Movie-inspired art exhibition lets public explore one of Canada’s luxury hotels

Hotel Confidential is a new contemporary art exhibition hosted at the Royal Hotel in Picton, Ontario, featuring original projects by 16 artists. The show utilizes the hotel's Annex Building to display site-specific installations, such as a collection of vintage suitcases containing miniature dioramas and various architectural interventions. Co-curated by Stacey Sproule and Christina Zeidler, the event aims to bridge the gap between the region's luxury tourism industry and its dense local artist community.

New art gallery opens in old Boyle Heights Sears building

A new art gallery, Mark Jude Gallery, has opened in the historic Sears building in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. The 5,000-square-foot space, plus a repurposed satellite gallery, occupies part of the 1.8-million-square-foot former Sears mail-order plant, which closed in 1992 and shut its store in 2021. The gallery features works by artists Megan Mueller, Antonio Kim, and Caterina Piccardo, and plans to host immersive exhibitions including performance art, experimental film, and interactive storytelling. Owner Mark Jude, a former executive chef at the Smithsonian Institution, moved the gallery from the Arts District to take advantage of lower rent and more space.

月を射る @ KAG

KAG in Tokyo is presenting a group exhibition titled "月を射る" (Shooting the Moon), running from May 19 to August 16, 2026. The show takes its starting point from a prose poem of the same name by Korean poet Yun Dong-ju (1917–1945), who wrote it in 1939 under Japanese colonial rule and later died in a Fukuoka prison. The exhibition spans pre-war and wartime educational films, propaganda, performance, and contemporary fieldwork, featuring works by artists such as Inoue Kan (Lee Byung-woo), Choe Seung-hui, Kamei Fumio, Yoshimi Yasushi, Atsugi Taka, Fujii Hikaru, Yamamoto Seiko, T.T. Takemoto, Morita Reine, Gataro, and Shirakawa Masao. It examines the management models formed by the former empire and the spiritual structure of colonialism that underlies contemporary issues, centering on works that carry the "memory of censorship"—banned, deleted, or denied existence by national, administrative, or social norms.

NICOLÁS GÓMEZ ECHEVERRI: “LA TRASCENDENCIA DEL MUSEO ES VULNERABLE A LA IMPOSICIÓN DE MODAS POR PARTE DEL ALGORITMO”

Nicolás Gómez Echeverri, director of the Unidad de Artes y Otras Colecciones at the Banco de la República de Colombia, reflects on the challenges facing museums in Iberoamérica in an interview published for International Museum Day. He oversees institutions including the Museo de Arte Miguel Urrutia (MAMU), the Museo Botero, and the Casa de Moneda. Gómez Echeverri describes the museum as a "radar" that captures decentralized artistic practices and integrates them into collective narratives, while emphasizing the need for mediation, public debate, and long-term cultural projects amid economic constraints and the pressures of digital immediacy.

Figge’s new exhibition asks: ‘A Golden Age for Whom?’

Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa, will open a new exhibition titled "A Golden Age for Whom?" from June 6 to September 20. The show juxtaposes contemporary artworks with historical Northern European pieces, prompting visitors to reconsider how context shapes interpretation of art across eras.

‘A masterclass in authentic, emotionally resonant storytelling’: The best museum exhibition in Britain to visit in 2026

Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings in Worcestershire, UK, won the Permanent Exhibition of the Year category at the 2026 Museums + Heritage Awards for its exhibition 'Revealing the Hidden Stories of the Showmen Community'. The show centers on a 1910 showman's grand living wagon owned by Tom Clarke, and includes 38 historic fairground signs, swing boats, an oral history section with 25 showmen, and hand-painted signage by commercial fairground artist Amy Goodwin. The exhibition was developed by collections manager Steven Hearn, who discovered the wagon in 2022 and collaborated with the National Fairground and Circus Archive and the Fairground Heritage Trust.

Grohmann Museum Exhibit Focuses on Veterans and Service

The Grohmann Museum in Milwaukee has opened a new exhibition pairing two shows by contemporary American artists focusing on military service. Ohio-born Mary Whyte's "We the People: Portraits of Veterans in America" features 50 large-scale watercolor portraits of veterans from various wars and backgrounds. Milwaukee photographer Dennis Darmek's "Boots and Sand: The Marines of 29 Palms" presents two dozen color photographs taken at the Marine Corps base in California's Mojave Desert, where Darmek himself trained in 1969. The photos capture both posed and candid moments, highlighting diversity within the modern Marine Corps, including women in combat roles.

