From Auction Spotlight to International Stages: Catching Up with Natalia Lashkhi, BI Auction Winner and Rising Art Voice

Georgia Today interviews Natalia Lashkhi, winner of the 2020–2021 BI Auction Competition for Young Artists, organized by the BI Auction House in Georgia. Lashkhi discusses how the award provided early exposure, sales to collectors, and a career springboard, leading to international exhibitions, residencies in Germany, Malta, and Lithuania, and her works entering private collections across multiple countries. Since 2024, she has also become a lecturer at the Apollon Kutateladze Tbilisi State Academy of Art.

Photos: Pete Escovedo visits Oakland to unveil his latest art exhibit

Grammy-winning jazz percussionist Pete Escovedo, father of Sheila E., unveiled his latest art exhibition, "The California Art Tour (Oakland chapter)," at The Grand Gallery in Oakland on July 17, 2025. The event doubled as a celebration of his 90th birthday. The exhibit features abstract paintings of faces, primarily women, in vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows, including a self-portrait from 2003 on loan from his private collection. Escovedo, who began painting as a student at McClymond's High School, attended the reception with family members, including his son Juan Escovedo, and longtime friends.

Humanitas Braided art, a new interdisciplinary certificate, and a space for local artists

Yale University's latest Humanitas column highlights several arts and humanities developments: an exhibition by artist Nontsikelelo Mutiti at Schwarzman Center titled "Rusununguko," inspired by Black hair-braiding traditions and community; a new interdisciplinary certificate in Native American and Indigenous Studies approved by Yale College Faculty; and a Yale-run art space opening to local New Haven artists. Mutiti's installation uses black vinyl braids to transform the domed gallery, reflecting her experiences as a Zimbabwean graduate student finding community in Harlem's hair-braiding salons.

6-13-25 Student Excellence in the Arts - SUNY

The State University of New York (SUNY) has announced the 2025 recipients of its annual arts awards, including the Thayer Fellowship of the Arts, the Patricia Kerr Ross Award, and the Best of SUNY art exhibition winners. Key Bird from the University at Albany and Misael Hernandez from the University at Buffalo each received a $7,000 Thayer Fellowship, while Rush Carson from Purchase College won the $1,000 Patricia Kerr Ross Award. Three students received Best of SUNY Awards, with four additional students earning honorable mention. The awards were presented by SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. and the SUNY Board of Trustees.

Children From Local Schools Bring St Brendan To Life In Exhibition At Kerry County Museum

Children from four local primary schools along the St Brendan Way—Ardfert NS, St Brendan’s Fenit, Spa NS, and Scoil Naomh Eirc Kilmoyley—have created a collaborative art exhibition titled 'Colour Me Brendan' at Kerry County Museum. Led by artist Amanda Bentley-Curran, the project began in March and features colorful collages and paper-mâché displays reimagining the life and adventures of St Brendan the Navigator. The exhibition runs until June 9 and was funded by Creative Ireland and Kerry County Arts Office.

Culture on canvas: Kyler Pahang, ’21, exhibits work at Henry Art Gallery and Wing Luke Museum

Kyler Pahang, a 2021 University of Washington graduate and current MFA student, is exhibiting his work in two Seattle venues. His thesis exhibition, part of the UW MFA and Master of Design show, runs at the Henry Art Gallery from May 24 to June 15, 2025. Additionally, two of his paintings are on view at the Wing Luke Museum in the exhibition “Lost & Found: Searching For Home,” which continues through September 2026. Pahang’s art focuses on Filipino culture, decolonization, and double consciousness, using imagery from Seattle-area Filipino barber shops and landscapes like “A Cry for Uran” to explore cultural identity.

Throughline Collective Launches “Future Forward” Exhibition for Texas College Students

Throughline Collective, a Houston-based artist-run space, has announced a statewide open call for "Future Forward," a juried group exhibition for Texas college students scheduled for August 8-30 at its 1,000-square-foot gallery in Midtown. Madi Murphy, Associate Curator of Fotofest, will curate the show, and two selected students will receive a two-person exhibition in 2026 along with mentorship, installation help, promotion, a stipend, and curatorial freedom. Applications are due June 1, with a $30 fee, and all artistic mediums are welcome.

