New York City’s first Trans Art Fest showcases, connects and empowers trans artists

New York City is hosting its inaugural Trans Art Fest, a grassroots, community-driven festival featuring the work of over 120 transgender artists. Founded by curator and textile artist Carter Shocket, the two-month program includes 12 all-trans exhibitions and more than 20 events ranging from glassblowing workshops to cinema screenings. Major highlights include the exhibitions "Alchemists" and "A Tender Touch," the latter of which focuses exclusively on the work of Black trans artists.

Amid Epstein Blowback, Bard President Leon Botstein Talks About Succession Plan But With No Timeline: Report

Leon Botstein, president of Bard College since 1975, has discussed retiring and transitioning to a faculty role as a historian and musician once a successor is found, following backlash over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. According to a Times Union report, no timeline has been set, and the 79-year-old appears to have no immediate plans to leave. Botstein has held multiple meetings with students and staff since February, when details of his relationship with Epstein—including over 2,800 mentions in Epstein-related files—were revealed. He has characterized his eventual departure as a consequence of age, not the controversy, and stated that a search for a successor will begin after a law firm review of his Epstein interactions concludes by the end of May.

Two students find community through the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum’s docent program

Two art students from Appalachian State University, Jenna Curlee and Frankie Mancuso, have become docents at the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum (BRAHM) in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. As volunteer hosts and tour guides, they engage with visitors, share stories about exhibits, and participate in excursions to artists' studios, historic sites, and private collectors' homes. The program has deepened their connection to the local art community and influenced their own artistic practices.

Gallery Times

Carlton Gallery in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, is hosting its 43rd Winter Group and Small Works Exhibition, featuring artwork in all media by standing gallery artists. The exhibition includes paintings, sculptures, wood, glass, clay, and wearable fiber by local and regional artisans, with notable works by George Cadell, Joe Mareka, Nancy Brittelle, Valerie Schnaufer, Mary Means, Bob Meier, Eric Reichard, and others. The gallery invites visitors for holiday cheer, and the show highlights winter landscapes, abstract compositions, and handcrafted jewelry. Separately, Blowing Rock Frameworks & Gallery promotes its collection of local art and framing services, emphasizing works by Elliott Daingerfield, North Carolina's most prolific artist.

Trans Art Fest Brings Over 120 Trans Artists To NYC

Trans Art Fest has launched as a major citywide celebration in New York City, featuring over 120 transgender artists across more than a dozen exhibitions and 20 public events. Running through late May, the festival includes gallery shows at venues like Eleventh Hour Art and Puffin Brooklyn, alongside outdoor installations, glassblowing workshops, and community-driven projects. Founded by textile artist and curator Carter Shocket, the initiative seeks to move beyond fleeting visibility by establishing a sustained, multi-week presence across Brooklyn and beyond.

These artists want your help distracting fossil fuel executives

The Brooklyn non-profit space Pioneer Works is hosting an exhibition titled "How to Get to Zero" by artists Tega Brain and Sam Lavigne, featuring climate-focused interactive installations. The centerpiece, "Cold Call" (2023), invites visitors to don headsets and call fossil fuel executives, following a script designed to keep them on the line as long as possible to disrupt their productivity. Another work, "Offset" (2023-25), parodies carbon offset markets by allowing visitors to purchase credits for dissident acts like deflating SUV tires, with proceeds going to activists. The exhibition also includes "Perfect Sleep" (2021), an anti-productivity phone app that encourages rest to reduce carbon footprints, and "Synthetic Messenger" (2021), where cell phones click on climate news ads to boost journalism engagement.

This is BC: Renowned artists open Enderby gallery

Renowned artists have opened a new gallery in Enderby, British Columbia, as reported in a segment titled 'This is BC' by Global News. The video feature, published on June 10, 2025, highlights the establishment of this gallery by well-known visual artists in the small community of Enderby, located in the North Okanagan region. The artists are bringing their expertise and creative works to a local venue, aiming to enrich the area's cultural landscape.

Cubitt Artists, ‘important’ London gallery and studio space, set to lose home of more than 25 years

Cubitt Artists, a non-profit gallery and studio space in central London that has operated for over 25 years, announced it will leave its current home in Islington this spring after its lease was not renewed. The artist-run cooperative, which houses 32 studios, is launching a fundraising campaign to find a new location and continue providing affordable studios, contemporary art programming, and opportunities for early-career artists and curators.

