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The Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami (MOCA) is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026. Founded two decades before Art Basel Miami Beach transformed the city into a global art destination, MOCA began as a small one-room gallery dedicated to contemporary work from South Florida. Under Executive Director Chana Sheldon, who has led the museum since 2018, the institution has fostered connections between local creatives and the international art world, mounting landmark exhibitions such as “AFRICOBRA: Messages to the People” (2018), which later traveled to the Venice Biennale. Current shows include a 15-year survey of Hiba Schahbaz and the first museum exhibition of Diana Eusebio, both curated by women.

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Kenturah Davis, a Los Angeles- and Accra-based artist known for large-scale drawings and carbon pencil rubbings that incorporate text, lost her Altadena home and studio in the Eaton fire last year. In response, she helped organize “Ode to ‘Dena,” a group show at the California African American Museum honoring the neighborhood, and is now launching Rest Stops, a restorative public art project and community garden aiming to establish 10 green spaces by 2027. She has also taken up pottery classes and rebuilt her studio practice in a new Altadena sanctuary.

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The article explores the intersection of art and playground design, highlighting how artists have created inspiring play spaces that double as works of art. It begins with the 1954 Museum of Modern Art competition for creative playground equipment, won by Virginia Dortch Dorazio's Fantastic Village, and discusses Isamu Noguchi's Playscapes, including his only U.S. installation in Piedmont Park, Atlanta, commissioned by the High Museum of Art in 1975. The piece then profiles four artist-designed playgrounds: Carsten Höller's Pink Mirror Carousel in St. Moritz, Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam's Woods of Net in Japan, Niki de Saint Phalle's Tarot Garden in Italy, and others, each blending sculpture with interactive play.

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Cultured magazine celebrates the tenth anniversary of its Young Artists list by reuniting 27 artists from past editions for a photoshoot at MoMA PS1, photographed by Dana Scruggs. The article reflects on the 247 artists featured since 2016, noting their diverse backgrounds—from MFA graduates to autodidacts—and includes candid responses from artists about challenges like financial survival, creative evolution, and absurd collector questions.

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On Monday, more than 750 artists, patrons, and friends gathered at the riverside Glasshouse in New York to celebrate the Studio Museum in Harlem's upcoming reopening after seven years of renovations. The event, hosted by director and chief curator Thelma Golden, featured performances by the Hudson Horns, honored five longtime trustees, and awarded the Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize to Kenturah Davis. Notable attendees included Spike Lee, Usher, Colson Whitehead, and numerous artists such as Nina Chanel Abney, Derrick Adams, and Carrie Mae Weems.

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Blank Forms celebrated its ninth anniversary with performances by Dez Andrés, Douglas Sherman, and 7038634357 at the Ukrainian National Home in the East Village. The article, written by Ruba Katrib and Lawrence Kumpf, offers a personal glimpse into their New York apartment, filled with books, records, art from friends, and a curated sound system, alongside recipes and anecdotes about hosting artists, musicians, and curators for dinners and listening sessions.

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The Studio Museum in Harlem will reopen on November 15 after a seven-year closure, unveiling a new seven-floor, 82,000-square-foot building designed by Adjaye Associates and executed by Cooper Robertson. To mark the occasion, Cultured magazine convened three conceptual artists—Nikita Gale, Camille Norment, and Sable Elyse Smith—who received early support from the museum, each reflecting on how the institution shaped their careers. Norment, featured in the 2001 exhibition "Freestyle," is creating a new installation for the reopening; Gale and Smith both participated in the 2017 show "Fictions."

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Artist and Pioneer Works founder Dustin Yellin discusses his annual tradition of attending Burning Man in the Nevada desert with journalist Sophia Cohen. Yellin, who first attended the festival in 2012 despite initial skepticism, describes the transformative experience of biking through the Playa with its lights and large-scale artworks. After this year's Burning Man, he will return to New York to complete *The Politics of Eternity*, a 10,000-pound sculpture debuting at the Armory Show.

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Christine Mack, a collector born in the Philippines and raised in Sweden, is bringing her collection to the Southampton Arts Center this summer. The exhibition, titled “Beyond the Present: Collecting for the Future,” opens July 26 and features works by 71 artists, including blue-chip names like Rashid Johnson and Cindy Sherman as well as emerging talents such as Ana Benaroya and Woody De Othello. The show also includes pieces by 12 artists who have participated in a residency at the Mack Art Foundation’s Greenpoint space. Mack, who serves on councils for the Studio Museum and the Guggenheim, sees the exhibition as a platform to support artists and highlight her residency program.

