15 museum shop gifts were loving

Artnet News has curated a selection of 15 unusual and art-themed gifts available at museum shops worldwide, ranging from a snake-embroidered brooch inspired by Cartier at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to a 'Souls in Purgatory' magnet from the Morgan Library & Museum in New York, a traditional palm-leaf fan from Al Ain Museum in Abu Dhabi, a gilded sewing kit from the Neue Galerie in New York, and a CD of a Hanne Darboven composition from the Dia Art Foundation. Each item is presented with its price, source museum, and a brief explanation of its appeal, often tying back to specific exhibitions or artworks.

An Audacious $724 Million Building Reinvents LACMA

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has unveiled the David Geffen Galleries, a $724 million architectural feat designed by Peter Zumthor. This massive, horizontal structure spans over Wilshire Boulevard, replacing several older buildings with a single, elevated concrete form. The new space abandons traditional chronological and geographical silos in favor of rotating, thematic displays that integrate the museum’s diverse encyclopedic collections.

‘Designed to disorient’: LA art museum unveils enormous concrete gallery, 20 years in the making

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has unveiled the David Geffen Galleries, a $724 million concrete structure designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. Spanning Wilshire Boulevard, the building features 110,000 square feet of elevated gallery space characterized by curving walls and massive windows. The project marks the culmination of a nearly 20-year revitalization effort led by director Michael Govan, replacing several older buildings with a single, fluid architectural statement.

steve wilson art collector 21c museum hotels

Steve Wilson, founder of 21c Museum Hotels, and his wife Laura Lee Brown share their eclectic art collection in a CULTURED interview. Wilson recounts his early start in collecting with a Picasso poster bought as a college freshman after a discouraging art teacher, and how he and Brown now live with over 100 works in their Kentucky home, including provocative pieces like Kendell Geers’s champagne glasses cast from the artist’s erect penis. The couple’s collection also spans works by Kehinde Wiley, David Hockney, Andy Warhol, and many others, displayed salon-style across their residence.

The Big Review | Lacma's David Geffen Galleries ★★★★

The Swiss architect Peter Zumthor's new $724 million building for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma), now called the David Geffen Galleries, has opened after nearly two decades of anticipation. The swooping concrete-and-glass structure is praised for its harnessing of natural light and horizontality, creating a stunning showcase for antiquities and inviting the city inside with floor-to-ceiling windows offering views of the La Brea Tar Pits and Wilshire Boulevard. The building performs best with sculpture and decorative objects, with standout works including Liz Glynn's "The Futility of Conquest" (2023) and Manjunath Kamath's "Vikatonarva" (2024).

house of electronic arts tezos foundation digital art

The House of Electronic Arts (HEK) in Basel and the Tezos Foundation have announced a year-long partnership to integrate blockchain technology into museum experiences. The collaboration includes virtual and physical exhibitions, workshops, and preservation initiatives, featuring six international digital artists. Exhibitions will be hosted on HEK's online platform virtual.hek and outdoors during Art Basel, with artworks released via the Tezos-based marketplace Objkt. The partnership also involves on-site kiosks and educational workshops on NFTs and digital ownership, as well as HEK's participation in the EU COST Action EMBARK training school on NFT preservation at ZKM in Karlsruhe.

The Met and Neue Galerie Embark on Historic Merger

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Neue Galerie in New York have announced a historic merger set for 2028. The Met will acquire the Neue Galerie's Beaux-Arts mansion, renaming it the Met Ronald S. Lauder Neue Galerie (or Met Neue Galerie), while preserving its museum experience. The merger comes ahead of the Neue Galerie's 25th anniversary and its renovations from May to August 2026. Founder Ronald S. Lauder will remain involved, and the Met will supplement the Neue Galerie's programs, research, and digital initiatives. Major fundraising is underway, with the endowment target of $200 million already 80 percent met, supported by Lauder, his daughter Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer, and trustee Marina Kellen French.

LACMA’s New Building Invites You to Chart Your Own Path

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is set to open its long-awaited and highly debated new building, the David Geffen Galleries. Designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, the $720 million concrete structure spans Wilshire Boulevard and replaces several older buildings with a single, elevated exhibition level. The opening marks the culmination of a decade-long project spearheaded by Director Michael Govan, featuring a non-linear layout that integrates the museum's encyclopedic collection into thematic displays rather than traditional chronological or regional divisions.

Like a concrete aircraft carrier: was LA’s giant new $724m gallery really worth all the carbon emissions?

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is set to open its new $724 million David Geffen Galleries, designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The massive concrete structure, which spans Wilshire Boulevard like a bridge, represents a twenty-year effort led by director Michael Govan to create a non-hierarchical, single-level museum space. The building's design features eight massive pavilions supporting a sprawling 110,000 square foot gallery floor, intended to house the museum's diverse permanent collection in a transparent, fluid environment.