2Create Gallery in Ramona hosts opening event for Student Art Exhibit

2Create Gallery in Ramona, California, hosted an opening reception on May 2 for its annual Student Art Exhibit, featuring works by middle and high school students from the Ramona Unified School District. Students such as Aaliyah Villanueva, Red Harrell, Aro Clark, and Jaelyn Dokken displayed pieces exploring personal themes like identity, fear, and escape, using media from painted cardboard to markers and clay. The exhibit runs throughout May as part of the gallery's monthly First Friday Open Houses.

“Shelf Life: Senior Thesis Art Exhibition 2025”

Whitman College's Studio Art Department presents the 2025 Senior Thesis Art Exhibition, "Shelf Life," running from April 25 to May 25 across multiple campus venues including the Sheehan Gallery, Maxey Museum, and Fouts Center for Visual Arts. The exhibition features works by 22 graduating Studio Art majors, with additional outdoor displays near Fouts and Reid Campus Center. A series of thesis events includes an artist talk with visiting educators Jiemei Lin and Joe Hedges on April 24, an opening celebration on April 25, and a family and friends reception on May 24.

2025 Student Show Exhibit

Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) is presenting its 51st Annual Student Art & Design Show from April 7 to May 1, 2025, filling all four campus gallery spaces with student works in photography, drawing, painting, sculpture, and design. A special awards ceremony and reception will be held on April 16, with guest juror Tia Flores, Program Director of the Sierra Arts Foundation, selecting award-winning entries, and Mandy Medlin, owner of Nevada Fine Arts, choosing works for special recognition. Awards are funded by TMCC Art Galleries and Nevada Fine Arts.

'Retrospective' art exhibit unveils the many thrilling lives of local artist Hani Elkadi

The Iowa City Senior Center is hosting 'Retrospective,' an exhibition of over 100 works by local artist Hani Elkadi. Elkadi, a former transplant surgeon and educator, draws on his diverse life experiences—from restoring cathedrals in Italy and practicing medicine in Africa to teaching minority students in Iowa City—to create a wide-ranging body of work spanning multiple styles and mediums, including abstract mixed-media pieces and traditional oil paintings.

2025 graduating BFA and BA students exhibit their work at the UNH Gallery of Art

The University of New Hampshire (UNH) Gallery of Art is hosting an exhibition titled “What’s Unseen; Left Unsaid” from April 18 to May 18, 2025, featuring works by 13 graduating BFA and BA students. The students handled the setup, installation, and creative vision of the show, which explores how art reveals unspoken emotions and experiences. An opening reception was held April 18, and the students also presented their work during a three-part event at the Undergraduate Research Conference. Since the closure of the UNH Museum of Art over a year ago, students have taken on the coordination and execution of exhibitions, with guidance from faculty.

NW Minnesota Arts Council announced its NW Minnesota Art Exhibit Winners

The Northwest Minnesota Arts Council announced the winners of its 2025 Northwest Minnesota Art Exhibit, awarding $2,300 in cash prizes to student and adult artists from a seven-county region. The winners were recognized at a reception in Crookston on April 27, with juror Glen Henry, an Indigenous artist and Director of Exhibitions at Minnesota State University Moorhead, selecting the awardees. Categories included adult and student divisions, with top prizes going to Elizabeth Kitchell-Rockstad for mixed media and Alyssa Foster for drawing, among others. Selected works will travel to area libraries and five student pieces will be displayed in Senator Mark Johnson's office.

INSPIRED MINDS: Young Artist Exhibition Opens May 15 at SOPAC

The South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) announced the return of the INSPIRED MINDS: Young Artist Exhibition, a showcase of visual art by high school students from Essex County, running from May 15 to August 17, 2025, in the Herb + Milly Iris Gallery. Over 1,000 submissions were received, with a jury selecting about 80 pieces for display. The opening reception on May 15 will also feature the third annual Paul Bartick Emerging Artist Award, presented to Millburn High School senior Obenewaa Frimpomaa, a Scholastic National Gold Art Medalist whose work explores identity, history, and empowerment of underrepresented voices.

