ART AFRICA has announced an open call for the second edition of its NEW FUTURES ARTS COLLABORATIVE, scheduled for 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa. The residency, titled "De-composition, Extraction and Regeneration," invites artists to collectively explore themes of extractivism, ecological crisis, and social justice, using artistic practice as a tool for transformation and regeneration.
Jeddah-based artist Ahaad Alamoudi presents 'Sunkissed' at the Sharjah Art Foundation, a solo exhibition curated by Amal Al Ali that explores the rapidly shifting cultural landscape of the Gulf. Through a series of newly commissioned and recent works, including looping videos and mechanical installations, Alamoudi utilizes repetition and pop-culture symbols like falcons and fly traps to examine how collective identity is negotiated amidst accelerated urban development and technological change.
Cascadia Art Museum has undergone a transformation, offering visitors a completely renewed experience. The article highlights the museum's refreshed approach, though the full details are behind a paywall for subscribers.
Nalini Sharma, an art patron and honorary member of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston's Board of Advisors, discusses the museum's exhibition "Divine Color: Hindu Prints from Modern Bengal" in an exclusive video interview. The show, supported by Nalini and Raj Sharma, features nearly 40 vibrant lithographs and over 100 objects including prints, paintings, sculptures, and textiles, exploring Hindu devotional prints from 19th-century Calcutta (now Kolkata). It is the first U.S. exhibition devoted to these works, which were mass-produced using lithographic technology and deeply embedded in daily life across India and the diaspora.
Indiana University's University Collections at McCalla has opened "Capturing the Campus: T.C. Steele," a collaborative exhibition with the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites that brings together many paintings by Hoosier artist T.C. Steele for the first time in decades. Steele, who served as IU's first artist in residence from 1922 until his death in 1926, created impressionist works depicting campus scenes, portraits of university presidents and faculty, and landscapes that capture what the campus looked like a century ago. The exhibit, which opened April 17, features paintings sorted by geographic location on campus, alongside a historic map, letters, documentaries, and 3D renderings.
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) has appointed Nicholas R. Bell as its next director and chief executive, effective July 6. Bell, a Vancouver native, succeeds Joshua Basseches, who led the Toronto institution for a decade. Bell joins the ROM from the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, where he was recognized for overseeing a major $200 million renovation and implementing a free admission policy.
The Courtauld in London has announced plans to create two new contemporary art galleries and a reading room, supported by a £10 million donation from the Blavatnik Family Foundation. The spaces, named The Blavatnik Contemporary Galleries, are set to open in 2029 on the top floor of the institution's North Wing at Somerset House. They will host special exhibitions, commissions, and events, and are part of an £82 million transformation project overseen by Witherford Watson Mann architects, announced ahead of the institution's centenary.
UC Santa Barbara’s Art, Design & Architecture Museum presents the MFA Thesis Exhibition titled "it’s about time," featuring works by four graduating artists: Lucy Bell, Austin McCormick, Autumn Nicole, and Rose Schlossberg. The show runs from May 17 to June 1 and includes video, sculpture, painting, and immersive installation that examine the relationships between time, memory, and materiality. Curatorial text by doctoral student Kristin Yinger frames the exhibition as a parenthetical pause that contains the artists' experiences during the MFA program.
The Fowler Museum at UCLA has opened 'Construction, Occupation,' an exhibition exploring the intersection of art, activism, and housing justice. The show revisits the 2016–17 occupation of the abandoned Cambridge Hotel in São Paulo, Brazil, by low-wage workers, refugees, and artists—a project known as the Cambridge Artistic Residency (CARe)—which led to the building's transformation into government-funded social housing and a cultural hub. Curated by Alex Ungprateeb Flynn, Juliana Caffé, and Yudi Rafael, the exhibition features 24 artists and collectives, primarily from Brazil, with photography, video, installations from the original residency, and newly commissioned works. It runs through January 11, 2026.
London's National Gallery opened a smoking room in 1975, located dangerously close to galleries housing priceless paintings. A photograph from the gallery's annual report shows staff members Betty Churchyard and Phyllis Rowlands using the facility. The smoking room was closed decades ago, well before the 2007 ban on smoking in public places, and the space has now been repurposed as part of the Roden Centre for Creative Learning, which opened in February 2025.
The closing reception for 'The Process of Becoming a Butterfly' group exhibition will take place on December 6, 2025, at Bihl Haus Arts in San Antonio, Texas. The event features poetry by Patricia Yznaga, a guided stretching and meditation practice led by Laura Yohualtlahuiz, and an artist talk. Curated by Liz Gomez, the exhibition showcases 10 multidisciplinary artists exploring themes of transformation, identity, and collective healing.
