And the (Senior Show and URECA Art Exhibition) Winners Are …

The Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery at Stony Brook University hosted the opening reception of the ninth annual combined Senior Show and URECA Arts Exhibition on April 29, drawing about 300 attendees including students, faculty, staff, university leaders, and local museum curators. The Senior Show, a nearly 50-year tradition, features works by senior studio art majors and minors, while the URECA exhibition highlights undergraduate research-based art selected by faculty. This year's exhibition is noted for its diversity in subject matter and materials, from chalk painting to digital media, and runs through May 22.

Spring Exhibitions Opening at the Tom Thomson Art Gallery

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.

ECUADOR UNVEILS KANUA IN THE CANALS OF VENICE

Ecuador has unveiled "Kanua: listening practices," a public program for its pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, launching on May 8 with solar-powered boat tours through Venice's canals. Developed by the anticolonial film collective Tawna in collaboration with the Kara Solar Foundation and curated by Manuela Moscoso, the project features six intimate boat journeys with discussions on extractivism, aqua-feminism, and territorial resistance, involving artists such as Carolina Caycedo, Mariana Castillo Deball, and Tabita Rezaire. The initiative reactivates Tawna's floating Amazonian film festival, which originally brought cinema to remote communities in Ecuador via a solar-powered boat.

INTERTWINED NARRATIVES CASSANDRA MAYELA ALLEN EXHIBITS IN NEW YORK

The Instituto Cervantes in New York presents *Aquel Amplex*, the first institutional exhibition of Venezuelan artist Cassandra Mayela Allen, on view until June 28, 2026. Curated by Fabiola R. Delgado and Carlos Núñez, the show features braided textile sculptures, paintings, and drawings that examine Allen's process-driven practice within the legacies of Venezuelan and Latin American modernism and informalism. The title, meaning "that embrace," references a 1969 letter from Hélio Oiticica to Lygia Clark, evoking longing and forced migration. Allen, a self-taught artist who migrated from Venezuela in 2014, uses communal braiding gatherings to transform found fabrics and garments into architectural works that deconstruct national and artistic heritage.

Diego Gualandris “Floralia” at ADA, Rome

Diego Gualandris presents "Floralia" at ADA gallery in Rome, an exhibition that explores themes of growth, nature, and human intervention through a poetic lens. The show features works that evoke the cycle of life and decay, using floral motifs to reflect on the fragility of existence and the tension between natural processes and external forces.

Holocaust Museum LA will reopen as part of the new $70-million Goldrich Cultural Center

Holocaust Museum LA, the first survivor-founded and oldest Holocaust museum in the United States, will reopen after a 10-month closure as part of the new $70-million Goldrich Cultural Center in Pan Pacific Park. The 70,000-square-foot campus, debuting June 14, doubles the museum's original footprint and includes three pavilions, a 200-seat theater, exhibition galleries, a rooftop garden, and a Holocaust-era boxcar. The center is named after the late Jona Goldrich, a Holocaust survivor and co-founder of the museum, and was designed by architect Hagy Belzberg.

New exhibits start at Public Works Art Center

The Public Works Art Center in Summerville, South Carolina, opens five new exhibitions on May 21 with a reception from 5:30-8:30 p.m. The shows include "GODBODY: THE FEMME," a group exhibition celebrating Black women artists; Amy Stewart's "Intersections" exploring interconnectedness; Nick Cerrato's "Our Society Needs To…" featuring abstract works created with his feet; Sarah Mitchell's "Wildlife in Wool" with needle-felted animals; and the Summerville Artist Guild's annual "All Members Show." During the reception, guild members will create collaborative paintings for sale to benefit the Summerville Rocks Scholarship Fund.