Spring Senior Art Exhibition Showcases Student Achievements

West Liberty University (WLU) is hosting its Spring Senior Art Exhibition in the Nutting Gallery, starting April 30 with an opening reception from 5:30-7 p.m. The exhibit, running through May 8, features capstone projects by senior art majors in graphic design, art education, and studio art, including students Olivia Bernola, Allison Diantonio, Lilianna Hardt, Ireland McCafferty, Briston Ramby, Kaylee Savage, Nico Walker, and Nathan Wharton. The work was guided by Professor Brian Fencl, director of the Nutting Gallery, and Professor of Graphic Design Moonjung Kang.

Boston University School of Visual Arts Presents the 2025 Undergraduate Thesis Exhibitions | College of Fine Arts

Boston University School of Visual Arts is presenting the 2025 Undergraduate Thesis Exhibitions from April 29 through May 10 across multiple galleries on campus, including the 808 Gallery, 808 Corridor Gallery, and Commonwealth Gallery. The exhibitions feature works by 66 graduating seniors from BFA programs in Painting, Sculpture, and Graphic Design, as well as BA in Art students, with a separate BA Capstone Exhibition running from May 5 to 16 in Gallery 5. A public reception is scheduled for May 2, and all shows are free and open to the public.

Lemonis Center for Student Success displays student art in annual exhibition

The third Student Art Exhibition was held on April 24 at the Lemonis Center for Student Success at Marquette University, featuring eight student artworks centered on themes of "Culture & Career," "Inclusivity at Marquette," and "Defining Success." Organized by Courtney Hanson, director of the Career Center, the exhibition was sponsored by the Lemonis Center, the Office of Inclusion and Belonging, and Enterprise Mobility. Student artists from various colleges—including Nursing, Engineering, Arts & Sciences, and Communication—submitted proposals and received a $500 stipend to create their pieces, which are now on permanent display alongside works from previous years.

Tang Teaching Museum hosts Senior Thesis Art Exhibition 2025

Skidmore College's annual Senior Thesis Art Exhibition returns to the Tang Teaching Museum, featuring work from 41 senior studio art majors. The exhibition spans disciplines including ceramics, communication design, drawing, painting, digital media, fiber arts, jewelry and metals, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. An opening reception will be held on May 9, 2025, and the show runs from May 8 through May 17, 2025, with free admission.

IU Bloomington art galleries feature works from and about South Africa

Indiana University Bloomington's art galleries are presenting two exhibitions focused on South African and Indigenous visual culture. "Illusions of Identity: The Colonial Gaze," curated by student Joshua Sinnett at the Community Gallery in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, contrasts early 20th-century photographs of Native Americans by Joseph K. Dixon with images of Indigenous South Africans by Alfred Duggan-Cronin, examining colonial perspectives. Concurrently, "Coloured Pots (Izinkamba kwamaKhaladi)" at University Collections at McCalla features contemporary ceramics by artist Fileve Tlaloc, who uses amaZulu pottery forms to explore her mixed-race ancestry and challenge colonial racial categories, displayed alongside historical amaZulu vessels.

‘Immersive Elements’ interactive exhibition showcasing student-artist collaboration

SUNY Oswego's ARTSwego program presents "Immersive Elements," an interactive exhibition created by NOIRFLUX's Electric Heliotrope Theater in collaboration with students. Running April 23 through May 4 at the Marano Campus Center, the project features sculpture, drawing, audio, video, and interaction design, developed by artist Lorne Covington and students from Cara Thompson's art classes. The exhibition explores the four elements—water, air, fire, and earth—through projected visuals and interactive pieces.

New Building at Burg Halle Takes Shape

Neubau an der Burg Halle nimmt Form an

The long-delayed new building for the Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle (University of Art and Design Halle) is moving forward, with a construction start now planned for autumn 2027. The Finance Committee of the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament has approved the updated cost estimate of around 42 million euros, clearing the way for the project. While the building was originally slated for completion in 2027, a more realistic finish date is now 2030, with preparatory moves and demolition work scheduled to begin in late 2026.

L’offre de formation se développe

French art training institutions are expanding their curricula to include provenance research, responding to a 2022 government report that identified gaps in conservator education. The Institut national du patrimoine (INP) now offers seminars on Nazi-era spoliation (1933-1945) and has added a five-day provenance research module for external competition students since 2024-2025. Paris-Nanterre University launched a master's-level diploma in 2022 covering legal, historical, and methodological aspects of provenance research. The École du Louvre now offers a specialized master's in "sensitive goods and provenance research" addressing spoliated works, human remains, colonial acquisitions, and illicit trafficking, while also integrating provenance methodology into its general curriculum from master's level one.