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Valentina Akerman and her husband, artist Joe Bradley, founded Galerie Sardine in Amagansett last summer, operating out of an 18th-century farmhouse. The gallery's debut season includes residencies and exhibitions with artists such as Jean Prounis, Julian Kent, Joline Kwakkenbos, Tenki Hiramatsu, and Nate Lowman, along with special events like a Beni Rugs residency and garden dinners. Akerman also curated a Sardine program at Le Consortium Museum in Dijon, France, while Bradley shows new work at David Zwirner's London gallery.

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Anderson Ranch Arts Center held its 2025 gala on July 10 in Snowmass Village, honoring artist Titus Kaphar with the International Artist Award. The evening featured a seated dinner, a gala auction with works donated by galleries including Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, White Cube, and Marianne Boesky Gallery, and drew a crowd of collectors, artists, patrons, and cultural figures such as Peter Waanders, Sarah Harrelson, Jessica Silverman, and Kristina Newman-Scott.

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The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, part of the New York Public Library, is celebrating its centennial with the exhibition “100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity,” on view through June 2026. The show features manuscript pages from Maya Angelou, writings by Malcolm X, photography by Gordon Parks, murals by Aaron Douglas, and the original 1925 visitor book signed by Langston Hughes, recreating the experience of visiting the institution at the height of the Harlem Renaissance.

site santa fe international

Site Santa Fe has announced its 12th International exhibition, titled "Once Within a Time," opening June 27 and running through January 2026. Curated by Cecilia Alemani, who previously curated the 59th Venice Biennale, the show draws its name and dreamlike logic from a 2022 film by Santa Fe artist Godfrey Reggio. Featuring over 70 artists and more than 300 works—including new commissions, archival interventions, and contemporary selections—the exhibition uses 20 figures with ties to New Mexico as narrative catalysts, among them Navajo code talker Chester Nez, novelist Willa Cather, and the Fire Spirit from local folklore. For the first time, the International will be fully embedded within Santa Fe's urban fabric, activating sites such as a historic foundry, a toy store, and a dispensary alongside traditional cultural partners. Participating artists include Simone Leigh, David Horvitz, and Dominique Knowles, with contributions from writers Tommy Orange, Lucy R. Lippard, and Estevan Rael-Gálvez.

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The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles held its 20th annual Gala in the Garden on Saturday night, raising $2.4 million for the institution. The event honored artist Lauren Halsey and actor-activist Jane Fonda, with speeches from director Zoë Ryan, Studio Museum director Thelma Golden, and actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen. Attendees included LeBron James, Dustin Hoffman, Will Ferrell, Stormzy, Ed Ruscha, Catherine Opie, Mark Bradford, and Andrea Bowers, with a performance by singer Griff.

Latino community organisation opens $33m arts centre in Boston

On 15 May, Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA), a Latino-founded nonprofit community development corporation, will open La Casa, a $33 million, 26,000-square-foot cultural center in Boston's South End. The largest Latino cultural center in New England, La Casa is designed by local firms Studio Enée and Annum Architects and features a terracotta-colored facade, energy-efficient design, and flexible spaces for civic engagement, education, and artistic expression. Initial programming includes artist residencies, workshops, and a mural by local artist Alvin “Acóma” Colon honoring Boston’s Puerto Rican residents. The building incorporates salvaged elements from the original turn-of-the-century Lutheran church that IBA repurposed in the 1960s.

Rosy Simas on Creating a Space for Peace in Minneapolis

Minnesota-based interdisciplinary artist Rosy Simas opened a contemplative installation titled "A:gajë:gwah dësa’nigöëwë:nye:' (i hope it will stir your mind)" at the Walker Art Center on the same day that Trump-appointed border czar Tom Homan announced the end of Operation Metro Surge, a federal immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities. The installation features salt bottles made from woven corn husks, each honoring one of Simas's relatives, and is inspired by the teachings of Handsome Lake (Ganyodaiyo’), her fifth great-grandfather’s half-brother, who promoted the Seneca concept of a "good mind." The exhibition, on view through July 5, is part of a two-part project that also includes performances in May. Simas, known primarily for choreography, has increasingly gained recognition as a visual artist, recently receiving a Creative Capital Award.

The International Center of Photography Presents Photobook Fest

The International Center of Photography (ICP) is hosting its fifth annual Photobook Fest from May 8–10 at its Lower East Side campus in Manhattan. The event will feature over 80 international publishers, with a schedule of workshops, panels, and book signings.

Dance Your Way to the Museum

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.

More than 200 cultural figures sign statement criticising international response to destruction of Iran’s heritage

More than 200 international scholars and cultural heritage professionals have signed a joint statement condemning the United States and Israel for inflicting "irreversible damage" on Iran’s cultural heritage. The group, which includes academics from leading global institutions, alleges that recent military strikes have damaged over 130 UNESCO-registered monuments and museums, including the Senate Palace in Tehran and sites in Isfahan. They argue these actions violate the 1954 Hague Convention and criticize international bodies like UNESCO for failing to issue a sufficiently forceful response.