A mixed-media group exhibition titled ‘MUD METAL OIL’ is opening at Centrespace, a gallery in Bristol. The show brings together multiple artists working across diverse materials and processes, exploring themes of materiality and transformation through sculpture, painting, and installation.
The Star Democrat reports that a new exhibition titled 'Driftwood' will open on Friday at Zebra Gallery. The show features works created from driftwood, highlighting the natural material's transformation into art.
Renowned Victoria artist and philanthropist Tanya Bub is presenting a new exhibition titled "Wild Art for the Big of Heart" at the Gage Gallery in Victoria’s Bastion Square from May 12th to 31st. The show features dozens of sculptural works made from driftwood, wire, and paper, with prices ranging from $30 to $8,000. Twenty-five percent of all sales will go to the charity of the buyer’s choice, with 10 local charities benefiting, including Broken Promises Rescue, Elder Carl Olsen — Goldstream / SELE₭TEȽ Watershed, CNIB Victoria, Georgia Strait Alliance, Mustard Seed, Rainbow Haven, Soap for Hope, The Thinking Garden, Victoria Therapeutic Riding Association, and Voices in Motion. The exhibition also includes three weeks of talks, performances, and interactive events in partnership with the charities.
Artist Joanna Tam's solo exhibition "when blue meets blue" opened at the 25/8 Art Gallery on April 13, 2026. The show, presented in partnership with the Harvard Square Business Association and Intercontinental Management, features photographic works and installations exploring the ocean and sky as motifs tied to migration, memory, and the complex duality of nature. Tam, who grew up in Hong Kong and moved to the US, draws from personal experience to create a space for meditation on comfort, freedom, trauma, and tension.
Rogue Valley artist and spiritual teacher Tiziana DellaRovere has launched a multi-media exhibition and book debut titled "Adorata: The Path of Enlovement" at the Langford Art Gallery in Phoenix, Oregon. The project features a collection of sculptures, paintings, and an illustrated book that explores the divine feminine through the figure of Mother Mary, focusing on themes of compassion and introspection.
The Azerbaijan National Art Museum has opened an exhibition titled 'Chronicle of the City of Winds: Baku in the Works of Artists from the 19th to 21st Centuries,' organized jointly by the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry and the museum. Featuring over 80 works of painting, graphic art, and sculpture, the show traces Baku's historical, architectural, and cultural evolution from the 19th century to the present day. It includes pieces from the museum's collection alongside contemporary works, and is part of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13), held within the Year of Urban Planning and Architecture in Azerbaijan. The opening ceremony featured speeches by Deputy Culture Minister Saadat Yusifova, museum director Shirin Malikova, and People's Artist Salhab Mammadov, as well as a musical performance by Honored Artist Nargiz Karimova and Zumrud Alizade.
The Polish Institute in Paris is participating in the 25th edition of Nuit Blanche on June 6-7, 2026, with a program featuring photographer and war correspondent Agata Grzybowska, who will give an artist talk titled "Everyone deserves their own story," followed by a guided tour of an exhibition by Anglo-Polish photojournalist Chris Niedenthal. The event runs from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., offering free access to the public as part of the citywide contemporary art festival.
The Mint Museum Uptown is set to debut "Mint to Be: The Feminine Body as Costume Art" on May 1, an exhibition that explores the feminine form through the lens of fashion and identity. Curated by Professor Perrine DeShield-Jenkins, the showcase serves as a Met Gala–inspired experience featuring interactive narratives, photo activations, and a high-stakes runway competition where 20 Charlotte-based designers will vie for a $1,000 prize for couture that best reimagines the body as a living canvas.
The Fort Frederik Museum in St. Croix has unveiled "Still We Rise: Art Behind the Walls," an exhibition showcasing original works created by incarcerated individuals at the John A. Bell Correctional Facility. The collection features a variety of media, most notably locally sourced calabash gourds that have been transformed into intricate cultural vessels. Developed through a volunteer-led art and literacy program, the show highlights the personal narratives and creative growth of participants who used the project as a vehicle for self-reflection.
Un Grito Gallery in San Antonio, Texas, will present "Accumulation of Becoming," a solo exhibition of new works by multidisciplinary artist Angela Weddle. The show opens April 30–May 1, 2026, with a closing reception on May 21, 2026. The exhibition features layered self-portraiture combining drawing and photography, exploring themes of selfhood, grief, and transformation through dense mark-making and the accumulation of imagery.