Weekender: Music, Live Sound Installation, Art

The UC Davis College of Letters and Science is hosting a weekend event titled "Weekender: Music, Live Sound Installation, Art" at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art. The event features a live sound installation by artist and composer Pamela Z, alongside a performance by the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Christian Baldini, which will include a piece by composer Gabriela Ortiz.

Is this art Celtic? It’s complicated.

The Harvard Art Museums have launched "Celtic Art Across the Ages," a first-of-its-kind exhibition that challenges traditional Eurocentric narratives focused on Greece and Rome. Spanning from the Iron Age to the modern Celtic Revival, the show features objects like the abstract Heidelberg sandstone head and the bronze Dea Artio sculpture to highlight a visual language defined by ornamentation and deconstruction.

Despite red tape from US sanctions, Tehran-based gallery champions Iranian art at The Armory Show

Tehran-based O Gallery is participating in The Armory Show in New York for the first time, but US sanctions imposed in 2019 have forced the fair to remove the gallery's Tehran location from its website and refrain from promoting its presence. The gallery's name was briefly removed from the exhibitor list before being reinstated, and its location is only noted on signage at the Javits Center. Founder Orkideh Daroodi, a US citizen living in California, describes the participation as a milestone after years of work, despite challenges including currency devaluation, shipping costs, and bureaucratic hurdles. Two other Iranian galleries—Sarai and Dastan Gallery—are also exhibiting, listed online as having multiple locations.

Art freedom under fire

The Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) censored an exhibition titled 'Constellation of Complicity: Visualising the Global Machinery of Authoritarian Solidarity' after pressure from the Chinese embassy. The exhibition, which opened on July 24, featured works by exiled artists from Myanmar, Iran, Russia, and Syria exploring authoritarian alliances. Following a visit by Chinese embassy staff, several works were removed, including a multimedia installation by a Tibetan artist, and texts mentioning 'Hong Kong', 'Tibet', and 'Uyghur' were redacted. The curator, Sai, a Myanmar artist in exile, said the interference was not unexpected.

Power to the people: London’s National Gallery seeks public panel to help shape its future

London's National Gallery is launching NG Citizens, a citizens' assembly that will advise the museum on its future policy and direction. Starting next month, 15,000 households across the UK will receive invitations, from which 50 participants will be selected via a civic lottery, eventually narrowing to 20 individuals who will serve on the panel for five years. The gallery states the initiative places audiences at the heart of decision-making, aiming to shape programs around the needs of diverse UK communities, though the assembly will not directly choose exhibitions or acquisitions but will produce recommendations on purpose, priorities, and public value.

Holy smoke! London’s National Gallery used to allow visitors to spark up just metres from the art

London's National Gallery opened a smoking room in 1975, located dangerously close to galleries housing priceless paintings. A photograph from the gallery's annual report shows staff members Betty Churchyard and Phyllis Rowlands using the facility. The smoking room was closed decades ago, well before the 2007 ban on smoking in public places, and the space has now been repurposed as part of the Roden Centre for Creative Learning, which opened in February 2025.

Thornbury artist will be featured in Wasaga Beach solo exhibit

Award-winning painter Harvey Bodach is set to present a solo exhibition at the Stonebridge Arts Hub in Wasaga Beach, running from April 16 to June 13. The showcase features Bodach’s signature realism style, focusing on wildlife and landscapes inspired by the natural world. A former educator who turned to full-time artistry in 2019, Bodach has since garnered 14 national and international awards for his meticulously composed works.

MASP Contested Narratives Between Replica and Weaving

MASP CONTESTED NARRATIVES BETWEEN REPLICA AND WEAVING

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) has opened two simultaneous exhibitions that critically examine how narratives in Latin American art are formed. 'Réplica (Replica)' is a retrospective of Peruvian artist Sandra Gamarra Heshiki, featuring over 70 works that appropriate and alter historical pieces to expose the exclusionary mechanisms of museums. 'Vivir, tejer (Living, Weaving)' presents the collaborative textile work of Claudia Alarcón and the Silät collective, a group of over one hundred Wichí women weavers, foregrounding ancestral knowledge and collective creation.

