The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art will debut 25 new mannequins for its 2026 Met Gala exhibition, "Costume Art." The mannequins are modeled on a diverse range of real body types, including individuals with disabilities, and are intended to challenge the fashion industry's historical reliance on standardized, thin display figures.
The Sandy Cleary Art Gallery in Nashua, New Hampshire, is currently hosting an exhibition of student artwork from the Nashua School District, featuring three-dimensional pieces for the first time. The show, which runs through the end of July, includes works from middle and high school students, with new display cases acquired specifically for 3D art like jewelry, paper mache, and ceramics.
Four Indianapolis-based artists—Salma Taman, Alejandra Carrillo, Bailey Jörk, and Iryna Bondar—are creating work that directly responds to contemporary political and social crises, including the war in Gaza, immigration, and political division. Their art, ranging from Taman's Arabic calligraphy painting promoting forgiveness to Carrillo's digital drawing protesting a migrant detention center, serves as a form of personal and communal expression in a fraught global climate.
Shasta College in Redding, California, will host its 73rd Annual Art Student Exhibit from May 5 to May 19, 2025, in the Shasta College Art Gallery. The exhibition features student works across various genres and media, juried by J. Pouwels, a painting, drawing, and foundations instructor at Chico State. Over $4,000 in awards will be presented, with a Juror's Lecture on April 30 and a Reception and Awards Ceremony on May 7.
The Tom Thomson Art Gallery (TOM) in Owen Sound is launching two new exhibitions this spring. 'Liz Zetlin: More Than Human – a year in my garden' is an immersive video installation documenting the seasonal cycles of the artist's garden, while 'Emergence 2026' showcases works by regional high school students.
The Laurel Arts League announced the winners of its inaugural Community-Wide Art Contest during a ceremony at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art. First-grader Libby Morgan from Laurel Christian School was among the honorees, celebrated for her first-place win.
The City of Winter Garden, Florida, has issued an open call for artists to submit dog-themed artwork for a juried summer exhibition titled 'Dog Days of Summer: The Ulti-Mutt Art Exhibit.' The show will feature up to 25 selected pieces displayed at the city's Art in Public Places Gallery in City Hall from July 1 to August 31, with a public opening event on July 10. Submissions are accepted electronically from May 1 to June 10.
The Gallery at Lake St. Lawrence Arts in Waddington is celebrating its 10th anniversary on May 16. The event will highlight a decade of local creativity, community engagement, and arts education, featuring music, refreshments, and opportunities to meet artists. The gallery, which recently underwent renovations, has grown from a small group into a collective of 16 artists working in diverse media.
Artist Lynn Rogers has volunteered as a docent at the Munson museum in Utica, New York, for over 15 years. She credits her lifelong passion for art to childhood visits to the Yale Art Museum with her mother, an artist, and now uses similar interactive teaching methods to guide visitors through Munson's collections and special exhibitions.
On April 20, 2026, the Italy-Mozambique project "A Bridge Made in Art" launched in Maputo, Mozambique, running until June 2027. Sponsored by Italy's Ministry of Culture and the National Museums of Perugia, the initiative includes workshops, exhibitions, and training in contemporary art, involving Mozambican institutions such as Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Fundação Leite Couto, and Núcleo de Arte. The program is part of the Mattei Plan for Africa, aiming to redefine Italy-Africa relations through cultural cooperation.
A new book titled 'Art Cure' by scientist Daisy Fancourt argues that engaging with the arts has significant, measurable benefits for both mental and physical health. The author, a professor of psychobiology and epidemiology, compiles extensive research to claim arts experiences can prevent suicides, help manage epidemics, increase life expectancy, reduce depression, aid trauma recovery, enhance neuroplasticity, and even encourage healthier eating habits.
In Veneto sta per inaugurare un nuovo centro d’arte con sede in due ville cinquecentesche della Riviera del Brenta (apertura lo stesso giorno della Biennale)
A new cultural center named Ca' Riviera will open on May 9, 2026, in Mira, Veneto, housed within two 16th-century villas on the Brenta Riviera. The project, founded by Riccardo Corò and Leonardo Tiezzi, aims to be a permanent hub for contemporary art, design, and architecture, featuring exhibitions, installations, and artist residencies. Its inaugural exhibition, 'The Shape of the Self / La forma del Sé,' is organized in collaboration with the Milan gallery Cassina Projects.
Dal Mar d’Aral a Milano: l’Uzbekistan si racconta tra artigianato e crisi climatica
Uzbekistan made its official debut at the Milan Design Week with the exhibition 'When Apricots Blossom' at Palazzo Citterio. Curated by Kulapat Yantrasast and promoted by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation, the immersive show presents contemporary reinterpretations of Uzbek craft, organized around three pillars of Karakalpak culture: textiles, food, and dwelling. It features installations by international designers like Bethan Laura Wood and a deconstructed yurt by WHY Architecture.
The Southwick Cultural Council is hosting its 25th Annual Fine Art Exhibition Show and Sale at Town Hall on April 26-27. The event features over 40 artisans, with works in oils, acrylics, watercolors, wood carvings, sculpture, photography, and mixed media, most of which are for sale. A jury process selects participants, and the event includes live music and a display by the Southwick Historical Society.
Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) and the University of the Western Cape (UWC) have launched an open call for their fully funded 2027 Museum Fellowship Programme. The year-long initiative offers emerging African art professionals a combination of practical museum training and postgraduate academic study, aiming to develop the next generation of curators, researchers, and arts professionals on the continent.
