Art Students Collaborate with Elmhurst Art Museum

Art students from a local university, under the guidance of assistant professor Dawn Kramlich, collaborated with the Elmhurst Art Museum after an assignment inspired by a visit to the museum's "Living with Modernism" exhibition featuring artist Kelli Connell. The museum shared the students' resulting artwork on Instagram and invited several to exhibit in the new Emerging Artists Pavilion at the Art in Wilder Park festival. Students received private tours and one-on-one feedback from museum director Allison Peters Quinn, deepening their professional experience.

Check Out JP First Fridays at Galleries, Studios, Art Spaces (and a Famous Bench) on May 1

Jamaica Plain First Fridays returns on May 1, 2025, from 5:30-8:30 pm, featuring six locations that showcase painting, photography, multi-media works, and a famous bench. Highlights include artist Matthew Hincman celebrating the 20th anniversary of his guerrilla-style bench on Jamaica Pond, plus exhibitions at Eliot School Annex, JP Clay, Green Street Photo Collective, Jameson & Thompson Picture Framers, and Boston Cyberarts Gallery. The event is free and walkable.

Chosun University Museum of Art Hosts 'Strolling Through the Garden' for 80th Anniversary

Chosun University Museum of Art in Gwangju, South Korea, is hosting a special exhibition titled 'Strolling Through the Garden' from May 7 to May 27 to celebrate the university's 80th anniversary. The show features 34 works by 13 contemporary artists working in Western painting, Korean painting, installation, and media art, organized around three themes: 'Garden of Imagination,' 'Garden of Senses,' and 'Garden of Metaphor.' Admission is free, and the exhibition coincides with the university's Rose Week (May 14–17), encouraging visitors to experience nature and art together on campus.

Brussels Airlines launches traveling art exhibition between Africa and Europe

Brussels Airlines has announced a major traveling exhibition called AfriConnections, dedicated to contemporary African art, set to launch in 2026. The exhibition will tour museums and cultural venues in Kinshasa, Abidjan, Yaoundé, and Dakar before arriving in Brussels, featuring fifteen artists from across Africa whose works are drawn from the Ifitry artist residency collection. Admission will be free to maximize public access.

Bridges of Belonging: Cinco de Mayo Art Reception

A free reception for the exhibition “Bridges of Belonging: Cinco de Mayo, Bi-National Identity, and the Spirit of Chignahuapan” will be held on May 1 at the Clark County Government Center Rotunda Gallery in Las Vegas. The event, themed “Puentes de Pertenencia,” features live music, cultural performances, visual arts, and food, with the exhibit on display through May 28.

Dallas' African American Museum reopens with iconic Sepia photo exhibit

The African American Museum in Dallas reopens on May 1 after temporary renovations, featuring the exhibition "People Who Make the World Go ‘Round: The Legacy of Sepia Magazine." The show highlights influential Black icons such as Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Maya Angelou, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Thurgood Marshall through photographs from the museum's archive of over 40,000 images. Sepia magazine, founded in Fort Worth in 1946, chronicled Black life and culture for nearly four decades, offering a Southern perspective that rivaled national publications like Ebony and Jet.

600 Art Works on display in Ibadan as ‘the Coalition’ steals the spotlight

Over 600 artworks by 60 artists from across Nigeria were displayed at 'The Coalition' exhibition held at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan from April 23 to 25, 2026. The show, organized by Dunmade Ayegbayo of Constance and Sons Art Gallery, featured a diverse range of styles including abstract works, portraits, and pieces exploring African identity, family, and everyday life. Notable participating artists included Ogo-Oluwa Christianah, Okunade Olamilekan, and Gobe Joseph.

Old School Studios: New Meanwhile Arts Space opens for Artists Open Houses 2026

Old School Studios, a new meanwhile arts space, opens this May as part of Artists Open Houses 2026 in Brighton. Developed by Artcore Brighton, the project transforms the former Brighton Waldorf school into working studios and an exhibition site, featuring over 50 artists working across sculpture, painting, photography, printmaking, textiles, ceramics, jewellery, and moving image. Co-founded with Mutoid Waste Company and Glastonbury Art Director Alex Wright (aka Wreckage), the space includes pop-up performances, workshops, and food from Lost Pier and La Cantina.

