Ten Local Galleries Part Of The First Friday Chattanooga Art Crawl

On the First Friday of May 2026, ten local galleries and studios in Chattanooga, Tennessee, will participate in the monthly First Friday Art Crawl, with extended evening hours from 5-8 PM. Participating venues include River Gallery, HART Gallery, In-Town Gallery, ICA @ UTC, BFA Open Studios @ UTC, Wavelength Space, Society of Work Northshore at The Velvet Lounge, ClearStory Arts, Stove Works, and AVA – Association for Visual Arts. Several galleries are hosting opening receptions and artist meet-and-greets, featuring artists such as David Boyd, Jim Felder, Steve Loucks, Rick Sanders, Angie To, and Kathleen Thum.

Youth Art Exhibition award winners announced

The 33rd Annual Creative Youth Art League exhibition opened at the LaGrange Art Museum on April 26, 2026, with award winners announced for student-created artworks. Jackson Rakestraw, a 9th grader from Heard County High, won the Morrill Hutchinson Award for Best of Show, while Taylor Norred, an 11th grader from Troup High, received the Wates Keller Award for Best of Show in Troup County. The exhibition features over 384 students from 30 schools and homeschool groups across four Georgia counties, with categories spanning drawing, painting, mixed media, sculpture, ceramics, and photography.

Jury of the Venice Biennale Resigns

Jury der Venedig-Biennale tritt zurück

The entire jury of the Venice Biennale, appointed by artistic director Koyo Kouoh, has resigned with immediate effect. In a statement released on Thursday, the jury members—including chair Solange Oliveira Farkas, Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi—cited a prior declaration from April 22 in which they announced they would not award Golden or Silver Lions to artists from countries whose political leadership is currently indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity. Although no specific countries were named, the move implicitly targets Russia (President Vladimir Putin) and Israel (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), both subject to ICC arrest warrants. The resignation comes amid escalating tensions over Russia's participation in the Biennale despite EU sanctions, which had already led to a freeze of EU funding and widespread protests.

The Dutch Pavilion at the Venice Biennale is a political protest (also against the Biennale itself)

Il padiglione dei Paesi Bassi alla Biennale di Venezia è una contestazione politica (anche della Biennale stessa)

The Dutch Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, titled "The Fortress" by artist Dries Verhoeven and curator Rieke Vos, transforms the modernist Rietveld Pavilion into a fortress-like enclosure. Inside, a rotating group of thirteen international performers will stage a series of performances throughout the Biennale, focusing on themes of geopolitical uncertainty, social disorder, and the search for stability in an unbalanced world. This marks the first time the Netherlands has used the Rietveld Pavilion for a performance-based project.