MoMA PS1 Rooftop Sprouts Salad Party

moma ps1 rooftop sprouts salad party

Artist Julia Sherman and urban farmer Camilla Hammer have transformed the rooftop of MoMA PS1 into a functional salad garden and social space. The initiative recently celebrated its launch with a rooftop party featuring herb-infused cocktails and fresh produce grown on-site. The garden serves as a platform for Sherman’s "Artist-Made" salad series, where notable figures from the art world collaborate on culinary creations.

How Mumok’s New Director Plans to Make Museums Feel Alive Again

Fatima Hellberg, the newly appointed director of Vienna's mumok (Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig), has outlined her inaugural exhibition program and curatorial philosophy. Her first season, launching in June, will feature Kate Millett's newly acquired 1972 installation 'Terminal Piece,' an installation by scenographer Anna Viebrock, and a project by artist Tolia Astakhishvili.

‘Sometimes the space comes first’: how Shohei Shigematsu is using architecture to break cultural ground

Shohei Shigematsu, director of OMA New York since 2006, has carved a niche designing luxury-brand exhibition spaces and flagship stores for Dior, LVMH, and Tiffany. His approach treats architecture as a cultural platform that integrates fashion, art, design, and food. Key projects include the 2016 'Manus x Machina' exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the 2023 'Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams' show in Seoul, where spatial design often precedes thematic content.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Ronald S. Lauder Neue Galerie New York Announce Plans for a Landmark Merger

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Ronald S. Lauder Neue Galerie New York have announced a landmark merger agreement, set to take effect in 2028. The merger will unite the Neue Galerie's collection of 20th-century Austrian and German art—including Gustav Klimt's *Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I*—with The Met, while preserving the Neue Galerie's distinct museum experience. Ronald S. Lauder and his daughter Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer plan to donate 13 additional paintings from their personal collection, and several Met trustees have pledged significant endowment gifts to support the integration and long-term operations.

hotels museum future architecture

The article, written by a former New Museum staffer, traces the evolution of museum architecture from the early 2000s starchitect era toward a hospitality- and community-focused model. It cites examples like MoMA's extensive visitor amenities (four restaurants, two retail spaces) and the Williams College Museum of Art's open, evolving design by SO-IL. The piece also highlights the Underground Museum's storefront approach in Los Angeles and the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York as strategies that prioritize accessibility and community engagement.

Many Hands Make Great Work at the Weatherspoon’s Student-Curated Show

Cannon Crawford-Wilson, a sculpture and ceramics student at UNC Greensboro, took Art History 490: Museums and Exhibition Spaces and helped curate the exhibition “Embodied: Finding Meaning in the Human Form” at the Weatherspoon Art Museum. Under the guidance of Dr. Emily Stamey, she and her classmates selected artworks, wrote labels, and designed the gallery layout for the Spring 2025 season, working with museum staff like preparator Susan Taaffe. The show features pieces such as Toyin Ojih Odutola's “What’s in a Mistake?” (2014) and Do Ho Suh's “Bowl with Hands.”

Don't Go to the Museum with Children Without These 10 Tips!

N’allez plus au musée avec des enfants sans ces 10 astuces !

Beaux Arts Magazine offers ten practical tips for making museum visits with children more enjoyable and less stressful. The advice, provided by Marion Charneau of the Louvre-Lens, includes practical preparation like checking hours and packing snacks, as well as strategic approaches such as keeping visits short, choosing morning hours, and turning the experience into a game with visual challenges.

Daring and Dazzling, a New LACMA Floats Above Los Angeles

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has unveiled its new $724 million David Geffen Galleries, a long-awaited and controversial expansion designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The structure, which spans Wilshire Boulevard with its distinctive horizontal, glass-walled design, marks the culmination of a decade-long effort to modernize the campus and replace several aging buildings.

Fairfield University Art Museum invites readers to private tour

Fairfield University Art Museum is offering an exclusive private tour to readers, as reported by the Westport Journal. The event provides a behind-the-scenes look at the museum's collections and exhibitions, allowing attendees to engage directly with curators and artworks in an intimate setting.

‘Ugly’ but ‘beautiful’: LACMA finally unveils controversial new Geffen Galleries — was it worth the wait?

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has finally unveiled its new David Geffen Galleries, a $724 million concrete and glass structure designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. Spanning Wilshire Boulevard, the 110,000-square-foot elevated gallery space will house 1,700 works from the museum’s permanent collection, including masterpieces by Francis Bacon, Henri Matisse, and Katsushika Hokusai. The building is scheduled to open to the public on April 19, marking the completion of a massive campus expansion that has been nearly two decades in the making.

These Are the 7 Best Destinations for Pop Culture Exhibits

Chicago's diverse landscape of pop culture and contemporary art is highlighted through a curated list of seven key destinations in the metropolitan area. The selection ranges from the Volo Museum’s collection of Hollywood vehicles and Titanic artifacts to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago’s extensive permanent collection of over 2,000 modern works and high-tech media displays.

