East Orange Arts Council Revives Cultural Vision with ‘Gallery Under the Stairs’ Opening

The Arts Council of East Orange has officially opened the “Gallery Under the Stairs” at City Hall, marking a significant revival of the city’s cultural programming. The inaugural exhibition features the work of Warren Murray, his late brother Russell Murray, and Janette Crayne Belcher, highlighting themes of family legacy and community storytelling. The event served as a public debut for Warren Murray, who began painting to honor his brother’s artistic memory, turning a personal grieving process into a community-facing creative practice.

April Arts Calendar 2026

The Seattle region is hosting a diverse array of visual arts exhibitions throughout April and May 2026, with a strong emphasis on cultural identity and heritage. Highlights include Akash Pamarthy’s solo photography show "Sikh Ohio" at the M. Rosetta Hunter Art Gallery, Miya Sukune’s historical installation "TADAIMA: I’m Home" at MOHAI, and a permanent mural installation by Erin Shigaki at Bellevue College. These shows span various media, from traditional Korean moon jar-inspired ceramics by Kelly Haejung Paik to experimental works made of rice and lentils by Yaminee Patel.

The Shortlist: Must-see Milwaukee exhibits opening or closing in April

Milwaukee’s art scene is preparing for a busy April season anchored by the city’s quarterly Gallery Night on April 17 and 18. Key highlights include the Milwaukee Art Museum’s 18th annual Art in Bloom, which pairs floral arrangements with works from the permanent collection, and the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design’s (MIAD) senior capstone exhibition. Other notable shows include Var Gallery’s 12th annual "30x30x30" challenge and Gabrielle Marie Stone’s "Snack Shop" at Kim Storage Gallery.

High Schools Juried Art Exhibition

The Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum is preparing to host the 26th Annual Horry-Georgetown County High Schools Juried Art Exhibition from April 19 to May 17. The showcase features a diverse range of media, including painting, sculpture, and ceramics, selected from hundreds of submissions across local high schools and homeschool programs. This year's competition will be judged by Ashlyn Pope, a contemporary artist and assistant professor at Coastal Carolina University.

Still Thinking About the Fall 2026 Runways? Here Are 8 Can’t-Miss NYC Exhibits to Dress Up and See This April

New York City’s April art calendar features a diverse array of major institutional shows and gallery exhibitions, ranging from Italian Renaissance masters to contemporary experimental collectives. Highlights include a massive Raphael retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the first major U.S. museum exhibition for Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck, and the 82nd edition of the Whitney Biennial featuring 56 multidisciplinary artists.

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Artist Camille Henrot has premiered her first new film in nearly a decade, titled "In the Veins" (2026), at the newly reopened New Museum in New York. The 35-minute work, which is featured in the exhibition "New Humans," explores the intersection of domestic caretaking and the global climate crisis. Through Henrot's signature associative editing style, the film juxtaposes scenes of children growing up with footage from wildlife rehabilitation centers, highlighting the cognitive dissonance of raising children surrounded by animal imagery while facing mass extinction.

Sculpture of John Rhoden opens at Memorial Art Gallery

The Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester has opened a significant retrospective dedicated to the 20th-century African American sculptor John Rhoden. The exhibition showcases Rhoden’s unique ability to blend modernist abstraction with global cultural influences, featuring a wide array of his bronze and wood works that reflect his extensive travels and commissions.

Art in Our Region: What’s On This Month

The Grey Bruce region is experiencing a seasonal surge in artistic activity with several key exhibitions opening across local institutions and independent spaces. The Tom Thomson Art Gallery is currently headlining with 'Forecast', a dialogue between Tom Thomson’s landscapes and contemporary environmental art, alongside a retrospective of Harold Klunder’s abstract paintings. Other notable highlights include Marc Matei’s solo show at Grey Gallery and the annual juried exhibition 'Naked' at Deep Water Gallery in Wiarton.

Defining Forces: SAM explores the influences that shaped generations of NW artists

The Seattle Art Museum has launched "Beyond Mysticism: The Modern Northwest," a major exhibition that re-evaluates the legacy of the "Northwest Mystics." The show features pivotal works such as Mark Tobey’s "Dancing Miners" and Malcolm M. Roberts’ surrealist "Lunar Landscape," tracing how global movements like Surrealism and local landscapes merged to define the region's mid-century aesthetic.