Night of the Museums will be held in Tampere on Saturday, May 16 [City of Tampere]

The Night of the Museums will take place in Tampere, Finland, on Saturday, May 16, featuring over 40 exhibitions across multiple venues including the Tampere Art Museum, Sara Hildén Art Museum, Museum Centre Vapriikki, Moomin Museum, Finnish Labour Museum Werstas, and others. The event offers special guided tours, children's activities with clowns and circus performances, art workshops led by visual artists, live music and poetry, dance lessons, and themed tours covering topics from football history to men's fashion.

Birthday-Celebrating Sculpture Exhibitions

Richard MacDonald, the internationally acclaimed figurative sculptor known for his bronze works of dancers, athletes, and performers, is celebrating his 80th birthday with a two-day event on June 5 and 6, 2026, in Monterey, California. The celebration takes place at his studio and foundry, featuring a private invitation-only evening on June 5 for close friends, family, and leading collectors, followed by a public cocktail event on June 6. Activities include live performances, guided studio and foundry tours, a live bronze pour demonstration, and the unveiling of new sculptures, including a commissioned piece for the Weaver of Change Foundation in Singapore.

8 Deer Park students featured in LI museum art exhibit

Eight students from Deer Park schools have been selected to have their artwork featured in an exhibition at a Long Island museum. The students' pieces were chosen from a larger pool of submissions, highlighting their creative talents and the support of their school's art program.

London gallery cancels controversial art show over antisemitic imagery

An exhibition titled 'Drawings Against Genocide' by British artist Matthew Collings, scheduled to open at Delta House Gallery in Wandsworth, London, has been cancelled after complaints from UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) about antisemitic content. The show, planned for May 2026, included graphic drawings depicting Jews with horns, devouring babies, and denying Hamas's October 7 attacks, and had previously sparked outrage at a Margate gallery. Gallery owners Pineapple Corporation and Delta House Studios Ltd confirmed the cancellation after UKLFI warned of legal risks under the Public Order Act 1986.

88-Year-Old “Father of a Lost Technique” Exhibits Over 60 Years’ Worth of Amazing Glass Art

88-year-old Swedish glass artist Bertil Vallien, known as the "father of a lost technique" for perfecting glass sand-casting, presents his first solo exhibition in Brooklyn at the Robert Lehman Gallery. Titled "Starman: Sixty Years of Exploring Glass Art," the show features 35 works spanning his 64-year career, including his signature glass heads, transparent boats, surreal sculptures, and colorful vases. Vallien has worked with the Swedish heritage brand Kosta Boda since 1963 and is credited with popularizing black glass and pushing the boundaries of the medium.

‘Shaun the Sheep’ exhibit to open at Reading Public Museum [Spotlight]

An interactive exhibit titled “Shaun the Sheep: Flock This Way!” will open at the Reading Public Museum in Pennsylvania on May 16 and run through September 6. Created by the Minnesota Children’s Museum in partnership with Aardman, the hands-on experience is designed for children ages 3 to 9 and features activities inspired by the popular film and television character, including balance boards, costume play, stop-motion animation, and problem-solving challenges. The exhibit is sponsored locally by the Berks County Community Foundation.

Pictures: Emma Lamb opens Dartmoor-inspired 3D art exhibition near Ivybridge

Emma Lamb, a South Devon-based 3D mixed-media artist, has opened a new exhibition titled *Long Live the Wilderness Yet* at Lukesland Gardens near Ivybridge. The show features two of her major series, *Reviving Mires* and *Fragmented Forest*, both inspired by Dartmoor’s fragile ecosystems. Lamb uses handmade paper, natural fibers, pigments, and experimental techniques such as inks made from air pollution to create works that explore peatlands and temperate rainforests. The exhibition runs until early June, and Lamb will also host a workshop in June teaching participants to create collages using natural materials.

