Fine additions: Parkersburg Art Center adding two new exhibitions

The Parkersburg Art Center in Parkersburg, West Virginia, will host an opening reception on January 16, 2025, for two new exhibitions: "Rinse and Repeat: An Exhibit by ArtBeat Studio" and "Rabbit Medicine and Other World-Building" featuring work by Savannah Schroll Guz. The exhibitions run through February 21. "Rinse and Repeat" marks the return of a show that originally opened in March 2020 and closed after just one day, featuring artists from the Wood County Society’s ArtBeat Studio, a collaborative community arts center that supports artists with developmental differences. "Rabbit Medicine and Other World-Building" showcases Guz’s work, which draws on folklore, memory, and imagination, and has been exhibited across the East Coast and Midwest.

Following controversy, all names will be left off Canadian monument to ‘victims of communism’

Canada's monument to the victims of communism in Ottawa, officially opened a year ago, will no longer include individual names on its Wall of Remembrance after a federal government report revealed that many of the unvetted "victims" had ties to Nazi or fascist groups. Originally designed by architect Paul Raff to feature 553 entries, the Department of Canadian Heritage reversed its decision following alarms raised by Jewish groups and independent media outlets like Ricochet and The Maple, which found that more than half of the 550 names should be removed. The department stated that the wall will now feature only thematic content aligned with Canadian values of democracy and human rights.

Philadelphia Art Museum's new exhibit will put the Rocky statue at the forefront

The Philadelphia Art Museum will debut a new exhibition titled "Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments" in April 2026, centered on the iconic Rocky statue. The show, timed to the 50th anniversary of the original "Rocky" film, features over 150 works by more than 50 artists and artifacts spanning 2,000 years, exploring how monuments are created and reshaped by artists, communities, and time. It will highlight overlooked stories behind public statues, including Philadelphia's boxing legends, immigrant neighborhoods, and debates over shared spaces.

‘Sugar felt like the perfect thread’: Tara Long on her sweet new installation

Tara Long's new installation *La Esquinita (little corner)* has taken over all three spaces at Locust Projects in Miami, transforming the gallery into a shop for sweets and souvenirs with over 500 miniature sculptures for sale. The immersive environment, her first major solo show, unfolds in three acts—seduction, exposure, and collapse—centered on a crumbling room-sized frosted cake. The exhibition draws parallels between Florida's early 20th-century Big Sugar land grab and today's Big Tech boom, reflecting on cycles of extraction and survival in Long's hometown. A pop-up speakeasy will run on Friday and Saturday nights (5 and 6 December).

Here are the exhibits honoring Black art and culture during Miami Art Week

During Miami Art Week 2025, multiple exhibitions and events are spotlighting Black art and culture. Highlights include the Point Comfort Art Fair + Show at the Historic Ward Rooming House, themed "Life & Times of Frederick Douglass," with a special installation hosted by former NBA star Alonzo Mourning. Soul Basel returns to Historic Overtown with exhibitions at the Center for Black Innovation and the Black Archives Lyric Plaza, featuring Marcus Blake's "In Art We Trust." The Art of Transformation showcase in Opa-locka explores "At the Edge of Entanglement," while Revolt Art Fair returns for its second year at Ice Palace Studios with over 50 Black artists. Additionally, historian Nadege Green's installation "The Power of Her Hands: Black Washerwomen in Early Miami" is on view at YoungArts Gallery.

Illuminating strength, poetry of African womanhood in Olamilekan’s Bloom & Essence

Nigerian contemporary artist Okunade Olamilekan has opened his debut solo exhibition, "Bloom & Essence," at the British Council in Lagos. Curated by Paul Ayihawu, the show celebrates the resilience, dignity, and evolving identity of African women through portraits that blend African heritage with classical elegance. Standout works include the two-part painting "The One Who Paints Her Future I & II," which addresses education and aspiration. Olamilekan employs a distinctive pixel technique and bold color grids to fragment forms, inviting viewers to reflect on identity and cultural memory.

Utilizing unstructured data to predict the art museum visitor numbers using deep learning approaches

This research paper proposes an AI-based predictive model that uses deep learning and text mining techniques to forecast visitor numbers at art museums. The study employs eight deep learning algorithms—including RNN, LSTM, and Transformer—to analyze unstructured textual data from museum websites, visitor comments, and social media, integrating a Balanced Scorecard framework with four strategic perspectives: social value, visitor experience, exhibition management, and art education.