Vinyl Queens! Black Women in the DJ Scene Photo Art Exhibit

The 345 Art Gallery in Chicago’s East Garfield Park hosted "Vinyl Queens! Black Women in the DJ Scene," a photography exhibition by Yolanda Chioma Richards of Imagery By Chioma LLC. The exhibit features visual storytelling portraits that document the artistry and cultural impact of Black women DJs, coinciding with Women’s History Month. The event included a 30-minute panel discussion and live performances, highlighting the intersection of music culture and professional photography.

Women’s handmade folk art blooms in Pune

The Kalachaya Darpan Art Gallery in Pune is hosting a three-day exhibition titled "Strokes of Devotion," featuring handmade traditional Indian folk art created by 18 women from Studio Art for All. Founded by Shraddha Trivedi, the studio has trained over 10,000 students globally in indigenous art forms, ranging from Mata ni Pachedi to Varakari traditions. The showcase highlights freehand interpretations of spiritual themes, including the Dashavatara and Hanuman Chalisa, created by women balancing careers in medicine, law, and technology.

Must-See Museum Exhibits in New Orleans This April

New Orleans is set to host several major museum exhibitions this April, highlighting the city's deep artistic roots alongside its famous festival season. Key highlights include "I Am the Face" at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, which explores the evolution of Southern photographic portraiture from the early 20th century to today, and a significant retrospective of Louisiana native Robert Gordy at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Raphael Met Museum Retrospective Review

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art has launched "Raphael: Sublime Poetry," the first major retrospective of the Renaissance master ever staged in the United States. Curated by Carmen C. Bambach, the exhibition features 237 works, including rare loans of drawings and monumental tapestries that have not left Madrid since the 16th century. While some of his most famous paintings remain in Europe, the show provides an exhaustive look at the artist's development from a teenage prodigy to a papal favorite.

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The 61st Venice Biennale is taking shape as national pavilions announce their participants and curatorial themes for the 2026 edition. Russia has confirmed its return to the Giardini with a multidisciplinary exhibition titled “The Tree is Rooted in the Sky,” following its 2022 withdrawal and the 2024 loan of its pavilion to Bolivia. The upcoming edition, themed “In Minor Keys,” will proceed under the vision of the late curator Koyo Kouoh, who passed away in 2025 after becoming the first African woman appointed to helm the prestigious event.

Black Artists in America, Installation Three Wraps at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens

The Dixon Gallery and Gardens has concluded the third and final installment of its ambitious "Black Artists in America" exhibition series. This concluding chapter focused on the late 20th century, showcasing how African American artists navigated the Civil Rights Movement and the subsequent shift toward contemporary abstraction and conceptualism while maintaining a dialogue with social justice.

12 art exhibitions to check out this spring in L.A.

Los Angeles is preparing for a robust spring arts season with a diverse lineup of exhibitions across the city's major institutions. Highlights include the long-awaited opening of the David Geffen Galleries at LACMA, a retrospective of the band Sublime at the Grammy Museum, and Yoko Ono’s first solo exhibition in Los Angeles. The season also features multidisciplinary showcases such as Guillermo Bert’s tech-integrated textiles at the Museum of Latin American Art and a sensory-focused group show at the Hammer Museum.

The Met’s blockbuster Raphael exhibition looks beyond the artist’s idealised Madonnas

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is preparing a major retrospective of the High Renaissance master Raphael, aiming to present a more complex portrait of the artist than his reputation for serene Madonnas suggests. The exhibition will showcase his technical versatility and intellectual depth through a vast array of paintings, drawings, and tapestries, highlighting his role as a polymath who reshaped the visual language of Western art.

6 free Seattle art exhibits in April at museums and galleries

Seattle’s visual arts scene is offering several high-profile exhibitions accessible to the public for free throughout April. Highlights include a major outdoor installation at the Frye Art Museum by Cornish College of the Arts graduate Chloe King, whose work investigates the construction of cultural memory, alongside five other curated presentations across the city's museum and gallery network.

Never Spoken Again Exhibition at the Weisman Challenges Museum Norms

The Weisman Art Museum is hosting "Never Spoken Again: Rogue Curatorial Strategies," a traveling exhibition that critically examines the history of institutional collecting. Curated by David Ayala-Alfonso, the show features works by international artists that investigate how objects are acquired, categorized, and displayed, often highlighting the colonial and exploitative practices embedded in museum traditions.

6 Kansas City art exhibits you'll love seeing this spring

Kansas City’s spring art season features a diverse lineup of exhibitions across several key local venues, highlighting regional talent and identity-driven narratives. Notable shows include a group exhibition by the Kansas City Art Institute’s AAPI Association at Leedy-Voulkos Art Center and a collaborative project between Kansas City and Chicago galleries titled "Queer Ecologies II" at the Charlotte Street Foundation, which explores the intersection of queer identity and environmental science.