Corner Gallery on brink of new show

Corner Gallery in Ontario, Canada, is preparing for a new exhibition titled 'Brink,' opening May 23. Curator David Partridge chose the theme to reflect the current global uncertainty, interpreting 'brink' as either the edge of collapse or the dawn of something new. The show features artists who responded to the theme in varied ways, including one landscape painter who shifted to portraits. Partridge notes that private art galleries are struggling due to the cost-of-living crisis, with attendance declining post-COVID, and acknowledges that this year is critical for the gallery's future.

Faculty, students oppose censorship of artist at University of North Texas

In February 2025, the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton abruptly canceled a solo exhibition by Brooklyn-based artist Victor “MARKA27” Quiñonez just nine days after its opening. The show, titled “Ni de Aqui, Ni de Allá,” was displayed at the College of Visual Art & Design (CVAD) Gallery and featured works from Quiñonez’s I.C.E. Scream series, including large-scale paleta sculptures embedded with handcuffs and firearms, and a cart bearing the phrase “U.S. Department of Stolen Land Security.” The exhibition was closed without notice, its street-facing windows covered with brown paper, and UNT terminated its loan agreement with Boston University Art Galleries, which had originally hosted the show in September 2025. Faculty and students responded with an open letter to UNT President Harrison Keller, condemning the censorship and demanding transparency.

Artist Sandra Hansen spotlights plastic pollution with ‘Our Exquisite Pollution Series: Under the Sea’

International environmental artist Sandra Hansen's exhibition 'Our Exquisite Pollution Series: Under the Sea' is on view at the Evanston Art Center from March 28 to April 26. The show features large-scale marine scenes made from handmade paper and repurposed plastics, including a 12-foot paper whale and kelp columns braided from hundreds of plastic bags, all highlighting the impact of plastic pollution on oceans. Hansen began the series in 2014 after learning about agricultural runoff in Lake Erie and has since collected beach trash to incorporate into her conceptual art.

Santa Monica Art: Husband-Wife Duo Shows at Bruce Lurie

The Bruce Lurie Gallery in Santa Monica is set to host "Observed / Imagined," a joint exhibition featuring the work of husband-and-wife duo Gary and Jody Levinson. Opening April 18, 2026, the show juxtaposes Gary’s minimalist, award-winning street photography with Jody’s intuitive abstract paintings. While Gary’s work focuses on the patient observation of solitary figures in sparse environments, Jody’s practice explores internal narratives of gender and power through a physical, multi-media approach.

Chashama provides affordable studio space to painters, sculptors and other artists

Chashama, a nonprofit founded by Anita Durst in 1995, transforms vacant real estate into affordable studio and gallery spaces for artists. The article highlights the Matawan, New Jersey location, which has 11 studios rented at below-market rates to painters, sculptors, photographers, and other creatives. Artists like Justin DeMattico and Konrad Korzunowicz have found essential workspace and community there, with 24-hour access and opportunities to exhibit. Chashama has repurposed $100 million worth of unused space across New York and New Jersey, hosting over 350 events annually.

“Year of the Snake is the year of us doing our work”: Leith arts collective open up ahead of exhibition this month

Hot Snakes Studio, a six-member arts collective based in Leith's Custom House in Edinburgh, is preparing for its second exhibition, titled "Year of the Snake," opening later this month. The group, composed of working creators including Phil Morrell (Surface Ritual), Robbie McKay (Whisky Kuts), Matt Sloe (Sinclair), Ross MacRae, Rhory Gardiner (Hungry Window), and Tom Hatch (Journeyman Signs), will showcase personal work that explores themes such as folklore, African traditions, and environmental issues. The show is entirely self-funded and grassroots, with support from local businesses like Pizza Geeks.

Adam Welch offers a solo show that looks like a group exhibition.

Adam Welch presents his first solo exhibition, "Terminal Moraine," at The Mine Factory, a newly opened gallery in Pittsburgh's Point Breeze neighborhood. The show runs through August 10 and features a dense installation of new, repurposed, and reconfigured paintings, drawings, sculptures, projections, and assemblages. Welch, best known as a curator at Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, fuses his dual roles by arranging the works in a way that initially resembles a group exhibition, with semi-random clusters and conglomerations that emphasize fragmentation over a singular theme.