In Conversation: Jen Everett and Dr. Blair Ebony Smith

Interdisciplinary St. Louis artist Jen Everett will discuss her work in the Elevate exhibition at 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis, joined by artist-scholar Dr. Blair Ebony Smith. The conversation will focus on themes of Black interiority, memory, archives, deep listening, sound, and collaboration, followed by an audience Q&A. The event takes place on April 26, 2026, from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

Local artist’s new exhibit captures Florida’s quiet contradictions

Painter Bill Gallagher opens his solo exhibition “The State of Florida” on May 2 at Jane’s Art Center in New Smyrna Beach, featuring a new body of realistic oil paintings that capture everyday Florida scenes—cafés, coastlines, parking lots, sidewalks, and public spaces. The works explore subtle tensions between presence and distraction, connection and isolation, using a classical realist approach to transform the state into a psychological stage. Gallagher, who began exhibiting in his 20s in New York, Orlando, Los Angeles, and Milan, left the gallery world for a successful advertising career before returning to painting two years ago, earning multiple awards including first place at the Artists’ Workshop NSB Members Show for his painting “Release.”

Gallery famous for Fakes and Forgeries exhibition celebrates 20-year anniversary

The Mangaweka Yellow Church Gallery in New Zealand, known for its annual Fakes and Forgeries exhibition, is celebrating its 20-year anniversary. Owner and artist Richard Aslett will host a high tea on Monday to mark the milestone. The gallery opened in 2006 and has since fostered emerging and established artists, hosted live music events, and added antiques and retro-curios to its offerings. Its most famous exhibition pays tribute to Karl Sim, New Zealand’s only convicted art fraudster, who was born in Mangaweka and known for his Charles Goldie forgeries.

In Minor Keys and legacies held in common

The article reflects on the 61st Venice Biennale, curated by Koyo Kouoh, who passed away on 10 May 2025 at age 57 after a cancer diagnosis. Her curatorial concept, "In Minor Keys," will be realized posthumously by her team. The Biennale preview opens on 6 May 2026, with the public opening on 9 May. Additionally, artist Henrike Naumann, selected for the German Pavilion, died on 14 February 2025 at age 41, also from cancer; her work will be shown in her name.

Man who pocketed tiles from medieval priory as boy returns them 60 years later

Simon White, now 68, returned three fragments of medieval clay tiles he took as a nine-year-old from Wenlock Priory in Shropshire during a family outing in the late 1960s. The tiles, dating from the late 13th to early 14th century, were discovered in an old toffee tin during a house move. White contacted English Heritage, which confirmed the provenance using family diaries and historical analysis. One fragment features a previously unknown dragon motif, exciting medievalists.

The Audacity of Art at the Obama Presidential Center

Barack and Michelle Obama commissioned 30 artists to create site-specific works for the Obama Presidential Center on Chicago's South Side, which begins visitor previews next week. The commissioned artworks span multiple media and will be integrated throughout the campus, reflecting the Obamas' commitment to public art and community engagement.

Venice Biennale Jury Resigns Amid Tension Over Awards Ban

The jury of the Venice Biennale, the world's most prominent art exhibition, has resigned collectively amid a dispute over a proposed ban on awarding artists from countries whose leaders are accused of crimes against humanity. The jury had declared it would not consider such artists for prizes, leading to internal tensions and ultimately their resignation.

U.S. and Italy Honor Alliance to Curb Art Looting, Amid Broader Tensions

Officials from the United States and Italy gathered near dozens of repatriated artifacts to celebrate their ongoing alliance against art looting, which has resulted in the return of thousands of artworks to Italy. The event highlighted collaborative efforts between the two nations to curb the illegal trafficking of cultural property, even as broader diplomatic tensions persist.

Filipa Ramos takes on 2027 Lofoten Festival

Filipa Ramos has been appointed curator of the 19th edition of the Lofoten International Art Festival, set to take place across the Norwegian arctic archipelago in June 2027. Ramos, a curator and writer who teaches at the Institute Art Gender Nature of the Academy of Art and Design FHNW in Basel, is known for ecologically-focused research that reimagines human-animal-environment relationships. She authored *The Artist as Ecologist* (2025) and is currently organizing the LOOP Festival in Barcelona and the symposia series *The Shape of a Circle in the Mind of a Fish*, created with Lucia Pietroiusti.