Opening Reception | 21st Annual SDSU Art Council Scholarship Exhibition | Athenaeum Art Center

The Athenaeum Art Center in San Diego is hosting the 21st Annual SDSU Art Council Scholarship Exhibition from May 16 to July 3, 2026, with an opening reception on May 16. The exhibition features new work by five graduate and undergraduate students from San Diego State University's School of Art and Design: Andrea Mendoza, Tina Mardan, Todd Bradley, Ana Saad, and Isa Ybarra. Their works explore themes of the body as a site of history, resistance, and reinvention, addressing chronic pain, immigrant memory, queerness, and colonial boundaries through diverse media including painting, metalsmithing, photography, installation, clay, fiber, and printmaking.

Young artists show at The Fraser Art Gallery

Fifty-one students from Wallace Consolidated Elementary School and Tatamagouche Regional Academy displayed their artwork in a group show at The Fraser Art Gallery in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia. The exhibition featured individual and class projects, including a collage inspired by the Artemis II moon flyby and a sculptured monster garden. The opening reception included remarks from gallery president Jackie Robertson, who thanked volunteers and sponsor PharmaChoice, and noted the importance of early art exposure.

Local artist featured in exhibition in Italy

Medicine Hat artist Poul Nielsen, 78, is exhibiting his work in Venice, Italy, as part of the exhibition 'Anima Mundi (Rituals)' held in conjunction with the Venice Biennale. Nielsen, who has shown his art in around 100 solo and collaborative exhibitions across decades, began his international career with a show in Copenhagen in 2000 and has since exhibited in England, the United States, and China. His current series, 'Atmospheric Possibilities,' was started around 2015 after his retirement from teaching at Medicine Hat College, where he helped develop a pioneering program merging fine art and graphic design.

Building Through Change, Jean-David Malat, Founder of JD Malat Gallery on resilience, risk and the evolving art scene in Dubai

Jean-David Malat, founder of JD Malat Gallery, opened a new outpost in Downtown Dubai in early 2025, expanding from his established Mayfair space in London. The gallery launched with a group show, *Carte Blanche*, and has since hosted solo exhibitions, with plans for a *Made in UAE* initiative that received over 1,000 applications. Malat cites the slowing London market and growing momentum in the UAE as key factors in his decision to invest in Dubai, where he spent a month building relationships with collectors and the local community before opening.

On the eve of Mother’s Day, New Orleans art exhibit protests the death of Black sons

On the eve of Mother's Day 2026, an art exhibit titled "The Four Lost Sons" opened at [ART] CONSCIOUS gallery in Arabi, Louisiana. The show features large portraits of four Black men from Louisiana who died in police custody or altercations, created by the pseudonymous artist Walta Focq. The exhibit coincides with the anniversary of Ronald Greene's death, who was beaten and tased by Louisiana State Police in 2019. The mothers of the four men are involved in the project and plan to speak at the opening reception.

❤️ Atlanta, with love

This article from Rough Draft's Sketchbook newsletter highlights two Atlanta-focused art stories. Painter Carlos Solis, who left Venezuela for Kennesaw nearly two decades ago, curates "In the Beginning," a group exhibition opening May 9 at the Hudgens Center's Fowler Gallery in Duluth, featuring 15 artists from around the world who now call Georgia home. Separately, designer and illustrator George F. Baker III, originally from Nebraska and shaped by Detroit, was commissioned by the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs to create the key art for the 49th annual Atlanta Jazz Festival, and he discusses how the musical souls of both Detroit and Atlanta influenced his design.

Art exhibits open in Earlville

The Earlville Opera House Art Galleries in Earlville, New York, will open the second round of 2026 visual artist exhibitions on Saturday, May 9, from 1 to 3 p.m. The series features three artists: Bruce E. Webster with his retrospective "A Legacy in Wood" showcasing over 40 years of fine wood furniture; Linda Kays-Biviano with "From Clay to Character: Featuring Woodland Spirits," hand-sculpted fantasy figures in polymer clay and resin; and Lawrence Kinney. The exhibits run through July 2, with free admission and an Artist Talk at 1:45 p.m. on opening day.

