The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) in La Jolla is preparing to host a major celebratory event for the opening of "Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz." The exhibition showcases a significant selection of works from the world-class private collection of the musical power couple, featuring monumental pieces by influential Black artists.
A major investigation has revealed that UK museums, universities, and local authorities hold more than 263,000 human remains, including mummies, skeletons, and skulls. Of these, approximately 37,000 originate from overseas, largely from former British colonies, often acquired without consent. The findings have sparked intense criticism from scholars and curators who argue that the sheer scale of these collections reflects a distressing colonial legacy and necessitates a systemic shift toward repatriation and more ethical storage practices.
The Brooklyn Museum has announced a landmark exhibition titled "Hopi Kachina Dolls: Blessings for a Balanced World," scheduled to open in October 2026. Featuring over 120 objects ranging from the 19th century to the present, the show draws from the museum's extensive Indigenous art collection alongside contemporary loans of ceramics, textiles, and jewelry. The presentation is uniquely structured around the life stages of Hopi women—from infancy to marriage—and includes newly commissioned video interviews with community members.
Researchers at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge have discovered a 3,300-year-old form of corrective fluid on an Ancient Egyptian papyrus. Analysis of a 'Book of the Dead' created for a royal archivist named Ramose revealed that a mixture of huntite, calcite, and yellow orpiment was used to paint over a jackal figure to make it appear slimmer. This 'ancient Tipp-Ex' was specifically tinted to match the cream-colored papyrus, demonstrating a sophisticated level of aesthetic correction and attention to detail by Egyptian craftspeople.
Western Exhibitions in Chicago presents “Spaces for People, Systems for Spaces,” a group exhibition featuring fifteen artists who explore the intersection of architecture, urban infrastructure, and the human body. The show includes diverse approaches to mapping and structural representation, ranging from Kim Beck’s hand-woven asphalt photographs and Courttney Cooper’s massive ink-on-receipt Cincinnati maps to Brian Petrone’s basswood and limestone tectonic sculptures.
The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) in La Jolla is set to host "Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz." This major exhibition features a selection of world-class works from the private holdings of the musical power couple, highlighting their significant contributions as patrons of contemporary art.
The Weatherspoon Art Museum has launched two concurrent exhibitions centered on the legacy of Southern Black quilters. "Of Salt and Spirit: Black Quilters in the American South," curated by Dr. Sharbreon Plummer, showcases 24 quilts from the collection of folklorist Roland L. Freeman, including works by UNCG alumna Gwendolyn Magee. Complementing this is "Harriet’s Powers," a site-specific immersive installation by artist Precious D. Lovell that pays homage to Harriet Powers, a 19th-century quilter born into slavery whose work is now held by the Smithsonian and the MFA Boston.
Brooklyn College Associate Professor of Art Christopher Richards is being honored with a major exhibition at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). The exhibition, "Art X Fashion," is directly inspired by his scholarship on African and global fashion, exploring the relationship between fashion and fine art through over 140 objects from the museum's collection.
The Toledo Museum of Art will host a major exhibition titled 'Cursed! The Power of Magic in the Ancient World' from March 21 to July 5. The show features 75 objects spanning two millennia, including Egyptian artwork, Mesopotamian sculptures, and Greek and Roman relics, exploring themes like protective magic, communication with gods, and magic in daily life.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art has appointed Katherine Anne Paul as the Stella Kramrisch Curator of Indian and Himalayan Art, a role named after the pioneering scholar and curator. Paul previously served as Assistant and Associate Curator of Indian and Himalayan Art at the PMA from 2002 to 2008, and most recently held the Virginia and William M. Spencer III Curator of Asian Art position at the Birmingham Museum of Art, where she also served as Lead Curator. She holds a PhD from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and has curated notable exhibitions including "Silver & Ceremony from Southern Asia 1830–1930" and "Expanding Darshan: Manjari Sharma, To See and Be Seen."
The Asheville Art Museum in North Carolina will present "In a New Light: American Impressionism 1870–1940 | Works from the Bank of America Collection," an exhibition featuring over 120 works that trace the development of American Impressionism and its break with academic tradition. The show runs from February 7 through June 29, 2026, and is made possible through the Bank of America Art in our Communities program, which loans exhibitions at no cost to nonprofit community museums.
The Syracuse University Art Museum has announced three new exhibitions for spring 2026: “Possible Worlds: 20 Years of the Wynn Newhouse Awards,” “Afterimages: Legacies of the Thirteenth Amendment,” and “Undressed: The Nude in Dutch Art, circa 1550-1800.” These shows will join the permanent collection exhibition “Human/Environment: 4,000 Years of Art” and an Art Wall Project by artist Bhen Alan. The exhibitions explore themes of disability, race, and the human body, with curator talks and programming scheduled throughout the semester.
Darnell-Jamal Lisby, the Cleveland Museum of Art's first fashion curator since 2021, has organized the exhibition "Renaissance to Runway: The Enduring Italian Houses," on view through February 1. The show connects Renaissance artworks from the museum's collection with modern garments by major Italian brands like Armani, Versace, and Capucci, including pieces worn by celebrities such as Blake Lively, Zendaya, and Judy Garland. Lisby, who previously worked at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, the Costume Institute of the Met, and the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, has also curated exhibitions like The New Black Vanguard, Egyptomania, and Korean Couture. The exhibition features a generative AI video created by Francesco Carrozzini and Henry Hargreaves to show the garments in motion.
The French government agency Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP), established in 1982 to support living artists and collect their work, has come under scrutiny following two opposing government reports. A July white paper by Martin Bethenod recommended refocusing CNAP's acquisitions on France-based artists and galleries, while a November report from the Cour des Comptes by Julien Aubert found the agency financially fragile and redundant, noting that 24,472 works—one quarter of its collection—have never been exhibited. Aubert recommended closing the CNAP by 2030, sparking backlash from over 1,000 art professionals who signed an open letter criticizing the ideological attack on public cultural service.
The American Folk Art Museum in New York is presenting "An Ecology of Quilts: The Natural History of American Textiles," an exhibition of 30 quilts from its collection of over 600 pieces. Co-curators Austin Losada and Emelie Gevalt highlight the materials and labor behind the quilts, including indigo dye and cotton, while featuring works by Malissia Pettway of Gee's Bend and Japanese artist Tomie Nagano, the only living artist in the show.
An exhibition titled 'Dynastic Jewels' opens at the Hôtel de La Marine in Paris, showcasing over 130 exceptional jewels dating primarily from 1800 to 1920. The show includes pieces linked to Catherine the Great, Queen Victoria, and Prince Albert, many displayed in the city for the first time. However, three major treasures—an 1853 pearl and diamond tiara and two sets of pearl earrings belonging to French Empresses Eugénie and Joséphine—are missing after being stolen from the Louvre Museum in October 2025. The exhibition draws loans from the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Al Thani Collection, which occupies the venue under a long-term contract with the Centre des Monuments Nationaux.
Staff at the Louvre Museum in Paris voted unanimously to strike, with rolling walkouts set to begin on December 15. The unions, representing around 200 employees, filed a strike notice with the French culture ministry, citing insufficient staff, technical failures, and the building's aging condition. They also criticized the museum's director, Laurence des Cars, for a top-down management system that ignores staff alerts. The strike follows a series of incidents, including the theft of the French crown jewels in October, a forced closure of the Campana Gallery due to structural issues, and a water leak that damaged hundreds of books in the Egyptian antiquities library.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., will open “Water’s Edge: The Art of Truman Lowe” on November 25, 2025, running through January 2027. This is the first major retrospective of Hoocąk (Ho-Chunk) artist Truman Lowe (1944–2019), featuring nearly 50 sculptures, drawings, and paintings from public and private collections, including 28 from the museum’s own holdings. The exhibition is organized around four themes—Moving Water, The Land Holds Memory, Woodland Structures, and Memory and Shared Knowledge—highlighting Lowe’s use of natural materials like willow branches and feathers to evoke the waterways and woodlands of his Wisconsin upbringing.
The Studio Museum in Harlem has opened its long-awaited new building, a seven-story, 82,000-square-foot structure on West 125th Street, designed by Adjaye Associates with Cooper Robertson. A Community Day on November 15th marked the public debut, featuring inaugural exhibitions including a major show on Tom Lloyd, whose work launched the museum's first exhibition in 1968, as well as "From Now: A Collection in Context" and a survey of works by over 100 residency alumni. The building expands exhibition space by over 50% and public areas by nearly 60%, with dedicated education spaces and artist-in-residence studios.
The Portland Art Museum has previewed its new four-story addition, which will open to the public on November 20, 2025. The 100,000-square-foot expansion connects the museum's two existing buildings and adds new gallery and public spaces, featuring a complete reinstallation of the collection with nearly 300 new acquisitions that have rarely or never been displayed before.
William Skeet Jiggetts, a longtime art collector and trustee of several museums, founded the Museum of African American Art Collections (MAAAC) to celebrate Black collectors and display their private holdings. The organization's inaugural exhibition, “Collectors’ Life,” runs from Nov. 1 to Dec. 30 at Awbury Arboretum’s Cope House Gallery in Germantown, featuring works curated by local collectors including Diana Tyson, Stephanie A. Daniel, Vashti Dubois, Dr. Robyn Jones, and Adrian Moody. Two accompanying talks will explore portraiture and the evolving relationship between collectors and artists.
The Meadows Gallery at the University of Texas at Tyler has announced an open call for its 41st Annual International Exhibition, scheduled to run from January 20 to February 27, 2026. Interdisciplinary artist Alicia Eggert, an associate professor at the University of North Texas, will serve as juror. Artists over 18 may submit up to three two-dimensional works created within the last three years, with a $35 fee. Entries are due November 12, 2025, and selected works may be purchased for the university's permanent collection.
The Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) Boston has agreed to return two 1857 ceramic jars by David Drake, an enslaved Black potter, to his living descendants. One vessel will remain on loan to the museum for at least two years, while the other—the "Poem Jar"—has been purchased back by the MFA from the heirs for an undisclosed sum, now carrying a "certificate of ethical ownership." The museum acknowledges that Drake created the works involuntarily and without compensation, marking the first time the MFA has resolved a claim for art wrongfully taken under U.S. slavery.
The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art has received a collection of Oaxacan prints donated in memory of Ellen Barth, a longtime art teacher at St. Pius Elementary School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The donation was organized by her husband, Chuck Barth, a local artist and former Mount Mercy University instructor, who worked with museum staff and Oaxacan artists to select works reflecting the culture of Oaxaca, Mexico, where the couple spent part of each year. The museum plans to feature the collection in an exhibition, though it is booked through 2027, and will also use the works in future displays and educational programs.
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario, has selected Toronto-based Hariri Pontarini Architects (HPA) to lead a transformative redevelopment of its campus, the first major investment in the museum in over 40 years. The announcement was made during the opening night of the Art Toronto fair, where the museum hosted a fundraiser. The project, which includes expanded exhibition, education, and public programming spaces, is backed by up to C$50 million from the Ontario government (contingent on matching funds) and a previous C$25 million federal investment, though additional funding is still being sought.
The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London will revamp its Gilbert Galleries, dedicated to the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection, expanding from four to seven galleries. Set to open in March, the redesigned space by Citizens Design Bureau will include a new room focused on Nazi and Soviet looting and provenance research. Highlights include 200 gold boxes, micro-mosaics, and two silver-gilt gates looted from Kyiv’s Pechersk Lavra monastery after the Russian Revolution, acquired by William Randolph Hearst in 1935. The expansion is part of the V&A’s Future Plan development programme, funded by the Gilbert Trust for the Arts and The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA) has announced a major exhibition and long-term loan partnership with the Wyvern Collection, a prestigious London-based private collection of medieval art. The first exhibition, "Medieval Art from the Wyvern Collection: Global Networks and Creative Connections," will open this fall, featuring more than 57 artworks on long-term loan combined with objects from BCMA's own holdings. The show highlights cross-cultural connections across a vast geographic range—from Japan to Mexico, northern Europe to Africa—challenging traditional Eurocentric views of the Middle Ages.
The DePaul Art Museum in Chicago has opened a new exhibition titled "Tengo Lincoln Park en mi Corazón: Young Lords in Chicago," curated by Jacqueline Lazú. The show explores the history and activism of the Young Lords Organization, a group that began as a Puerto Rican street gang in the 1950s and evolved into a civil rights advocacy group fighting against displacement and discrimination in Lincoln Park. The exhibition features objects like purple berets, protest art, and photographs, and is the result of decades of collaboration between DePaul University and the Young Lords.
Krannert Art Museum has reopened its reimagined exhibition 'Fragmented Histories: Andean Art before 1600' after a year-long closure, following nearly a decade of collaborative research. Co-curators Allyson Purpura and Kasia Szremski worked with pre-contact Andean art historians and Peruvian archaeologists to restore context to looted artifacts from the Fred Olsen Collection, donated in 1967. The exhibition is organized into four themes—Unfinished Stories, The Mobile Life of Objects, Powerful Images, and Object Biographies—and includes digital displays that acknowledge the violent histories of looting and aim to share knowledge with descendant communities in Peru.
The Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) opened its first-ever gallery in Calgary on September 10, 2025, called the AFA art house, located on the second floor of the Edison building. The space, previously used as a temporary gallery by the Glenbow Museum during its renovation, will host rotating exhibitions from the AFA’s 10,000-piece collection, including the opening show "New Views" featuring 50 works purchased in the last decade. The gallery also allows Alberta artists to display and sell their art, and will feature a solo exhibition by Samantha Williams-Chapelsky, the 2024-25 AFA Alberta Artist in Residence, beginning in October.