Lisa Jarrett: Tenderhead

Lisa Jarrett's first solo museum exhibition in Oregon, "Tenderhead," opens at an unspecified venue on May 21, 2026. The show features new works and site-responsive installations that explore Beauty Supply stores and salons as critical intersections of Black life, migration, and diaspora. Jarrett uses materials like pink kanekalon hair, pigment prints, foam rollers, and lace, treating the Beauty Supply as her art supply store and a living archive of memory and community.

'All That Remains' faculty exhibition opens Oct. 21

A faculty exhibition titled 'All That Remains' opens Oct. 21 at Tyler Art Gallery on the SUNY Oswego campus, featuring works by art faculty members Peter Cardone and Christopher McEvoy. Cardone presents a photographic series of the Oswego West Pierhead Lighthouse, capturing empty interior spaces and lake views that evoke presence and absence. McEvoy contributes large abstract paintings with layered organic and geometric forms that explore perception, memory, and the construction of meaning. The exhibition includes related events on Oct. 28, such as a presentation by H. Lee White Maritime Museum curator Michael Pittavino, artist talks, and a poetry reading with faculty poets.

Karen Sylvester to exhibit at Studio Joli

Karen Sylvester, a self-taught Trinidadian artist known for her lush landscapes and waterscapes, will present her latest exhibition "Somewhat Familiar" at Studio Joli in St James, Trinidad, from October 18 to 30, 2025. The show features works inspired by her childhood on the banks of a river in the Northern Range of Trinidad, created through direct observation, sketches, photographs, and visual memory. Sylvester has been exhibiting since 1993 and is widely respected in the region, with her work held in the National Museum and private collections.

Mind of the Masters in collaboration with WASCA and NK Art Space set to exhibit The Spirit of Coffee

Mind of the Masters, in collaboration with the West African Specialty Coffee Association (WASCA) and NK Art Space, is hosting an art exhibition titled “The Spirit of Coffee” at The Spotlight Hub in Victoria Island, Lagos, from November 29 to December 12, 2025. The exhibition features 20 artworks curated by Mind of the Masters and NK Art Space, created by professional artist Lenrie Preks, whose works such as “The Spirit of Coffee,” “Coffee Blitz,” and “Flavour of Coffee” explore coffee culture through ritual, memory, and geometric abstraction.

Josephine’s new art exhibition

Local artist Josephine Geaney will open her new exhibition 'Transforming the Landscape' at Nenagh Arts Centre on September 5, 2025, with historian John Flannery performing the official opening. The exhibition was commissioned by Siga-Hydro and features works inspired by the Silvermines landscape, particularly the man-made lake formed from an open pit after mining ceased in 1993. Geaney's abstract style captures the textures, forms, and atmosphere of the former mining lands, addressing themes of climate change and renewable energy.

Welcome Home: A Pop-up Art Exhibition

A pop-up art exhibition in Philadelphia explores the dismantling of Isaiah Zagar's public mural *Skin of the Bride* (c. 1990-2001), a ceramic-and-tile mosaic originally housed in a community arts center. The building was sold in 2017, purchased by a real estate developer in 2023, and despite efforts to protect the mural as a historic site, it is slated for demolition. The Magic Gardens team selectively removed certain tiles, including Mexican folk art, while leaving others behind, altering the artwork's visual integrity. The exhibition presents fragments of Zagar's work alongside a video installation and a multimedia piece reflecting on memory and placemaking.

Coburn Gallery to open new season with unique exhibition, which used AI to capture older adults’ memories

Ashland University's Coburn Art Gallery will open its 2025-26 season with the exhibition "Transcending Barriers Beyond Time: Visual Reminiscence of Older Adults with Chronicle Illnesses Facilitated by Generative AI," running from August 25 to September 27, 2025. The show features 42 artworks created by older adults with chronic illnesses who collaborated with researchers using generative AI to visualize their memories. Co-curated by Janet Reed of Kent State University and Rebecca D. Miller of Ursuline College, the exhibition is part of the university's Symposium Against Indifference biennial series, which this year explores the theme "Thinking About Intelligence: Human and Artificial."

Clint Art Gallery to be opened in Kochi soon: Location, facilities and features

A new gallery dedicated to the memory of child prodigy Edmund Thomas Clint, who created over 25,000 paintings before his death at age seven, will soon open in Kochi, India. Located in a 3,500-square-foot space on the first floor of the Gandhinagar Shopping Complex, the Clint Art Gallery will initially display 100 of Clint's best works, selected by artist Boney Thomas. The gallery features modern acoustic facilities, virtual and augmented reality experiences, space for art camps and classes, and a library. Construction took six months and cost ₹58 lakh, with plans to open before the Onam festival.