The Big Review | 36th Bienal de São Paulo ★★★★

The 36th Bienal de São Paulo has opened with a site-specific installation by Nigerian-American artist Precious Okoyomon, titled "Sun of Consciousness. God Blow Thru Me – Love Break Me" (2025), which features a spiraling path of moss-covered earth and waterfalls evoking Brazil's deforested Cerrado region. The biennial, curated by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung with an international team, includes 125 artists—97 international and 28 Brazilian—with more than half of the works commissioned for the exhibition. Notable presentations include a career-spanning display of over 20 paintings by British artist Frank Bowling, alongside works by Brazilian artist Gervane de Paula, who has the largest presence in the show.

Glimpsing the future: William Kentridge opera has its New York premiere in Brooklyn

William Kentridge's award-winning chamber opera *Waiting for the Sibyl* (2019) makes its New York premiere this week at Powerhouse Arts in Brooklyn, as part of the inaugural Powerhouse: International arts festival. The opera, which won an Olivier Award in 2023, features an original score by Nhlanhla Mahlangu and Kyle Shepherd, and incorporates Kentridge's animated ink drawings, collages, text projections, and sculptures. Inspired by the Cumaean Sibyl of ancient legend, the work explores themes of fate and uncertainty, with paper leaves from texts like Dante's *Divine Comedy* symbolically blowing through the action. The production was originally commissioned by the Rome Opera as a companion piece to Alexander Calder's 1968 *Work in Progress*.

art young photographer sara messinger

Sara Messinger, a 26-year-old photographer based in New York, has been nominated by Michael Foley, director of Leica Gallery NY, for her poignant portraits of teenagers. Her work, which has appeared in The Cut, The New York Times, and The New Yorker, was recently exhibited alongside Magnum photographer Bruce Davidson at Leica's New York gallery. Messinger describes her focus on teenagers as an organic discovery, drawn to their authenticity and honesty, and uses her photography to explore childhood fears and a search for connection.

St. John’s Hosts Opening of “Debugging the Earth” Art Exhibition

St. John's University opened the group exhibition "Debugging the Earth" at its Yeh Art Gallery on February 5. The show, organized by Queens-based artist Michael Assiff, features works by seven artists including André Magaña, Carly Mandel, Catherine Telford Keogh, Jan Mun, Kahlil Robert Irving, and Serena Chang, who explore themes of environment and production through repurposed everyday objects.

Feral Hot Glass owner working toward opening | Gallery Glances

Feral Hot Glass, a glass-blowing studio and event space founded by artist Mark Rubelowsky, is nearing completion in Geneva, Ohio. Rubelowsky and his father broke ground in April 2024 on a property that includes a house and land for grape-growing, transforming the original plan for a pole barn into a full facility. The studio will offer glass-blowing classes, workshops, events, and an Airbnb rental, with unique features like glass birds embedded in walls for a scavenger hunt. Rubelowsky, a 2019 Cleveland Institute of Art graduate, works alongside fellow glassblower Rob Coby.

arts directors exit the national endowment for the arts

All ten directors overseeing grants across artistic disciplines at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) have departed this week, along with other senior leaders and employees. The mass exodus follows the Trump administration's effective shuttering of the agency, including a proposed budget cancellation for fiscal year 2026 and redistribution of funding. Among those leaving are Michael Orlove, director of state, regional and local partnerships, and Ayanna Hudson, chief strategy, programs and engagement officer. Officials overseeing Native arts and Challenge America grants—the latter canceled in February—are also departing, alongside many grant-review specialists who have retired or resigned. The American Federation of Government Employees Local 3403 reported that over 50% of open NEA awards are being terminated.

‘I want to haunt people’: Palestinian artist's London exhibition interrogates myth, history and the erasure of heritage

Palestinian artist Dima Srouji's exhibition *A Cosmogram of Holy Views* opens at London's Ab Anbar Gallery, presenting a decade of research into the built heritage of Palestinian Christians. The show juxtaposes European Renaissance depictions of the Holy Land with the reality of life under Israeli occupation, using media such as tinted glass collages, blown glass, carved stone, and mother-of-pearl objects. Works like *Return to Nazareth* overlay biblical scenes with personal childhood memories, while *Phantom Votives* offers wax votive forms as a response to the destruction in Gaza.