Art and Light Gallery spotlights artist Eric Benjamin at The Anchorage

Art & Light Gallery has partnered with The Anchorage restaurant in Greenville to host an exhibition of works by local artist Eric Benjamin. The show, available virtually on the gallery's website and on view through July 7 at the restaurant, features Benjamin's landscape paintings characterized by bold color and abstract energy created with hand-mixed oil paints. A ticketed artist talk is scheduled for June 18.

Exhibits feature local artists, including youth

The Public Works Art Center in downtown Summerville is currently hosting four concurrent exhibitions featuring local artists, including Tom Stanley, Paul Matheny, Karyn Healey, and the late Gene Merritt, as well as a showcase for student artists. The shows, which run through May 16, present a range of works from paintings reflecting Southern culture to documentary photography of the town and youth art.

In Tuscany a new festival brings contemporary art to agricultural estates with exhibitions and artist residencies

In Toscana una nuova rassegna porta l’arte contemporanea nelle aziende agricole con mostre e residenze d’artista

The first edition of CARMI.CO 2026 – Carmignano Contemporanea will take place from May 15 to 24, 2026, in the Carmignano area near Prato, Tuscany. The festival features five exhibitions and five artist residencies hosted by local wineries and agricultural estates, alongside talks, workshops, and studio visits. Exhibitions are staged at venues including the Rocca di Carmignano, Museo Archeologico di Artimino, and Museo delle Maioliche di Bacchereto, with works by artists such as Marco Bagnoli, Qiu Yi, Gola Hundun, Rachel Morellet, Fargo, Marco Ulivieri, Serena Fineschi, and others. Residencies take place at Tenuta di Capezzana, Colline San Biagio, Tenuta Le Furre, Tenuta di Artimino, and Fattoria Il Grumolo, involving artists Max Magaldi, Ronaldo Fiesoli, Vittorio Cavallini, Graziano Riccelli, and Gola Hundun.

Mafalda meets Pimpa. In Rome, the dialogue between two authentic comic icons: interview with the curators

Mafalda incontra Pimpa. A Roma il dialogo tra due autentiche icone del fumetto: intervista ai curatori

A new exhibition in Rome titled "Mafalda & La Pimpa" brings together two iconic comic strip characters for the first time. Created by Quino (1964) and Altan (1975) respectively, Mafalda and Pimpa represent different approaches to childhood: Mafalda critically questions adult society, while Pimpa explores a gentle, wonder-filled world. The show runs from May 14 to July 11 at the Instituto Cervantes, featuring over 120 original strips and plates, and is organized in collaboration with ARF! Festival and other partners. Curators Stefano Piccoli and Daniele Bonomo designed the exhibition to highlight both the contrasts and surprising analogies between the two beloved figures.

Maine College of Art & Design Presents the 2026 MFA Thesis Exhibition

Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D), in collaboration with the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at MECA&D, presents the 2026 MFA Thesis Exhibition, showcasing the culminating work of nine graduate candidates in the Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art program. The exhibition features artists Abigail G. Cloutier, Harley Ngai Grieco, Molly Knobloch, Stephen Medeiros, Darby Miller, Dylan Ouellette, Caitlin Perrigo, Jonathan Spath, and Isaac L. Stern, working across ceramics, drawings, photography, prints, sculpture, sound, and video installations. The show runs from May 7–16, 2026, at the ICA in Portland, Maine.

A giugno 2026 a Pietrasanta apre il Museo Igor Mitoraj. Opere dell’artista ma anche mostre

The article announces the opening of the Museo Igor Mitoraj in Pietrasanta, Italy, scheduled for June 6, 2026, after several years of delays. The museum is the first space entirely dedicated to the Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj, who died in 2014 and was known for transforming Tuscan marble into works blending classical forms with fragmented, contemporary themes. Designed by OBR, Politecnica, and Studio Lumine, the museum results from collaboration between the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Municipality of Pietrasanta, and the artist's heirs, united in the Fondazione Museo Igor Mitoraj. Frank Boehm, director of the foundation, envisions the space as a research-oriented center that will engage with different artistic languages and contemporary issues, not limited to Mitoraj's work alone.

L’antica certosa vicino Siena dove il disegno è diventato una performance condivisa. Il report

The third edition of the De Linea Art Festival took place on May 2-3 at the Certosa di Pontignano near Siena, Italy. Curated by Matteo Marsan and Riccardo Guasco, the event transformed the historic monastery into a living laboratory of drawing, illustration, and performance. Nine illustrators—including Marina Marcolin, Francesco Poroli, Elisa Macellari, Gianluca Folì, Ale Giorgini, Gloria Pizzilli, Matteo Berton, Giovanna Giuliano, and Daniele Caluri—participated in a week-long residency, producing works inspired by the site and the festival's theme "Crepe e spiragli" (Cracks and Glimmers), a contemporary interpretation of a Leonard Cohen quote. Over 500 visitors attended workshops, talks, and shared creative sessions, including a workshop by Fondazione Il Bisonte and performances by actress Daniela Morozzi and graphic poet Alessandro Valenti (Alvalenti).

Curiosities at the 2026 Venice Biennale: the Tanzania Pavilion is full of Italian artists

Curiosità alla Biennale di Venezia 2026: il Padiglione della Tanzania è pieno di artisti italiani

The Tanzania Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, titled "Minor Frequencies: The Inner Life of a Nation," features a significant number of Italian artists alongside Tanzanian voices. Curated by Lorna Benedict Mashiba and Martina Cavallarin, the exhibition is housed across the Gervasuti Foundation, Palazzo Canova, and Supernova in Cannaregio. It includes works by 14 Italian artists such as Alice Andreoli, Christian Balzano, and Silvia Canton, as well as artists from Europe and Asia, while centering the practices of Tanzanian artists like Turakella Editha Gyindo, Lazaro Samuel, Valerie Asiimwe Amani, and Amani Abeid.

Il Padiglione Italia alla Biennale? “Deve essere uno spazio di possibilità”. Intervista alla curatrice

The article announces Chiara Camoni's project "Con te con tutto" for the Italian Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026, curated by Cecilia Canziani. The project emphasizes relational and communal practices, rejecting the identity-driven rhetoric of national representation. It stems from a fifteen-year dialogue between artist and curator, incorporating workshops, shared readings, and collaborative works like "La Giusta Misura." The pavilion is conceived as an ecosystem of artworks, texts, and activations rather than a linear exhibition, with a catalog designed as a critical reader.

Working in Art and Culture: Opportunities from Premio di Pittura Casciaro, Fondazione MUS.E, Comune di Roma, Fondazione Officine Saffi

Lavorare nell’arte e nella cultura: opportunità da Premio di Pittura Casciaro, Fondazione MUS.E, Comune di Roma, Fondazione Officine Saffi

This article from Artribune compiles five current job and grant opportunities in the Italian visual arts and culture sector. It lists open calls for the Premio di Pittura Giuseppe Casciaro (a painting prize with a career award and a solo exhibition prize), a residency program for artists and curators under 36 at Fondazione MUS.E's MAD Murate Art District, an open call for artists on the theme of play by Associazione Circuiti Dinamici, a search by the Comune di Roma for a three-year artistic director for the La Vaccheria cultural space, and a stage (internship) position at Fondazione Culturale Officine Saffi for exhibition programming and project coordination.

Venice Biennale Scraps “Golden Lion” Awards as Turmoil Continues

The 61st Venice Biennale has scrapped its traditional Golden Lion awards, replacing them with public-voted “Visitor Lions” after the entire award jury resigned on April 30. The jury had previously announced its intention to exclude countries whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, effectively targeting Russia and Israel. The Biennale Foundation, however, stated that all official national pavilions—including Russia and Israel—will be eligible for the new Visitor Lions, citing principles of inclusion and equal treatment. The awards ceremony has been moved from May 9 to November 22, the final day of the Biennale, to allow ticket holders to vote throughout the event.

