The Nuart Aberdeen street art festival has returned for its 2026 edition, running from Wednesday through Sunday. Thirteen international artists are creating new murals and installations across the city, including the first indoor work at the historic Bon Accord baths, alongside pieces on the Chapel Street car park and North East Scotland College. A guide and walking tours help visitors locate both new and existing artworks.
The WCU Fine Art Museum recently hosted its 58th Annual Juried Undergraduate Exhibition, featuring works by 25 student artists across various media including video, sculpture, and photography. Juried by artist Tracy Templeton, the showcase highlighted technical skill and personal expression, with top honors going to James Wood Boone for his time-based media piece "The Caretaker" and Valeria Enid Ramos for her portraiture.
Syracuse University Art Museum is hosting "Possible Worlds: 20 Years of the Wynn Newhouse Awards," an exhibition curated by Daniel Fuller. The show features 11 artists selected from a pool of 115 past grant recipients, all of whom live with physical or mental disabilities. Notable works include Courttney Cooper’s expansive ballpoint pen maps of Cincinnati, Kambel Smith’s intuitive architectural models, and the Rev. Joyce McDonald’s clay portraits, showcasing a diverse range of media from oil painting to multimedia installations.
The Jamestown Arts Center is set to host "In the Zeitgeist," a solo exhibition by Maine-based artist François Poisson running from April 10 through June 13. The showcase spans a decade of Poisson’s multidisciplinary work, featuring signature series such as his "Bunny Cars" sculptures and "Exhaust Sticks" that explore themes of national identity, political upheaval, and the American ethos. The exhibition will open alongside "NEXT," a group show dedicated to emerging local talent.
The Museum of the Cherokee People has launched "Unrelenting: Cherokee People and the American Revolution," a landmark exhibition marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. The show juxtaposes 18th-century historical artifacts, such as weaponry and archival treaties, with newly commissioned works by 14 contemporary Cherokee artists. Curated by Dakota Brown, Evan Mathis, and Brandon Dillard, the exhibition challenges traditional American nationalist mythologies by centering Indigenous perspectives on the Cherokee American War and the complexities of sovereignty.
Khaled Sabsabi has achieved a historic milestone as the first Australian artist to be selected for both a national pavilion and the Venice Biennale’s main international exhibition. After a tumultuous period in which his appointment to the Australia Pavilion was cancelled and then reinstated following political controversy, Sabsabi will now present his work 'conference of one’s self' in the Giardini alongside a separate contribution to the central show. Both projects are deeply rooted in Tasawwuf (Sufism) and themes of spiritual enlightenment and communal unity.
A South African high court has dismissed an urgent application by artist Gabrielle Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo to reinstate their cancelled pavilion for the 2026 Venice Biennale. The project was scrapped by Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie after Goliath refused to remove a segment of her work 'Elegy' that referenced Hiba Abu Nada, a Palestinian poet killed in an Israeli airstrike. The minister labeled the content "highly divisive" and "polarizing."
South African artist Gabrielle Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo are taking urgent legal action against South Africa's sport, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie after he cancelled their project for the country's Venice Biennale pavilion. The pair were selected in December 2025 to present a new iteration of Goliath's decade-long project *Elegy*, which addresses femicide and the murder of LGBTQI+ people, and was also set to include references to the Ovaherero and Nama genocide in Namibia and the death of Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada. McKenzie, leader of the right-wing Patriotic Alliance party, described the Abu Nada-related content as "highly divisive" and cancelled the project on 2 January, just days before the submission deadline. The legal team, led by Adila Hassim, will file an application at the high court in Pretoria by 22 January, arguing that McKenzie's interference is unconstitutional.
An art exhibition by Cypriot painter George Gavriel in Paphos was cancelled a day after its opening following public outcry over religious imagery. The show, titled “Antisystemic Art,” included paintings of Orthodox icon-style figures such as Christ and the Virgin Mary placed in explicit secular and sexually suggestive contexts. Political parties DISY and ELAM condemned the works as blasphemous, while the Blue Iris Gallery issued an apology and shut down the exhibition to avoid further unrest.
A new group exhibition titled 'Grit' opened at Echo Contemporary Art in Atlanta's Echo Street West, featuring works by local artists in painting, illustration, sculpture, installation, tech-driven pieces, and a quilt by Evereman. Co-curated by Alfonso Alday Vergara of Alday Hunken Gallery, Melanie Shaw of ArtShare, and Kyle McNeill (BignPasty), the show explores the theme of perseverance in art-making. The opening night reception drew a crowd, and the week-long exhibition includes artist talks, live music, and a panel discussion with Hayley Smith of SCOPE Art Show and Plushette Ellis of Artistic Logistics.
The Harold J. Miossi Art Gallery at Cuesta College hosted a closing ceremony for its latest exhibition, “High Tide,” on August 14. The event featured live jazz music, driftwood sculptures, and refreshments, showcasing works by over 60 local Central Coast artists. Artists were invited to nominate fellow creatives, resulting in a diverse display of paintings, ceramics, assemblage, digital media, and photographs. Coordinator Tim Stark described the exhibition as a reflection of the region's creative ecosystem, built on mutual trust and recognition among artists.