Her Museum Was Surviving in Russia. Then the Threats Became Too Much.

Nailya Allakhverdiyeva, the longtime director of the PERMM Museum of Contemporary Art in Perm, Russia, has fled the country following escalating intimidation and a raid by security forces. Despite her efforts to maintain the institution's integrity through strategic compromises and "Aesopian language" to navigate tightening censorship, the pressure became untenable after she was interrogated and her home was searched by the F.S.B. in connection with activist Pyotr Verzilov.

Thirteen Monumental Sculptures in Stockholm. Italian Artist Davide Rivalta Redesigns Urban Space

Tredici sculture monumentali a Stoccolma. L’artista italiano Davide Rivalta ridisegna lo spazio urbano

Italian artist Davide Rivalta has installed thirteen monumental bronze sculptures of animals—including lions, rhinoceroses, and buffalo—across iconic public spaces in Stockholm. The project, titled 'Blowing Figures into Space,' places the life-sized, pedestal-free figures directly on the ground, allowing them to blend into and subtly disrupt the urban landscape.

EAA names local artist Volunteer of The Year

The Escondido Art Association (EAA) named Alice Malloy-Chang its Volunteer of the Year for 2025 during the opening reception of the exhibition “A Cold Wind Blowing” at the Grand Avenue Gallery. EAA President Adrian Stewart praised Malloy-Chang for managing the organization’s technology systems across multiple platforms, calling her the "beating heart of EAA." Malloy-Chang, an artist herself, said she volunteered to help other artists feel supported and free to create.

Exhibit Opening: Retrospectives~The Art of Dennis Sirrine & Tom Frohnapfel at the La Grua Center in Stonington

An exhibit opening at the La Grua Center in Stonington, Connecticut, celebrates the work of local artists Dennis Sirrine and Tom Frohnapfel. The show, which runs through the end of February, features their representational and abstract paintings, mixed media, glass works, and furniture, reflecting over four decades of creative exploration. Both artists moved from the Midwest to New York City in the 1980s before settling in Stonington in the 2000s. Sirrine, who manages the Velvet Mill Gallery, presents works ranging from early cityscapes to recent abstractions, while Frohnapfel, a Pratt Institute graduate, showcases his design-and-build furniture, glass blowing, and paintings.

Vandals destroy South Shields art gallery days before opening

Vandals broke into The Market Gallery, a new art space set to open in a former Wilko store in South Shields, UK, days before its launch. Artists Laura Robertson and Theodore Godfrey-Cass discovered the gallery had been graffitied, studio booths damaged, and artwork urinated on, smashed, or stolen. The culprits posted videos of the attack online, which have been shared with Northumbria Police, who are investigating the burglary that occurred between 20:00 BST on Friday and 11:30 on Tuesday.

dwr helle mardahl glass

Copenhagen-based designer Helle Mardahl has launched a new hand-blown glass collection for Design Within Reach (DWR). The collection includes barware, serving dishes, vases, and lamps in a palette of rhubarb, plum, coconut, and creamy melon, inspired by Scandinavian and American design traditions and Mardahl's heritage as the daughter of an architect.

Butternut Valley Alliance Seeks Artists For On The Trail Of Art Forest Exhibition

Butternut Valley Alliance (BVA) is accepting artist submissions for On the Trail of Art, its annual forest exhibition scheduled for June 13-14 at General Jacob Morris State Forest in Morris, New York. Artists are invited to submit weatherproof work for outdoor display along a forest trail, and may also contribute to BVA’s online auction. The event includes wandering musicians, poetry readings, live bands, art demonstrations, and a treasure hunt for commemorative hand-blown crystal balls, with select installations reflecting on America’s 250th anniversary. An opening reception will be held June 12 at Dunderberg Gallery in Gilbertsville.