The Sharjah Art Foundation has launched the ninth cycle of its Short Film Production Grant 2026, issuing an open call for applications from filmmakers worldwide. The grant provides financial support, with a total fund of AED 120,000 (approx. USD 30,000), for the completion of short films of 50 minutes or less across all genres. Selected projects may also premiere at a future edition of the Sharjah Film Platform festival.
The Sovereign Art Foundation and Gibraltar Cultural Services announced the winners of the 2026 Sovereign Young Artist Competition at an awards ceremony on April 16. The exhibition showcases finalists in two age categories, with winners including Aimee Linares (SAF Judges’ Prize), Amelie Romero (SAF Public Vote Prize), Sebastian Andlaw (Alwani Foundation Award), Shelli Abudarham (Ministry of Culture Award), and Tyrone Vera (AquaGib Second Prize). The top student winner received £800, with £2,000 awarded to their school's art department.
Student artists from across St. Tammany Parish participated in the 35th annual Salad Days Juried Exhibition of Student Art at the George Dunbar Gallery in Slidell. The event featured an opening reception and awards ceremony, with 80 artists submitting 174 works, of which roughly 30% were selected for display. Artist and arts advocate Joshua Wichterich served as the juror for the competitive show.
Cosa sono questi “art club” che Alessandro Benetton sta aprendo in giro per l’Italia? Il racconto
21Art, a company founded by Alessandro Benetton based on a project by entrepreneur Davide Vanin, is expanding its network of gallery spaces and affiliated 'Art Clubs' across Italy and into Monaco. This spring, a new location in Montecarlo will join existing galleries in Rome, Padua, and Treviso, with plans for further openings in Milan, Cortina, and Jesolo by 2027. The expansion is accompanied by a spring 2026 exhibition program featuring shows by Mario Ceroli in Treviso, Ahmet Güneştekin in Rome, and Jan Fabre in Montecarlo.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is presenting 'Lifework,' an exhibition featuring seven artists from the Kilkenny Collective for Arts Talent (KCAT) Studio. The show, opening at the Municipal Gallery, dlr LexIcon in May 2026, pairs each artist's earliest works with recent pieces to trace their artistic development. The artists included are Thomas Barron, Declan Byrne, Lorna Corrigan, Sinéad Fahey, Fergus Fitzgerald, Andrew Pike, and Jason Turner.
Curator Naz Cuguoğlu argues in an opinion essay that museums should embrace the ethos of rave culture to become more welcoming and inclusive spaces, suggesting they can foster new forms of belonging. The article also covers several other art stories, including the discovery of pre-Hispanic rock art in Mexico that led to the rerouting of a train line, an exhibition of Genesis P-Orridge's mail art in Toronto, and artist Jean Shin's memorial project at Green-Wood Cemetery.
The Plymouth Center for the Arts is launching its 16th annual Fine Art of Photography Juried Exhibition on April 25. The show, which runs through May 31, will feature selected works available for purchase and includes awards in color, black-and-white, and special categories like street photography and seascapes.
The He Art Museum (HEM) in Shunde, China, a private institution founded by the family behind appliance giant Midea Group, is shifting its programming strategy. Under director Shao Shu, the museum is moving away from hosting major international exhibitions to focus on amplifying local and regional artists, particularly from the Greater Bay Area, and exploring themes of Lingnan culture.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute has sent approximately 200 pieces from its jewellery collection to Hong Kong for a major exhibition titled 'Jewels, Gems, and Treasures: Adornment in World Cultures'. The show, hosted at the Hong Kong Palace Museum, spans 5,000 years and includes items from ancient Egypt, Imperial China, Renaissance Europe, and modern designers, highlighting the universal human impulse for adornment.
The Anozero – Bienal de Coimbra in Portugal is presenting a significant number of works addressing conflict and displacement in the Middle East. The biennial, curated by John Zeppetelli and Hans Ibelings, features projects like Taysir Batniji's "Just in Case #2," a series of 250 photographs of keys belonging to displaced Palestinians, and Adam Broomberg and Rafael Gonzalez's "Anchor In The Landscape," documenting destroyed olive trees.
High Desert Test Sites (HDTS), a long-running, itinerant art event in the California desert, is approaching its 25th anniversary. Founded by artist Andrea Zittel, it has evolved from a series of experimental artist projects into a vital, decentralized community network that fosters collaboration and dialogue between artists and local residents.
The Amherst Town Hall Art Gallery will host an exhibition of giclée prints by local photographer Stephen Texeira, opening on April 23rd. The show coincides with the return of Amherst Arts Night Plus, and the public is invited to a free reception with the artist that evening, featuring refreshments and music.
The El Paso Museum of Art has opened a new exhibition titled 'Minds of All Kinds' to mark National Autism Acceptance Month. The show features over 70 artworks created by children with autism.
The Grand Detour Arts Festival committee is now accepting applications from artists for its 77th annual event, scheduled for September 13 at the John Deere Historic Site. The juried show is open to all artists and artisans working in original media, including painting, sculpture, jewelry, and crafts, and features cash awards and a Best of Show prize with no sales commission charged. Applications for a separate student art exhibit are also being accepted, with submissions due by August 22.
The Marblehead Arts Association (MAA) launched its fourth annual 'Variations' national art exhibition, drawing over 400 attendees. The show features 190 selected works from nearly 800 submissions across fine art, photography, and 3D categories, judged by artists Christina Grace Mastrangelo, Lou Jones, and Simon Kogan. Prizes were awarded in each category, and curator Paul McMahan arranged the galleries thematically to emphasize the exhibition's focus on diverse interpretations.