Working in the arts: opportunities from Arte Laguna Prize, Reggio Parma Festival, Italian Cultural Institute of London, Museo Mitoraj

Lavorare nell’arte: opportunità da Arte Laguna Prize, Reggio Parma Festival, Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Londra, Museo Mitoraj

Artribune has compiled a list of five open calls and job opportunities in Italy for visual artists, theater professionals, curators, and digital media specialists. The opportunities include the Arte Laguna Prize 2026 offering exhibitions at Venice's Arsenale Nord and international residencies at venues like The Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai and BigCi in Australia; the Gradus theater residency program by Reggio Parma Festival; an artist residency for Italians under 40 at Camberwell College of Arts in London organized by the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Londra; the Terre Alte residency for visual artists and curators under 36 by CasermArcheologica; and a digital media specialist position at the Fondazione Museo Igor Mitoraj.

“Yellow Letters”: arte e politica, libertà e censura nel nuovo film di İlker Çatak

Ilker Çatak's fifth film, "Yellow Letters," premieres on April 30, 2026, distributed by Lucky Red. The story follows Derya and Aziz, a Turkish artist couple whose lives unravel after Aziz, a professor at Ankara University, receives a "yellow letter" terminating his employment. The film, inspired by post-2016 coup purges in Turkey, shifts to Berlin and Hamburg, where the director deliberately avoids mimicking Turkish locations, instead using explicit captions like "Berlin as Ankara" to create a Brechtian alienation effect. Çatak explores how arbitrary state repression fractures personal relationships and moral boundaries, drawing on interviews with artists who faced unjust dismissals.

An Argentine artist inaugurates a brand-new space dedicated to photography in Turin

Un artista argentino inaugura a Torino le attività di un nuovissimo spazio dedicato alla fotografia

A new photography space called K! has opened in Turin's San Salvario district, inaugurated by Argentine artist Emilio Nasser with his exhibition "La Cornuda de Tlacotalpan." The space is the latest curatorial project of the Kublaiklan collective (Rica Cerbarano, Francesco Colombelli, Elsa Moro, Aleksander Masseroli Mazurkiewicz) and focuses on research, production, and education centered on the relational power of photography. Nasser's exhibition reinterprets a fading Mexican legend from Tlacotalpan by involving the local community in a collective reconstruction through drawings, transcriptions, and mud masks, resulting in a choral portrait of the mythical Cornuda creature.

Apre a Venezia una nuova fondazione per l’arte. Il progetto dell’artista curdo Ahmet Güneştekin a Palazzo Gradenigo

Kurdish artist Ahmet Güneştekin has opened a new foundation in Venice at Palazzo Gradenigo, a 16th-century building in the Castello district. The foundation's inaugural exhibition, titled "Sessizlik/Silenzio/Silence," will open on May 6 during the Venice Biennale. The show features 11 new bronze sculptures and 11 oil paintings. The palace, closed to the public for 17 years, was purchased by the artist and is undergoing a conservative restoration led by architects Alberto Torsello and Elisa Santoro, set to complete by late 2026. The foundation, entirely self-funded through sales of Güneştekin's works and royalties, aims to provide exhibition and training opportunities for young artists, especially from Turkey, in an international context.

Cosmic Province. Between bar and studio, or the punk life of Jacopo Benassi

Provincia Cosmica. Tra bar e studio, ovvero la vita punk di Jacopo Benassi

Italian artist Jacopo Benassi, born in 1970 and shaped by the punk scene, discusses his return to his hometown of La Spezia after years in Milan, where he worked as a photographer for Rolling Stone. He describes his life revolving around his studio and local bars, and reflects on founding the underground club B-Tomic in 2011, which became a hub for his artistic and photographic work blending music and performance. He also mentions an upcoming book of drawings and texts by Renzo Daveti (alias Benzo), a formative figure from the Italian punk scene.