Great Pulteney Street Gallery (GPS Gallery) is launching the inaugural edition of Soho Solos, a new exhibition programme developed from last year’s Soho Open in partnership with Parker Harris. Running from 10th–28th June, the show features four solo exhibitions by prize-winning artists Mandy Hudson, James Robert Morrison, Conor Quinn, and Alice Sheppard Fidler, each presenting new work that explores themes from queer memory and car-crash eroticism to the transformation of everyday objects.
The HUB-Robeson Galleries at Penn State University will present “Feral Botanica,” an exhibition by visual artist Hidenori Ishii, from June 5 to October 31, 2026. The show features paintings, prints, and installations from Ishii’s “OTF-SL” series, including a diamond-shaped plexiglass window with gold tagging referencing a guerrilla art project in New York City since 2020. The installation explores the tension between civilization and nature, using reflective surfaces and green construction barricades to create a speculative botanical environment that blurs interior and exterior spaces.
From May 3 to June 28, 2026, Art Studio La Marina gallery in Pietrasanta hosts "Anteprima," a solo exhibition by Italian artist Beppe Madaudo (born Palermo, 1950), curated by Diego Ferrante. The show presents works where animals, human figures, and hybrid forms emerge from layered matter, exploring themes of memory, tension, and transformation. Key pieces include a depiction of the fish St. Peter, whose profile is outlined in red while its interior is built from threads, combustions, and fragments, and two horse paintings on contrasting ash gray and burnt red backgrounds that alter the visual weight of the same silhouette.
A new contemporary art exhibition titled “Related Stories” opens today at the Museum of Folk Art and Tradition “Angeliki Hatzimichali” in Athens’ Plaka district, running from May 22 to July 12, 2026. Curated by Stavroula Pisimisi, the show brings together three Greek artists—Eleftheria Kousiaki, Kostas Nikakis, and Efi Tsoulouchopoulou—whose works span photography, graphite drawings, ink on fabric, polyptychs, artist books, paintings, and ceramic objects, creating a multilayered dialogue on materiality, gesture, memory, and transformation.
Hartwick College's Art and Art History Department held its Senior Art Show Reception on May 15 in the Foreman Gallery, showcasing graduating students' work across diverse media. Awards included the Presidential Purchase Prize ($1,000) to Marissa Yanacheak for "Transformation," a plexiglass layered piece; first-place Best in Show ($600) to Kylee Hosmer for "Minoans in the Modern Day," a 3D installation inspired by ancient Minoan civilization; and second-place Best in Show ($400) to Megan Bryla for "Internal Integrity," a ceramic work. Additional awards were given earlier in May to Devlin Woughter and Samuel Scott.
Three exhibitions will open at Tweed Regional Gallery on Friday 29 May as part of the Gallery's 2026 winter program. The program includes the group exhibition 'Indelible: The Poetry of Decay' alongside solo exhibitions by regional artists Antoinette O'Brien and Luke Close (Githabal), spanning ceramics, painting, and multidisciplinary practice. A curator preview talk, live performance, and opening celebrations will accompany the openings.
Hua Wang and Emanuel Heim are presenting their dual exhibition "Natural Inversions" in Berlin, curated by John Silvis. The show features abstract queer painting, sculptural installations, and explores themes of perception, materiality, and transformation. An artist talk moderated by Monopol editor Sebastian Frenzel accompanies the exhibition, where the artists discuss transhumanism, artificial intelligence, spirituality, and how technology is reshaping our understanding of being human.
Wild Skies Art Gallery, located in the Renaissance Edmonton Airport Hotel, is hosting an opening party for Brandi Hofer's new exhibition "Bloom, Everything is Temporary" on Saturday, May 9, from 2 to 4 p.m. The show runs until July 9 and features Hofer's mixed-media portraiture that combines recycled materials with organic forms, exploring themes of impermanence, transformation, and emotional memory. Hofer will attend the event, which includes an interactive art-making component and refreshments.
Shippensburg University senior art students presented their capstone exhibition at the Huber Art Center, featuring works in printmaking, digital art, ceramics, and charcoal drawings. Artists Luke Lindvall, Gerald Pratt, Kaylee Will, Alayna Mandich, and Lily Bramucci explored themes including censorship, artificial intelligence, horror, and personal transformation. Lindvall pushed printmaking onto unconventional surfaces like skateboards and furniture, Pratt addressed over-censorship in politics, Will warned against over-reliance on technology and AI in raising children, Mandich used horror imagery to examine beauty, and Bramucci connected pit-fired ceramics to life choices and hardship.