Review: June Leaf retrospective at Oberlin College is a revelation

The Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College is hosting a major retrospective of the late American artist June Leaf, featuring over 100 works spanning 75 years. The exhibition, which originated at the Addison Gallery of American Art, showcases Leaf’s unique figurative style and her roots in Chicago’s "Monster Roster" group. The show aims to provide art historical justice to an artist who often worked in the shadow of her husband, the legendary photographer Robert Frank.

Ruth Asawa: Retrospective

A major retrospective of the Japanese-American artist Ruth Asawa is touring internationally, organized through a partnership between SFMOMA and MoMA. The exhibition spans six decades of her career, featuring her iconic suspended looped-wire sculptures alongside tied-wire pieces, bronze casts, drawings, and archival materials. The show traces her journey from her formative years at Black Mountain College to her influential role as an arts advocate and educator in San Francisco.

Sarasota Fine Art Festival and Naples Downtown Art Fair are March 21 and 22

Southwest Florida’s outdoor art season culminates this weekend with the Sarasota Fine Art Show and the 38th Annual Naples Downtown Art Fair. These regional staples will feature over 200 exhibitors across Sarasota Art Museum’s grounds and Naples’ Cambier Park, offering a mix of commercial vendor stalls and high-caliber fine art.

CACHE to host solo neo-expressionist art exhibition

The Center for Art, Culture, and History—Exeter (CACHE) is set to present "California Landscapes," a solo exhibition featuring the work of neo-expressionist painter Betty Berk. Running from April 4 to June 28, the showcase highlights Berk’s texture-heavy, color-driven paintings, which are often inspired by her background in classical piano.

Peer Bode’s video art exhibition at VSW recalls the 1970s and ‘80s

Artist Peer Bode’s experimental video works from the 1970s and 1980s are currently on display at the Visual Studies Workshop (VSW) in the exhibition "Signal into Memory." The show features twelve screens and two digital prints, showcasing Bode’s "Process Tapes" created during his time at the Experimental Television Center (ETC). The works utilize analog technology, such as Portapak cameras and cathode ray tube televisions, to explore the nature of video signals, temporal dissonance, and the physical process of image-making.

Check out these 13 brilliant photos showcasing the best of local Wigan artists at a new Pier-based exhibition

The Wigan Open Exhibition has launched at Wigan Pier Four, marking the inaugural event of the Wigan Arts Festival 2026. The showcase features a diverse array of creative disciplines, including ceramics, textiles, sculpture, and digital media, highlighting the work of both local creators and artists from further afield. Artistic director Jonny Davenport celebrated the opening night, which serves as the centerpiece for a month-long series of cultural events across the town.

Korea's longest-running art fair to open with largest exhibition to date in April

The Galleries Association of Korea has announced that the 2025 Galleries Art Fair will be its largest edition since its inception in 1979. Opening on April 8 at the Coex convention center in Seoul, the fair will feature 169 member galleries, including major names like Kukje Gallery and Gana Art. The event will include a "Zoom In" section highlighting 10 emerging artists and a special archival exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Galleries Association of Korea.

Museum of the Southwest to host Ken Womack’s ‘GIANT’ sculpture exhibit

The Museum of the Southwest in Midland, Texas, has announced a solo exhibition of sculptor Ken Womack titled “GIANT,” running from June 11 to September 13, 2026. The show will feature 23 large-scale works, including his signature “Texas Toast” sculpture and the interactive “Brolaroid” camera. The exhibition marks Womack’s first solo museum show and serves as a five-year retrospective of his pop-culture-influenced Americana works.

‘A Room for Animal Intelligence’: There’s never been a SAM exhibition like it

The Seattle Art Museum (SAM) has unveiled "A Room for Animal Intelligence," a landmark exhibition curated by Pam McClusky that draws almost exclusively from the institution's permanent collection. The show features a diverse array of works—some of which had never been previously unboxed or displayed—ranging from ancient artifacts to contemporary sculptures. A unique narrative device is employed throughout the gallery, where the animal subjects "speak" for themselves on wall labels to foster a direct connection with visitors.

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Brooklyn Museum director Anne Pasternak sparked a critical conversation at the Making Their Mark Forum in Washington, D.C., highlighting a gendered disparity in museum leadership exits. Pasternak observed that while male directors are typically permitted to retire with dignity, female leaders are increasingly being fired or forced out, calling on the press to investigate the lack of formal data on this trend.