Into the Wild - Art exhibition by Gina O’Connor

Artist Gina O’Connor has launched her latest solo exhibition, "Into the Wild," at Cultúrlann Sweeney in Kilkee. This collection marks her second show at the venue and her seventh solo exhibition overall, featuring a series of semi-abstract paintings inspired by the landscapes of the Wild Atlantic Way. The works, including titles such as "Blown Away" and "Atlantic Bliss," utilize bold, spontaneous mark-making to represent natural elements like mountains, seas, and flora.

How do you break bad news to someone you love? With this artist’s help, it’s a piece of cake

Artist Keely O'Brien has transformed the Richmond-Brighouse SkyTrain station in Vancouver into a public gallery with her exhibition "Secret Ingredients." Part of the Capture Photography Festival, the installation features large-scale photographs of decadent, homemade cakes iced with unconventional messages like "You Snore" or "I'm So Proud of You." These images originated from a social experiment where O'Brien solicited anonymous confessions from the public and delivered them as custom-baked confections to recipients across the city.

UNH Gallery of Art Exhibits InGathering

The University of New Hampshire Gallery of Art opened its Spring 2026 exhibition, InGathering, on January 20, with a reception held on January 23. Curated by UNH alum Alex Leith, the show features ten artists including several UNH alumni, with works ranging from oil paintings to glass blowing. The exhibition was organized on short notice after a construction-related scheduling gap, and emphasizes themes of community, nourishment, and shared energy.

East Cobb painter to present holiday art exhibit in Buckhead

Lynne McDonald, an abstract artist and entrepreneur from East Cobb, will present a Holiday Art Exhibition at Serendipity Labs Buckhead in Atlanta on November 19, 2025. The event will feature the unveiling of her new pieces, with guests enjoying light refreshments. McDonald, who began painting in 2015 and became a full-time artist by 2020, creates vibrant organic artworks using acrylics and unconventional tools like blow torches and forks. She has sold works internationally and held over 18 shows, including 15 solo exhibitions.

‘Re-scoped’ Alice Springs art gallery on public exhibition

The Northern Territory government has unveiled revised plans for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Gallery of Australia (ATSIAGA) in Alice Springs/Mparntwe. The redesigned project, led by BVN, Susan Dugdale and Associates, and Clouston Associates, has been reduced from five storeys to three, with 1,300 square metres of exhibition space. A development consent application was submitted earlier this month and is now on public exhibition until 22 August, following cost blowouts that prompted a "re-scoping" of the original scheme. Construction is expected to take 18–24 months, with an opening targeted for late 2027.

Welcome Mat: New glass art show opening in Royal Oak

Habatat Galleries in Royal Oak, Michigan, is opening a new glass art exhibition called Glass53 on May 3, 2025, featuring 400 works by glass artists from around the world. The 16,000-square-foot gallery complex will host a gala from 8–10 p.m., along with live glassblowing demonstrations by artist Andrew Madvin at his nearby Axiom Studio. Co-director Aaron Schey describes the show as an immersive art experience celebrating Michigan's role as a global hub for glass art.

In Valcamonica il Parco archeologico di Luine ha chiuso e non si sa se e quando riaprirà: la storia

The Luine Archaeological Park in Valcamonica, Italy, closed on April 1, 2026, after the municipality of Darfo Boario Terme, led by Mayor Dario Colossi, failed to renew the management contract held by Zamenhof Art and ArchExperience. The park, which houses rock engravings dating back to the end of the Paleolithic period (about 13,000 years ago), is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a unique part of the Camunian park system. Weeks after the closure, the park remains in limbo with no clear reopening date, while multimedia installations and digital content created by the former managers are being removed. The story has received little media attention beyond local outlets.

Between Control and Fragility: The Invisible Stories of Martina Zanin on Display in Rome

Tra controllo e fragilità: le storie invisibili di Martina Zanin in mostra a Roma

Martina Zanin’s solo exhibition, "EVERY CARESS, A BLOW," has opened at the Fondazione Pastificio Cerere in Rome. Curated by Antonio Grulli, the show features a multidisciplinary range of works including photography, bronze sculpture, and immersive installations that explore the thin line between protection and threat. Through recurring motifs like falconry gloves and symbolic animals such as the hawk and the hare, Zanin investigates the invisible power dynamics and rituals inherent in relationships.