Accused of Harassing Staff, Martha Ortiz Steps Down as Director of Bogotá’s MAMBO

Martha Ortiz has stepped down as director of Bogotá’s Museo de Arte Moderno (MAMBO) amid allegations of harassing staff and fostering a toxic work environment. The museum announced her retirement and will begin a search for a successor, with board president Ángela Royo and financial manager Francy Hernández assuming interim leadership. Ortiz, who had no prior museum management experience, took the role in March 2024. Her departure follows the ousting of artistic director Eugenio Viola less than three months earlier, after he raised concerns about deteriorating working conditions.

The world’s finest nature images are now on display at Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery (SMAG)

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition has opened at Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery (SMAG) in Shropshire, UK, running until 20 June 2026. On loan from the Natural History Museum in London, the show features over 60,000 entries judged anonymously by an international panel, including a striking image of a lioness and cobra by Gabriella Comi. Alongside the main exhibition, a community photography competition highlights local Shropshire photographers focusing on 'Wildlife on your doorstep'.

You're invited to a pop-up gallery & urban art fair in Salt Lake City's Central 9th neighborhood

A pop-up gallery and urban art fair will take place on Saturday, May 2, 2026, in the shared alleyway between Scion Cider and Laziz Kitchen on Jefferson Street in Salt Lake City's Central 9th neighborhood, from noon to 6 PM. The event features limited edition framed street photography, Plein Air paintings, watercolors, still life images, and mixed media pieces for sale, all depicting indoor and outdoor scenes from the neighborhood. Interactive stations include a Sip & Paint Class led by artist Ammy Foste and a pop-up photo booth by the SLC Photo Community. The event is hosted by Scion Cider, created through the city's ACE Grant Fund for Arts, Culture & Entertainment, and supported by the Intermountain Artist Society, the Utah Watercolor Society, and the SLC Photo Community.

“The Meanderings” art exhibition opens in Jammu

Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo inaugurated a three-day painting exhibition titled “The Meanderings” by Pradeep Wahule, an Indian Forest Service officer and Conservator of Forests, at Kala Kendra Jammu. The event, organized under the Department of Culture, featured around 40 artworks displayed at the Master Sansar Chand Gallery, with Brij Mohan Sharma as Special Guest and remarks from officials including Sarvesh Rai, Harvinder Kour, and Dr. Javaid Rahi. Curator Rashmi Rao noted this is the sixth state where she has managed the show.

The new TAILOR newsletter is coming out: luxury crisis, new creative generations, and mental health (subscribe!)

Sta per uscire la nuova newsletter TAILOR tra crisi del lusso, nuove generazioni creative e salute mentale (abbonatevi!)

Artribune has launched a new edition of its newsletter TAILOR, which examines the transformation of the global fashion system amid a luxury crisis, the rise of new creative generations, and the growing structural importance of mental health in the industry. The newsletter features a focus on five emerging designers shifting fashion from product to narrative, an exclusive interview with influential stylist Tom Eerebout, and the debut in Italy of the project "One Person. One Voice" as part of the Mental Health in Fashion campaign, created by Florian Müller with artist Claudia Malecka.

The Craziest Venice Biennale Ever: One Week Before Opening, the Jury Resigns (The Public Will Decide the Lions!)

La Biennale di Venezia più pazza di sempre: a una settimana dall’apertura si dimette la giuria (I Leoni li deciderà il pubblico!)

The entire international jury of the 61st Venice Biennale has resigned en masse just one week before the opening. The jury, chaired by Solange Oliveira Farkas and including Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi, had publicly announced they would not consider countries whose leaders are accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court—effectively excluding Russia and Israel from the Golden Lion competition. This decision came amid ongoing tensions between Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli and Biennale President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco over Russia's participation, as well as controversy surrounding Israel's presence. After a meeting with Buttafuoco, the jury resigned, leaving the Biennale without a key body to award its top prizes.