Paris Museum of Modern Art (MAM), the Petit Palais, the Musée Bourdelle, and Notre-Dame cathedral, detailing their collections and practical visiting information.
Tate has launched the Tate Future Fund, a US-style endowment fund aiming to raise £150 million by 2030 to secure its long-term financial future. More than £43 million has already been raised, announced at a fundraising gala in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall marking the museum's 25th anniversary, attended by artists Steve McQueen and Tracey Emin. Tate director Maria Balshaw explained that the fund will sit separately, managed by the Tate Foundation, with only the interest drawn annually to support artistic creativity, groundbreaking exhibitions, collection building, research, and public benefit programs like school and family learning.
Victorien Bornéat has published a manifesto arguing that French cultural democratization policy, rooted in André Malraux's vision of making masterworks accessible to all, has failed. He cites budget cuts by regional presidents Laurent Wauquiez and Christelle Morançais, police raids on bookshops like Violette and Co, and statistical studies showing that working-class audiences still do not spontaneously attend theaters, museums, or opera. Bornéat contends that the policy's emphasis on direct confrontation with canonical works ignored the need for cultural codes and institutional literacy, creating an exclusion that politicians now exploit for electoral gain.
The U.K. government has imposed a temporary export bar on a mid-19th century marble sculpture by Henri-Joseph-François de Triqueti, depicting sisters Florence and Alice Campbell. The work, valued at £280,000 ($367,000), sold for £117,700 at Lyon and Turnbull auction house in January 2025. The Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) intervened on the advice of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art (RCEWA), citing the sculpture's rarity, outstanding aesthetic importance, and potential for scholarly study. The export license is deferred for three months, with a possible six-month extension, to allow a U.K. institution to acquire it.
President Donald Trump sought a gift for King Charles during a state visit last month, prompting his administration to request a sword from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood Home in Abilene, Kansas. The library refused to release the sword—a 1947 gift from Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands—citing federal law that requires preserving original artifacts for the American public. Trump instead gave King Charles a replica of Eisenhower’s West Point Officer’s Sabre. Subsequently, library director Todd Arrington was forced to resign after being told he could no longer be trusted with confidential information, a move he believes may have been linked to his refusal to hand over the artifact.
The Woodmere, a museum in Philadelphia, sued the Trump administration after an executive order revoked a $750,000 federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The museum had already received roughly $195,000 of the funds, but the order targeting "unnecessary" federal bureaucracy cut the remainder. On September 4, the IMLS reinstated the full grant, leading to the dismissal of the lawsuit, which had been scheduled for a first hearing on September 12. The grant, part of the Save America's Treasures program, was intended for conservation, catalog updates, and digitization projects.
Il concetto di “Capitale Italiana della cultura” avrebbe bisogno di un ripensamento
Ancona has been named the Italian Capital of Culture for 2028, a decision that was widely anticipated but has sparked debate regarding the selection process. While Ancona’s proposal was praised for its depth and quality, critics point out that nine out of the ten shortlisted cities are led by center-right mayors, raising concerns about political influence and the independence of the evaluation commission.