New art exhibit at Asheville Regional Airport showcases Helene's lasting impact

A new art exhibit titled "Mountain Memories" has opened at the Asheville Regional Airport, created in collaboration with the River Arts District. The exhibition features works by eleven artists—including Chrys Corn Goodman, Davis Perrott, Beth Elliott, and others—using mediums such as oil, cold wax, graphite, charcoal, photography, mixed media sculpture, and textile installation. Each piece reflects on the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Helene and the community's resilience, with personal stories tied to the storm's aftermath. The exhibit is located in the airport's new North Concourse and will run until October 30.

“What Can A.I. Not Take from Us?”: An Interview With the Curators of Local Exhibition 'Against the Machine'

An exhibition titled 'Against the Machine: art in the age of A.I., fascism, and climate disaster' is on view at the People's Solidarity Hub campus in Durham, North Carolina, curated by local artists Cassandra Rowe and charla rios. The show features works by ten multi-disciplinary artists, including Hiva Kadivar's piece incorporating ink and natural fibers, Derrick Beasley's sculpture 'Conduit,' and Rowe's painting 'the wayback machine / you can't take my memories.' The exhibition opened in May and runs through August 22, with an artist talk scheduled for July 16. The curators were inspired by connections between A.I., fascism, and climate disaster, particularly after Hurricane Helene and the Los Angeles wildfires.

Signal & Trace Opening at Gallery One

A new exhibition titled "Signal & Trace" opens at Gallery One in Albuquerque's City Hall on July 10, featuring artworks by faculty from the University of New Mexico's Electronic Art & Technology program. The show includes interactive video, electronic textiles, thermal imaging, and speculative documentary works by artists such as Marie Alarcón, Chanee Choi, Stewart Skylar Copeland, Ramona Emerson, and others, exploring themes of surveillance, autonomy, memory, and identity through technological mediation.

Today or Tomorrow at Atelier 8.18: A Home Studio Exhibition

Artists Emiko Mizukami, Julie Sabey, Lena Sin, and Nicole Lau present 'Today or Tomorrow,' a home studio exhibition at Atelier 8.18, the living room of curator Kyla Bourgh. The show explores food's connection to culture, memory, and community through each artist's personal lens—from Sin's joyful table settings inspired by travels to Mizukami's fantasy narratives around Japanese preservation traditions, Sabey's childhood birthday party memories, and Lau's transformation of prepackaged foods into colorful artworks.

CUSP Gallery brings contemporary art to Belmont Chapel

CUSP Gallery is organizing the first art exhibition at Newport's historic Belmont Chapel following a major restoration. Titled "As Above, So Below," the show runs from June 14 to 22, 2025, and features circular paintings by local artist Juditta Musette that blend cosmic and earthly themes. The opening reception is June 14 from 5 to 7 p.m. The chapel, built in 1886 by financier August Belmont in memory of his daughter Pauline, recently underwent restoration led by the Belmont Chapel Foundation, earning the 2024 Doris Duke Historic Preservation Award and a Rhody Award for Historic Preservation. Musette will also preview a painting at the Belmont Stakes Race Day Fundraiser, donating it to the foundation's charity auction.

An Artist Honors Extinct Plants and Animals at New York’s Swiss Institute

The New York Times reports on an exhibition at New York's Swiss Institute where an artist pays tribute to extinct plants and animals through their work. The show features installations and artworks that memorialize species lost to extinction, blending scientific documentation with artistic expression to create a poignant reflection on biodiversity loss.

A New Art Exhibition Ponders the Perpetual Cycle of Urban Transition

The article reviews "Contemporary Ruin future visions," an exhibition at Drexel University's Leonard Pearlstein Gallery curated by artist Nancy Agati. The show explores the perpetual cycle of urban construction, demolition, and renewal, focusing on Philadelphia's evolving neighborhoods. Featured artists include Sophie White, who documents rapid gentrification in Fishtown/Kensington through plein-air gouache paintings, and Jennifer Johnson, whose sculptural maps trace the transformation of the Black Bottom area from 1725 to 2025. Joseph E. B. Elliott contributes photographs of decaying buildings, such as Saint Bonaventure Church and Richmond Generating Station, capturing ruins both past and present.