Private Art Schools Enter a Period of Turbulence

Les écoles d’art privées traversent une zone de turbulence

A wave of bankruptcies and judicial reorganizations is hitting the private art education sector in France. Following the closure of the École d’art de Montreuil, the Académie des arts appliqués (AAA) in Dijon and the École supérieure de design in Troyes have both entered receivership. These institutions are struggling with severe financial deficits, unpaid staff, and a sharp decline in student enrollment, with some schools seeing their student bodies shrink by two-thirds in just four years.

At the INHA, the summer closure of the library revives the debate

À l’INHA, la fermeture estivale de la bibliothèque ravive le sujet

The National Institute for Art History (INHA) in Paris is facing backlash over its decision to implement a permanent two-week summer closure of its library every August. Originally introduced as a temporary measure during the 2024 Olympics and subsequent renovations, the closure is now being formalized by the administration despite a change in leadership. Staff and researchers have launched a petition, arguing that August is a critical period for international scholars and students who rely on the library’s extensive collections.

Colossal Members Have Funded 100 Projects in K-12 Classrooms through DonorsChoose

Colossal has reached a significant milestone by funding 100 K-12 classroom projects across the United States through its partnership with the nonprofit DonorsChoose. Supported by a portion of Colossal Membership fees, the initiative has contributed over $13,000 to provide essential art supplies, sketchbooks, and equipment to students. The program places a special emphasis on supporting schools in Chicago, ensuring that young learners have the tools necessary for creative expression and artistic education.

Fulton students promote peace with art exhibit

Fulton Public Schools students displayed over 80 artworks in the "Building Peace: From Within to the World" exhibit at the Mildred M. Cox Gallery in William Woods University's Kemper Art Center. The show, open Monday through Friday, was organized in partnership with the William Woods Rotaract Club, the Fulton Rotary Club, and Fulton Public Schools, with funding from a Rotary peace project grant. Art teachers Pamela Doss and Rebecca Diekamp coordinated student submissions from kindergarten through 12th grade, with works exploring themes of inner peace, community kindness, and symbolic acts of making a difference.

Exhibition of Chebykin’s work has opened in Kyiv: from intimate drawings to images of war and nation

The National Museum “Kyiv Art Gallery” has launched a major exhibition titled “Andriy Chebykin. MASTER AND WORKSHOP” to celebrate the 80th birthday of the renowned Ukrainian graphic artist and educator. The show features a comprehensive range of Chebykin’s work, from his classic 1970s etchings and 1990s nudes to recent pieces created during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, such as “The Enemy Was Shot Down Over Tatarka.” Uniquely, the exhibition also includes works by his former students, highlighting his 55-year legacy at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture.

Sheboygan community art gallery opens new space showcasing local artists and outreach programs

Sheboygan Visual Artists (SVA) has officially opened a new permanent gallery and studio space in the South Pier neighborhood of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. After operating without a fixed location for 18 months, the nonprofit organization’s new facility features exhibition areas, five rentable artist studios, and a dedicated space for community-integrated projects. The opening marks a significant milestone for the 80-member collective, which has been a fixture of the local art scene since 2007.

Art with a heart - High Point pet portraitist schedules benefit show

Emily Cassidy, a High Point-based pet portrait artist with a background in animal science and veterinary technology, is holding a three-day solo exhibition titled "All Things Bright & Beautiful" from May 27 to May 29 at Reynolda Village in Winston-Salem. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Wake Forest University Chaplain’s Emergency Fund, which assists students, faculty, staff, and contract workers with essential expenses. Cassidy, who returned to art in 2020 after a career in cancer research, now has a two- to three-month waiting list for commissions and works in colored pencils, pastels, and oils.

"Hungry Eyes" Opens at 49 Oak Street

"Hungry Eyes" has opened at 49 Oak Street in Portland, Maine, featuring emerging artists Cam Fox, Bets Ondrey, Sophia Sutherland, and Tom Dailey. The group exhibition explores themes of appetite, the animal, and the sensation of consuming art through layered abstraction, figurative imagery, and mixed-media works such as stitched sugar packets on canvas. A public reception is scheduled for June 5 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm.