A federal judge ordered the National Park Service to return historical displays at the President's House Site in Philadelphia that acknowledge George Washington's ownership of enslaved people. The signs had been removed last month by the NPS, which claimed the action was for "accuracy, honesty and alignment with shared national values." The City of Philadelphia sued, and Pennsylvania's governor filed a supporting brief.
The Trump administration removed the Pride flag from the flagpole at the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, a site commemorating the birth of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. The action, reportedly carried out by the National Park Service, followed a memo restricting "non-agency" flags at federal sites.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro filed an amicus brief supporting Philadelphia's lawsuit against the Trump administration's removal of an exhibit about slavery at Independence National Historical Park. The exhibit, "Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation," memorialized nine enslaved people who worked at the President's House Site and included panels on the slave trade and economy. The Interior Department removed it citing President Trump's March 2025 executive order against what it called "historical revision." Philadelphia's suit argues the removal violated a 2006 agreement requiring city approval for exhibit changes.
A bronze statue of RoboCop, the cyborg protagonist from Paul Verhoeven's 1987 film, has been installed in Detroit nearly 15 years after a grassroots campaign began. The 11-foot, 3,500-pound monument was sculpted by Detroit artist Giorgio Gikas of Venus Bronze Works, funded by a 2012 Kickstarter that raised over $67,000, and finally placed at Eastern Market after years of legal hurdles and location changes.
The article reviews "A World in the Making: The Shakers," an exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, running through August 9, 2026. It pairs Shaker material culture with works by seven contemporary artists, including Kameelah Janan Rasheed, who responds to the archive of Rebecca Cox Jackson, a Black Shaker leader. The exhibition explores how Shaker communal practices, craft traditions, and devotional art resonate in today's digital age, where handmade aesthetics often become lifestyle signals rather than shared experiences.
Mural Arts Philadelphia, in partnership with Ubuntu Art Gallery, has opened its sixth annual Fellowship for Black Artists exhibition, featuring 30 works by 11 emerging artists from the 2025 cohort. The opening reception drew a crowd of fellows, collaborators, and art lovers to the gallery, where speeches highlighted the program's impact and mission.
John Middleton, the majority owner of the Philadelphia Phillies, and his wife Leigh have publicly debuted their private collection of blue-chip American art. The couple has lent a significant selection of works for a dual-venue exhibition in Philadelphia, coinciding with the city's preparations for the 250th anniversary of the United States.
The iconic Rocky statue, a symbol of Philadelphia and the beloved film franchise, is now the subject of its own dedicated exhibition at a museum after years of tension between the city, the film's creators, and local institutions. The statue, originally created as a prop for the 1976 film 'Rocky' starring Sylvester Stallone, has had a complicated history, moving from the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps to the Spectrum arena and back, with debates over its artistic merit and placement.
The iconic bronze statue of Rocky Balboa, the fictional boxer portrayed by Sylvester Stallone, is moving inside the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the first time starting Saturday, as part of the museum's new exhibition "Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments." The exhibition, which marks the 50th anniversary of the original film, features over 150 artworks and ancient artifacts, and explores how monuments are created and reinterpreted by artists and communities. The statue had stood outside the museum for more than 20 years and was originally a prop from the 1982 film "Rocky III."
The Philadelphia Museum of Art previewed a new exhibition titled "Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments," timed to coincide with the nation's 250th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the "Rocky" film. The exhibition focuses on the iconic Rocky statue at the base of the museum's steps, and a talk featured guest curator Paul Farber and Jacqui Frazier-Lyde, daughter of boxing legend Joe Frazier. A statue of Joe Frazier will be moved to the base of the Art Museum steps, where the Rocky statue once stood. The exhibit opens to the public on April 25, 2026.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is reinstating a pay-what-you-wish admission policy for Friday nights from April 2026 through Labor Day. This initiative, funded by the William Penn Foundation and board chair Ellen Caplan, coincides with the museum's 150th anniversary and the launch of "Nation of Artists," a massive collaborative exhibition with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts featuring over 1,000 works.
Megan Monaghan, director of arts at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (SCH), organized an exhibition at the school's Barbara Crawford Gallery titled "Echoes of Our Future: 250 Years of Black Artistic Legacy in Philadelphia" to honor the city's Black artistic heritage ahead of America's semiquincentennial. Collaborating with Claudia Volpe, director and curator of the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art, Monaghan selected over 30 works by 27 artists—including Barbara Bullock, Eustace Mamba, Tim McFarlane, Dox Thrash, and Henry Ossawa Tanner—organized into three themes: faces and community, music and movement, and environment. The exhibition runs from Jan. 15 to March 12 and is accompanied by The Next 250, an educational project connecting students through workshops, mentorship, and visual storytelling.
Temple Contemporary, the exhibition space at Tyler School of Art and Architecture on Temple University's campus, has opened "Pyramid Club: 1937-2035," its first show under new curator and director Matthew Jordan-Miller Kenyatta. The exhibition explores the history of the Pyramid Club, a social club for Philadelphia's Black elite founded in 1937, highlighting its prestigious art shows organized by Humbert Howard from 1941 to 1957. It features works from the collection of Dr. William Dodd, photographs by John W. Mosley curated by Leslie Willis Lowry and artist Shawn Theodore, and contemporary multimedia installations by Theodore.