POC Arts Nonprofits Face Severe Staffing Challenges, Survey Finds

A new report by Museum Hue reveals that over a third of surveyed museums and cultural centers founded and led by people of color in the Northeastern United States operate without any full-time staff. The study, which examined 38 institutions, found that 67% of smaller-budget organizations (with budgets under $500,000) lack full-time employees, with some operating on less than $100,000 annually and relying heavily on volunteers.

Iran’s arts community and heritage suffer as US-Israeli attacks continue

The US-Israeli bombardment of Iran, beginning in late February, has severely disrupted the country's cultural life and art scene. The typically busy Nowruz (Persian New Year) period was marked by fear, travel restrictions, and internet blackouts, leading to the evacuation of museum collections, the closure of galleries, and artists being unable to work in their studios.

2026 hong kong cultural summit museum leaders talk

The 2026 Hong Kong International Cultural Summit convened global museum leaders and policymakers at the M+ museum and the Hong Kong Museum of Art to discuss the city's evolving role as a cultural hub. Amidst geopolitical shifts, the summit saw the signing of several memoranda of understanding between Hong Kong and international institutions, including the Misk Art Institute and the Czech Academy of Visual Arts. Key announcements included a five-year partnership renewal with Art Basel and the upcoming launch of the West Kowloon Academy, an incubator for arts professionals.

Reimagining communities: inside the Hong Kong International Cultural Summit

The Hong Kong International Cultural Summit returns on March 22-23, gathering cultural leaders from 14 countries in the West Kowloon Cultural District to discuss how institutions can reimagine their relationship with communities. Key figures like M+ Museum Director Suhanya Raffel, Hong Kong Palace Museum Director Louis Ng, and WestK CEO Betty Fung highlight the district's cross-disciplinary, audience-focused approach.

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Alexander Butyagin, a senior archaeologist at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, was arrested in Poland following an extradition request from Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities accuse Butyagin of conducting illegal excavations at the ancient Greek colony of Myrmekion in Crimea without the required permits following Russia's 2014 annexation. He is specifically accused of removing 30 gold coins, including rare artifacts bearing the name of Alexander the Great, while operating under Russian authority in occupied territory.

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Jersey City officials have announced plans to repurpose the site originally intended for the Centre Pompidou’s North American satellite into affordable housing and community space. Mayor James Solomon, who recently took office facing a $250 million budget deficit, confirmed the city is collaborating with Kushner Real Estate Group on the Artwalk Towers development at 808 Pavonia Avenue. This move effectively closes the chapter on the ambitious French-American cultural partnership that was officially canceled last month.

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Archaeologist Mike Pitts has challenged the prevailing narrative surrounding the removal of Hoa Hakananaiʻa, the iconic Easter Island moai held by the British Museum. Drawing on a newly discovered 1869 eyewitness account from the Army and Navy Gazette and a rare historical photograph, Pitts argues that the statue's excavation was a collaborative effort involving hundreds of Indigenous Rapa Nui people rather than a simple act of imperial theft. The evidence suggests the British crew traded tobacco for assistance and were guided to the statue's location by the islanders.

Minneapolis Artists Respond to ICE, DHS After Killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti

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Federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis, led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and ICE under Operation Metro Surge, have resulted in the deaths of two American citizens, poet Renee Good and nurse Alex Pretti, near major art institutions. The violence and subsequent shelter-in-place orders have directly impacted the local arts community, forcing school closures, remote learning, and causing widespread fear.

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The Newark Museum of Art in New Jersey has appointed Lisa Funderburke as its new director and CEO, effective February 1. She succeeds Linda C. Harrison, who left the position seven months ago. Funderburke joins from the Artist Communities Alliance, a much smaller nonprofit focused on supporting artists and residencies.

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The Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) announced it would remain closed on Sunday for safety reasons after a Border Patrol agent shot and killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, during an ICE operation in Minneapolis on Saturday. The shooting occurred just blocks from the museum, and MIA had already closed early on Saturday following the news. The closure was part of a broader Day of Truth and Freedom protest against ICE operations in Minnesota, and the NBA also postponed a Timberwolves game in response to the incident.

minneapolis museums close ice protest

The Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Art closed on January 20, 2026, in protest of escalating Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the Twin Cities. The closures follow the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, which sparked nationwide outrage. The museums canceled scheduled events, including a performance by Nile Harris, and joined a broader one-day economic blackout called "A Day of Truth and Freedom" organized by Minnesota union leaders and community groups. Other cultural institutions participating include the Bakken Museum, the Minnesota Museum of American Art, the Weisman Art Center, and the Museum of Russian Art.