Prospect New Orleans, the contemporary-art triennial, will not hold its city-wide exhibition in 2027. Instead, the organization will publish a book titled "20 Years of Prospect" to mark its 20th anniversary, featuring essays, personal accounts, and archival images. Executive director Nick Stillman told Artnews that launching another large-scale exhibition is "not the focus right now," citing a need to pause, reflect on the triennial's legacy, and ensure its accomplishments are properly documented. Financial pressures and national political uncertainty, including concerns about federal arts funding under the Trump administration, also influenced the decision.
The National Museum of Brazil (Museu Nacional-UFRJ) in Rio de Janeiro will partially reopen its galleries nearly seven years after a devastating electrical fire destroyed around 90% of its collection. The temporary reopening features guided tours of three rooms, including one displaying decorative paintings uncovered during restoration, the surviving Bendegó meteorite, a suspended sperm whale skeleton, and donated objects such as fossils, manuscripts, ceramics, and Indigenous artefacts. The museum's full reopening is scheduled for 2028, with a reconstruction budget of 516.8 million reais ($90.4 million) and an additional 170 million reais ($29.8 million) still needed.
Ariel Katzir's mixed-media portrait 'I do see you' won the Overall Acquisitive Award at the City of Gosnells Community Art Exhibition and Awards, earning $5,000 and a place in the city's art collection. The painting depicts local non-verbal First Nations artist Darryl Dempster, who communicates through his art. Other category winners received $500 across media including oil, acrylic, watercolour, digital, mixed media, youth, and Aboriginal artist categories. The exhibition runs until May 25, with a People's Choice Award sponsored by Maddington Central.
Stan State’s Art Space in downtown Turlock is hosting its annual Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) graduate exhibition, on display through May 23. The exhibition opened May 8 with a reception and artist talk, where attendees received catalogs featuring the artists and their works. Dean de Cocker, Director of the Art Space Main Gallery, welcomed guests, and faculty honored each of the 14 graduating BFA students, including Alex Cobain, Amora Ilene Cruz, Zehl Day, and others. The show features diverse media—painting, sculpture, multimedia, and conceptual art—with standout pieces like Riddick McCoy's "Lived Life Experience (Metal Up Your Ass)" and a solo exhibition by Fatima Gutierrez titled "Homenaje a la Memoria."
Tolosa è la capitale europea dei viaggi nello spazio (e sa come celebrarli)
Toulouse has solidified its status as Europe’s aerospace capital, blending industrial prowess with cultural engagement. The city, home to the Airbus headquarters and the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), celebrates the legacy of flight from Clément Ader’s 1890 steam-powered takeoff to modern satellite technology. Key institutions like the Cité de l’espace and the Envol des Pionniers museum offer immersive experiences, including flight simulators, real-scale rocket replicas, and exhibitions on the history of Air France.
Arts District Liberty Station in San Diego has launched a new Open-Air Gallery, a self-guided tour featuring murals, sculptures, and public art installations. The tour is available in English and Spanish, with an interactive online StoryMap providing behind-the-scenes content. The organization also announced two local artists, Mischka Ippólita and Beliz Iristay, for its 2025 Installations at the Station program, which commissions site-specific works celebrating the San Diego-Baja region.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, now in its 61st year, has returned to Brighton Museum and Art Gallery on loan from the Natural History Museum. The exhibition runs from 9 May to 6 September and features over 60,000 entries from photographers across 113 countries and territories, judged anonymously on creativity, originality, and technical excellence.
The 81st May Show has opened at the Mansfield Art Center in Ohio, featuring over 100 works selected from nearly 600 submissions by guest juror Wendy Earle, curator of the Akron Art Museum. The exhibition, which runs through the end of May, showcases a diverse range of mediums from Ohio artists aged 16 to their late 80s. Awards include the Fred "Fritz" Culler Award for Best of Show to Bradley Wallace for "Venus 1K Views," the Mechanics Bank Award of Excellence to Barbara Morejon and Luanne Bole-Becker, and the Jeff McBride & Maura Teynor Emerging Artist Award to high school senior Katerina Prykodko.
The Detroit Zoo is hosting the internationally renowned "Birds in Art" exhibition from April 1 to September 7, 2026. Organized by the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum to celebrate its 50th anniversary, the showcase features 60 original paintings, sculptures, and graphics by contemporary artists from around the world. The exhibition includes interactive elements and a dedicated reading nook designed to engage visitors of all ages with avian-themed artworks.
Hauser & Wirth, the global gallery empire with 18 spaces worldwide, has acquired the historic Palazzo Forcella De Seta in Palermo, Sicily, to open a new venue. The deal was formalized in mid-November and awaits approval from regional authorities and the Italian Ministry of Culture. The gallery plans to restore the 2,000-square-meter building, which previously hosted Manifesta 12 in 2018, and create an arts destination with cultural programming, echoing its successful model in Somerset, Menorca, and Los Angeles.