Review: The new LACMA is divisive. It’s also ambitious, disorienting — and radically alive

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has unveiled its $724-million David Geffen Galleries, a massive concrete structure designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor that spans Wilshire Boulevard. Replacing several older pavilions, the new building rejects traditional museum conventions like white-cube galleries and encyclopedic organization in favor of a sinuous, organic form that emphasizes light, atmosphere, and a visceral connection to the surrounding landscape.

peter zumthor's fluid concrete david geffen galleries to open at LACMA in april 2026

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) will open its new Peter Zumthor-designed David Geffen Galleries on April 19, 2026. The 274-meter-long concrete structure, elevated on piers over Wilshire Boulevard, will become the museum's primary home for its permanent collection, offering over 10,000 square meters of exhibition space. The project, which includes the Elaine Wynn Wing, culminates a two-decade campus transformation.

LACMA’s David Geffen Galleries Will Open on April 19, 2026

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) announced that its David Geffen Galleries, designed by architect Peter Zumthor, will open on April 19, 2026, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The opening will be followed by two weeks of priority member access and a free day for NexGenLA youth members on May 3. The 900-foot-long building spans Wilshire Boulevard and will house LACMA's permanent collection, featuring approximately 2,500 to 3,000 objects across 110,000 square feet of gallery space. The inaugural installation is organized around the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea, emphasizing cultural exchange and migration, and includes works by Georges de La Tour, Henri Matisse, Francis Bacon, Vincent van Gogh, and new commissions by artists such as Todd Gray and Lauren Halsey.

A first glimpse (and listen) inside Lacma’s $720m new building

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma) opened its new $720 million David Geffen Galleries building to 2,000 members and guests for previews on June 27, 2025, before its official opening in April 2026. Designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, the elevated concrete structure spans Wilshire Boulevard with 110,000 square feet of gallery space, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a 300-seat theater. Musician Kamasi Washington organized a "sonic preview" with 100 jazz musicians performing his six-part suite *Harmony of Difference* throughout the empty space. The building sits adjacent to the preserved Japanese Pavilion (designed by Bruce Goff, 1988) and features Tony Smith's sculpture *Smoke* (1967) in a courtyard.

Ronny Quevedo Connects Sites of Cosmovisions at Krannert Art Museum

Ronny Quevedo's first institutional solo exhibition in the Midwest, "a l l s t a r s," has opened at the Krannert Art Museum in Champaign-Urbana. The show features works from the Ecuadorian-born, New York-based artist's recent past alongside a new site-driven installation, "a mother's hand" (2025), which incorporates objects from the museum's reinstalled Andean art collection. Using materials like wax, drywall, muslin, carbon paper, and gold-silver leaves, Quevedo creates abstract fields that evoke cartographies, constellations, dressmaking diagrams, and sports playbooks, weaving together autobiographical references to his seamstress mother and soccer-playing father with broader themes of cultural inheritance, duality, and cosmovisions.

architecture tadao ando naoshima new museum of art

The article profiles the renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando, now 84, who has built 10 museums on the island of Naoshima over 33 years. It features an interview where Ando discusses his upbringing in a traditional wooden row house in Osaka, his early training as a boxer, and how these experiences shaped his architectural philosophy of "light within darkness." The piece includes personal reflections from the author on encountering Ando's work and highlights key projects such as the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis and the Church of Light in Osaka.

Alma Allen’s US Pavilion Heads to Venice Amid Questions Over Selection Process

The selection of Alma Allen to represent the United States at the 2026 Venice Biennale has ignited controversy over the process. The U.S. State Department abandoned its traditional selection model, which involved a panel of experts convened by the National Endowment for the Arts, and instead handed control to a new nonprofit, the American Arts Conservancy, led by individuals with little museum experience. This shift has drawn criticism from prominent figures in the art world, with some artists declining to participate due to concerns over the political context and unfamiliar leadership.

26 Best Museums in the U.S. for Art, Culture, and Unique Experiences

This travel guide highlights 26 of the most significant museums across the United States, ranging from massive encyclopedic institutions to niche cultural centers. The list features major art landmarks like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Getty Center alongside specialized venues such as the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the immersive art experience Meow Wolf.

Discover the Architecture of LACMA’s David Geffen Galleries at These Free Workshops with AIA Los Angeles

LACMA's new David Geffen Galleries, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor, are now open to the public. The building features a single-floor, sculptural form made of architectural concrete and glass, with natural light and transparency that encourages visitors to explore 6,000 years of art and culture. In collaboration with the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles, LACMA is hosting a series of free workshops on May 15-17, including guided walks, drawing sessions, and landscape tours, to help visitors engage with the building's architecture and design.

Here is what you'll see at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art when it finally opens

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles will finally open on September 22, 2026, at Exposition Park. Founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, the 300,000-square-foot spaceship-like building designed by MAD Architects will house a collection of over 40,000 objects, with 1,200 works on display across 30 galleries. The inaugural exhibitions span children's literature illustrations, manga and anime, comics, photography, cinematic storytelling, and classic American illustration, featuring artists from Norman Rockwell and Frida Kahlo to Jack Kirby and Alison Bechdel. A special cinema exhibition, 'Star Wars in Motion,' will showcase props and costumes from the first six films.