Haarlem Resistance hero commemorated with illicit 'stumbling stone'

Ton Witteman, grandson of Dutch resistance hero Bart Witteman, has laid an unauthorized 'stumbling stone' (stolpersteine) in front of his grandfather's former home in Haarlem, Netherlands. Bart Witteman, a policeman who sheltered two Jewish people during World War II, was arrested, deported, and murdered by the Nazis in 1945. The city council had refused to include non-Jewish resistance figures in its official memorial program, which only covers the 733 murdered Jewish, Sinti, and Roma residents. Witteman obtained the hand-stamped brass plaque from German artist Gunter Demnig's Stolpersteine project and installed it himself with the current homeowners' blessing.

Cambodian artists highlight Khmer culture at free exhibit in St. Paul

Cambodian artists are celebrating Khmer New Year with the free exhibit “My Soul of Gold” at Xia Gallery & Cafe in St. Paul, Minnesota, running through April 27, 2025. The show features portraits of cyclo drivers and elders by photographer Hao Taing, paintings by Cambodian American artist Sara Gregor, and traditional wedding dresses, all exploring themes of heritage, war, and displacement. Inspired by kintsugi, the exhibit uses art to “fill in the cracks” left by the Khmer Rouge regime and historical erasure. Separately, documentary photographer Drew Arrieta is debuting “Infinite Bonds” at Resource gallery in Minneapolis, blending photography, audio, and personal objects to explore intimate relationships.

A Different Germany

Ein anderes Deutschland

The German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, historically burdened by its Nazi-era origins, presents a new exhibition titled "Ruin." For the first time, the pavilion explicitly adopts an East German perspective, confronting its fraught past from a fresh angle. The show features massive pillars and a prominent "Germania" inscription above the entrance, directly engaging with the building's controversial history.

Associations Join Warning Against AfD Cultural Policy

Vereine schließen sich Warnung vor AfD-Kulturpolitik an

Nearly 30 cultural institutions in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt have issued a warning against the cultural policy proposals of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is leading in polls ahead of state elections. The state network of cultural support associations, representing around 680 member groups, has now joined this warning, stating the AfD's plans amount to a restriction of artistic freedom and the instrumentalization of culture according to nationalist guidelines.

In Wiesbaden, Wolfgang Hollegha Understands Abstraction Physically

In Wiesbaden begreift Wolfgang Hollegha Abstraktion körperlich

The Museum Reinhard Ernst in Wiesbaden is hosting a major retrospective dedicated to the late Austrian painter Wolfgang Hollegha. The exhibition showcases Hollegha’s signature monumental canvases, characterized by a unique technique of pouring paint to create eruptive yet precise compositions that bridge the gap between physical movement, memory, and spatial abstraction.

The Museum of the Surrender of Reims Reopens After a Year of Renovations

Le Musée de la Reddition de Reims rouvre ses portes après un an de travaux

The Musée de la Reddition de Reims (Museum of the Surrender of Reims) reopened on May 7, the 81st anniversary of the German surrender signed in its map room, after a year-long closure. The renovation, costing approximately €2 million, focused on conservation: protective glazing, improved ventilation and lighting, and anoxic treatment of collections to halt degradation of original maps, documents, and war room objects. The museum also overhauled its scenography, designed by Belgian agency Kascen, to present a clearer chronological narrative covering the occupation, Allied presence in Reims, liberation, postwar reconstruction, and reconciliation, rather than just the surrender itself. The museum now displays 17 uniforms, 130 objects and weapons, and 65 archival documents, including the act of capitulation and General McAuliffe's jacket.

Taiyo to Ame no Melody (Melody of Sun and Rain) at PALAS

Taiyo to Ame no Melody (Melody of Sun and Rain) at PALAS

The group exhibition *Taiyo to Ame no Melody (Melody of Sun and Rain)* opened at PALAS in Sydney, featuring new and recent works by artists Maureen Gallace, Trevor Shimizu, and Kazuyuki Takezaki. Curated by the Tokyo-based gallery Misako & Rosen, the show presents a contemplative dialogue between the three artists' distinct approaches to landscape and domestic scenes, running from February 7 through March 28, 2026.

Gijs Van Vaerenbergh Gracefully Reimagines a 16th-Century Belgian Abbey Church in Steel

Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, the Belgian design studio founded by Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh, has created "CLAUSURA," a life-size steel sculpture tracing the footprint of the vanished 16th-century Gothic church at Herkenrode Abbey in Hasselt, Belgium. The ethereal framework of slender steel rods rises from the original site, offering a transparent, abstract reconstruction that evokes the abbey's lost architecture through suggestion rather than literal rebuilding. The first phase opens to the public on June 18 as part of a broader restoration led by Herita.