The University of California, Davis, will host the Arts & Humanities 2025 Graduate Exhibition from June 5–22 at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art. The multidisciplinary showcase features 31 graduate students from art studio, art history, design, comparative literature, English, environmental science and policy, music, and performance studies. Works include photography, painting, sculpture, video, performance, and textiles, with live performances and awards on opening night. Participants explore themes such as human-technology relationships, environmental resilience, African diaspora, and emotional healing.
The Ashe Arts Center in Lansing, North Carolina, is hosting an opening reception for "Shadow of the Hills," a new exhibit featuring artwork created by the Blue Ridge Art Clan (BRAC). The reception will take place on Friday, May 8, from 5-7 p.m., and the exhibit will remain on display through June 6. BRAC, founded by Florence Thomas in 1978, promotes fine arts and supports artistic excellence, with members including professional and hobby artists from Ashe County and the surrounding High Country. The 2026 exhibit features 28 participating artists, including Scott Ballard, Lynn Baranowski, and Pete Benda, among others.
In February 2025, the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton abruptly canceled a solo exhibition by Brooklyn-based artist Victor “MARKA27” Quiñonez just nine days after its opening. The show, titled “Ni de Aqui, Ni de Allá,” was displayed at the College of Visual Art & Design (CVAD) Gallery and featured works from Quiñonez’s I.C.E. Scream series, including large-scale paleta sculptures embedded with handcuffs and firearms, and a cart bearing the phrase “U.S. Department of Stolen Land Security.” The exhibition was closed without notice, its street-facing windows covered with brown paper, and UNT terminated its loan agreement with Boston University Art Galleries, which had originally hosted the show in September 2025. Faculty and students responded with an open letter to UNT President Harrison Keller, condemning the censorship and demanding transparency.
Leaked transcripts from the University of North Texas (UNT) reveal that Dean Karen Hutzel attributed the abrupt cancellation of artist Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez’s exhibition to fears of political retaliation. The show, titled “Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá,” was shuttered shortly after opening at the CVAD Gallery without an initial public explanation. The transcripts indicate that administrators feared the provocative nature of the work—specifically pieces addressing incarceration and deportation—could lead Texas Republican lawmakers to slash university funding or eliminate programs, following a pattern of ideological clashes at other state institutions.
Taiwan’s National Culture and Arts Foundation has revoked the National Award for Arts from Indigenous Paiwan artist Sakuliu Pavavaljung, following his conviction for sexual assault. The Supreme Court upheld a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for forcible sexual intercourse involving a female student in 2021. Pavavaljung, who received the award in 2018, must return the NTD 1 million prize. The case gained traction after artist Kuo Yu Ping disclosed it on social media in December 2021, leading to additional victims coming forward. His planned exhibition for Taiwan at the 59th Venice Biennale was canceled in 2022.
An exhibition featuring around 15 local artists from the Forth Valley will take place at Elmbank Mill in Menstrie, Scotland, from June 14 to 24. Originally planned as part of the ALLT Festival, which was postponed indefinitely, the artists decided to proceed independently. The show includes paintings, printmaking, photography, mixed media, and contemporary visual art from both emerging and established artists, with free entry, an opening night celebration on June 13, and additional pop-up stalls, workshops, and artist talks.
Equatorial Guinea makes its debut at the Venice Biennale with a national pavilion at Palazzo Donà dalle Rose, featuring Paraguayan artist Ingrid Seall and her work "Manar." The pavilion, titled "The Forest: The Undergrowth," runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026, and presents an immersive journey inspired by Equatorial Guinea's forests. Seall's piece uses materials like paper, cellulose, iron, and cassava paste to create a vertical, living organism that transforms waste into vital matter. The exhibition includes works by multiple international artists and is curated by Joan Abelló, with Brazilian commissioner Paulo Speller.
On 22 April, Art Corner by Clark and Leo opened its ninth exhibition, 'Art Is Therapy', featuring works by Hungarian artist Judit Horváth Lóczi at the Hotel Clark Budapest and Leo Bistro. The show includes paintings and small-scale sculptures that explore personal experience, emotional memory, and female identity through geometric structures and vivid colors. The exhibition builds on material first presented in Berlin in 2020, now expanded with new works, and was inaugurated with a private vernissage attended by prominent figures from the Hungarian art scene, accompanied by a performance from Zoltán Grecsó and cellist Endre Kertész, plus a specially curated gastronomic program.
The Center for Black Excellence and Culture will open on West Badger Road in Madison on May 6, after years of planning and raising over $32 million from roughly 1,300 donors. The facility includes a central gallery, display spaces, a 280-seat fine arts theater, a black box theater, a library, a Black studies reading room, a recording studio, and a women's empowerment center. The grand opening will feature performances by The House Urban Arts Initiative Inc., Dana Pellebon, Theola Carter, Anthony Brown, and others. The inaugural visual arts exhibition, "Neo Black Renaissance: A Vision in One's Mind," will run through August, showcasing works by artists including Comfort Wasikhongo, Odalo Wasikhongo, Marlon Banks, Brooklyn Doby, Jessica Patterson, Fatima Laster, and Shalicia Johnson.