Window to the past: Worcester history on show in Denholm installation

A new public art installation titled “Uniquely Worcester: Celebrating Worcester’s Past & Present” has opened in the windows of the Denholm Building in Worcester, Massachusetts. The exhibition features work from 10 local artists across eight front windows, highlighting the city’s history through themes such as sports, the arts, and notable figures like rocket pioneer Robert Goddard, Valentine card popularizer Esther Howland, and smiley face creator Harvey Ball. One window showcases Abu Mwenye’s vibrant paintings inspired by his Kenyan and Tanzanian heritage, while another displays musical instruments spanning 250 years, including a rope drum from the American Revolution and a guitar made at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The installation runs throughout 2026 and was organized by project manager Melissa Mattson.

Carmichael Artist to Exhibit Paintings in Davis Art Studio Tour

Carmichael artist Amanda Cadelago will exhibit her paintings in the Davis Art Studio Tour on May 16-17, 2026. The free, self-guided tour features 48 artists from the region opening their studios to the public, offering opportunities to view and purchase a range of artwork including sculpture, painting, printmaking, and photography. Cadelago, who rediscovered painting during the pandemic after a career in marketing and graphic design, will show her work alongside her mother, Cathie James-Robinson of Davis.

culture jenna weiss berman amy poehler

Cultured magazine's 'Quick Questions' column features a brief interview with Jenna Weiss Berman, who discusses the artwork 'The Testament of Ann Lee' as a bright spot during a dark winter, reflects on misconceptions about her gender, and shares her creative process and hypothetical alternative career supporting immigrants in New York City.

Paul Noth Named MOWA’s Inaugural Cartoonist Laureate

Paul Noth has been named the inaugural Cartoonist Laureate by the Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA) in West Bend, making him Wisconsin's first holder of the title. The appointment, announced ahead of the October 13 publication of his debut cartoon collection *I Am Going to Eat You … and Other Awkward Truths*, comes with a three-year term, a cash award, a solo exhibition at MOWA, and recognition at the Wisconsin State Capitol. Noth, a *New Yorker* cartoonist with over 400 published cartoons, will serve as an ambassador for cartoon art, teaching workshops and promoting comics literacy.

Three exhibitions set to open at Hunterdon Art Museum

The Hunterdon Art Museum in New Jersey will open three new exhibitions on May 17, 2025. The shows include a solo exhibition of figurative painter Emily Strong, featuring large-scale realist oil paintings that explore identity and relationships; “Claybash,” the museum’s second triennial juried ceramics exhibition curated by Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy; and “Mindscapes,” a retrospective of 60 years of work by 93-year-old New Jersey artist Bascha Mon, whose recent pieces are inspired by the music of composer Olivier Messiaen.

Johns Creek art exhibit finds inspiration in trash

The Arts Center at Johns Creek, Georgia, is hosting 'Upcycled: Reclaimed and Reimagined,' an exhibition running through May 16 that features artworks made from discarded objects. Curator Althea Foster organized the show to coincide with Earth Day, highlighting pieces such as Tracy Douchy's bulldog sculpture 'Watchdog' (made from old wrist watches) and Mary Jablonski's 'Grizzly Watching' (constructed from repurposed paper). The exhibit has drawn double the usual foot traffic from local residents.

Chicago artist shows recycled book art at Springfield Museum

Chicago artist [Artist Name] is showcasing recycled book art at the Springfield Museum, as reported by WWLP. The exhibition features works created from repurposed books, transforming discarded materials into visual art pieces.

Sruli Recht's "LAIR" Hacks the Laws of Nature in Shenzhen

Sruli Recht's exhibition "LAIR" has opened at the SWCAC museum in Shenzhen, featuring 68 sculptures across 11 installations that took 15 years to create. The works employ unconventional materials such as lava casting, lightning-formed glass, and bee-skin fur, presented as ceremonial artifacts. The immersive experience includes custom musical architecture by Valgeir Sigurðsson, whose score changes with each room, and 14 fragrances developed by perfumer Alex Lee and IFF, made from strange ingredients to set the mood. Visitors receive a small scent object upon leaving.