Double Six Gallery, operated by the Cibola Arts Council in Grants, New Mexico, is showcasing southwestern art on Route 66 ahead of the Mother Road's centennial celebration. Gallery director Debbie Doggett notes that visitors are often surprised to find such high-quality local artists in Grants. The gallery rotates artists every few months and currently features Gary Yazzie, John Boomer, Jonnie Head, and Joan Sheski.
Jersey Arts TV has released a new episode exploring Native knowledge and art at the Montclair Art Museum. The episode highlights the museum's commitment to showcasing Indigenous perspectives through its collections and exhibitions, featuring interviews with curators and artists who discuss the cultural significance and contemporary relevance of Native American art. The segment aims to educate viewers on the intersection of traditional knowledge and modern artistic expression.
Bruce Katsiff, the founding director of the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, has returned to the institution with his first-ever exhibition at the museum, titled 'Pieces of a Life.' The retrospective showcases six decades of Katsiff's photography, including series such as 'Face Maps,' 'River Town Portraits,' and 'Nature Morte,' as well as collaborative works never before exhibited. Katsiff, who led the museum from 1989 to 2012, transformed it from an arts center into a full-fledged museum, building a collection focused on regional artists from Bucks County and overseeing the installation of iconic spaces like the Nakashima Room.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art has opened a new exhibition centered on the Rocky statue, exploring themes of boxing, celebrity, and the meaning of monuments. The show investigates why millions of visitors from around the world flock to the iconic statue, which sits at the museum's steps, and examines its cultural significance beyond its cinematic origins.
The Rowan University Museum of Contemporary Art is hosting "The Spectrum of Resilience," a solo exhibition by New Jersey-based artist and educator Jazlyne Sabree. The showcase features works that explore the tenacity and authenticity of the African Diaspora, drawing from Sabree’s extensive research and residencies in West Africa, Brazil, and Liberia. The exhibition highlights everyday moments—such as washing hair or embracing children—elevating them into profound artistic statements on ancestral lineage and survival.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) have announced a major collaborative exhibition titled "A Nation of Artists," set to open in April 2026. Featuring over 1,000 works spanning three centuries, the show will integrate paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts, including more than 120 pieces from the prestigious Middleton Family Collection. The exhibition is designed to coincide with the United States' 250th anniversary and the reopening of PAFA’s Historic Landmark Building.
The Michener Art Museum is hosting "Pieces of a Life," a retrospective exhibition dedicated to the 60-year photography career of Bruce Katsiff. Running from April 11 to August 12, the show features 60 works including his 1970s "River Town Portraits," the "Nature Morte" series exploring mortality through animal remains, and his recent digital "Face Maps." The exhibition is guest-curated by art historian Dorothy Fisher and highlights Katsiff's technical mastery ranging from platinum prints to modern digital composites.
The Wanda Hollensteiner Art Gallery in Kalispell is hosting a new exhibition titled "David Secrest: The Unprejudiced Silence of Things that Are," running through May 23. The show features the work of the Somers-based master metalsmith, whose four-decade career spans forged iron, fabricated steel, bronze, and woodworking. Secrest, who was named a "Master Metalsmith" by the Metal Museum in 2017, is recognized for a visual language that blends natural forms with rigorous material manipulation.
Dr. Kurt A. Gitter, a pioneering retinal surgeon and world-renowned collector of Japanese art, has passed away at the age of 89 in New Orleans. Born in Vienna and having escaped the Holocaust as an infant, Gitter discovered his passion for Japanese culture while serving as a U.S. Air Force flight surgeon in the 1960s. Over several decades, he and his wife Alice Yelen Gitter amassed one of the most significant private collections of Edo-period paintings and self-taught American art in the Western world.
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 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded $75.1 million to 84 projects across the United States, marking the first grants since the Trump administration dismissed most members of the National Council on the Humanities. Major recipients include the University of Texas at Austin and the Foundation for Excellence in Higher Education, each receiving $10 million for programs focused on civics, strategy, and "Great Books." Other notable grants include $2.2 million for Philadelphia's Museum of the American Revolution and $2 million for Grand Central Atelier, a small art school in Queens that teaches classical realist techniques.
The Philadelphia Art Museum has appointed Daniel H. Weiss as its George D. Widener Director and CEO, effective December 1, 2025. Weiss, former President and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2015–2023), brings decades of leadership experience from major cultural and educational institutions, including presidencies at Haverford College and Lafayette College, and a recent role as Homewood Professor of the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University. The Board of Trustees, led by Chair Ellen Caplan, selected Weiss to guide the museum through at least 2028, providing stability during a transitional period.
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 Philadelphia Museum of Art has officially changed its name to the Philadelphia Art Museum, as announced on October 8, 2025. The rebranding is accompanied by new merchandise featuring the updated name and logo, with press images released by photographer Rob Cusick showing the new branding.
Thirty local artists, primarily from Northwest Philadelphia and members of the Northwest Village Network (NVN), will hold an exhibition at the Center on the Hill in September. The show features collage, painting, drawing, mixed media, and photography, with participants ranging from seasoned professionals to newcomers. Artists include Ron Lieberman, a former New York Times illustrator; Sara Allen, who photographs her aging body; and Dr. Claire EB. Robinson, a retired OB/GYN turned photographer. The exhibition is hosted at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, which houses the Center on the Hill, a program for active adults.