Photographer Peter van Agtmael reflects on a photograph he took 20 years ago while embedded with the U.S. military in Iraq. The image, captured during his first experience of war, depicts a dejected American soldier sitting in an ordinary Iraqi living room, a scene he describes as showing the vast military machine mobilized in the Middle East.
A new research paper reveals that Sydney's suburban front gardens are shrinking dramatically due to residential redevelopment, with the average front garden declining by 46% in areas where older homes have been replaced by larger modern houses. The study, analyzing 370 properties, found that driveway footprints and artificial surfaces increased by 57%, while tree canopy coverage was reduced by 62%.
Art appraiser Winston Art Group and art-tech firm Artory have merged to form the Winston Artory Group (WAG), a new company offering art appraisal, advisory, and digital collection management services. The merger is backed by a strategic investment led by Strobe Ventures, with support from CMT Digital, Galaxy Digital, and the family office of Eijk van Otterloo. WAG combines Winston's valuation expertise with Artory's blockchain-backed technology and a database of over 50 million art market transactions, aiming to provide secure, data-rich valuations to insurers, banks, family offices, and collectors. The firm expects to handle $15 billion in valuations this year.
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday blocking President Trump's executive order to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). District Court Judge John J. McConnell Jr., appointed by President Obama, ruled that the dismantling violated the Administrative Procedure Act and Congress's constitutional power over appropriations. The injunction follows a lawsuit by the American Library Association and AFSCME, and a temporary restraining order last week. Trump's March 14 executive order had declared IMLS "unnecessary," placing staff on leave, terminating grants, and dismissing board members.
The Acton Open 2026, a community art exhibition in West London, brought together fifteen artists from diverse backgrounds to explore themes of life, place, and identity. Organized by ARTification and held at W3 Gallery from March 26 to May 12, the free exhibition featured works in painting, photography, drawing, printmaking, and ceramics, with artists including Ife Olowu, Obiora Nwankwo, Pippa Brill, and others.
The Philadelphia Corporation for Aging (PCA) is hosting its 24th annual senior art show, 'Celebrate Arts & Aging,' across three locations: the West Philadelphia Senior Community Center, the South Philadelphia Older Adult Center, and Center on the Hill in Germantown. The exhibition features 140 artists aged 55 to 101, displaying works in various mediums including painting, photography, textiles, and pencil drawings. Notable pieces include Elizabeth Richburg-Durand's painting of Maya Angelou, Denise Ballinger's 'Peace on the Horizon,' and Russell Williams's 'Brilliant in Blue,' this year's signature artwork. The physical exhibits run through May, while a virtual show remains online for the year at PCACares.org.
The 70th annual Fine Arts Fiesta opened on Thursday, May 14, 2026, on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and runs through Sunday. The event features artists, crafts, entertainment, and music, with headliners including the Phil Giordano Jazz Orchestra and Doug Smith & The Dixieland Band. A tribute to the late trumpeter Bobby Baird Jr. is scheduled, and eight local dance companies will perform at the F.M. Kirby Center. During the opening ceremony, Wilkes-Barre official George Brown presented a proclamation and key to the city to Fine Arts Fiesta board president Ann Saxton, executive director Brian Benedetti, and second vice president Gina Malsky.
The Muskegon Museum of Art has announced a new exhibition titled 'HerStory of Animation: Mary Blair & Beyond,' premiering June 6 through September 27. The show redefines animation history by highlighting the contributions of women animators and artists, from early pioneers like Helena Smith Dayton and Lotte Reiniger to contemporary figures. Curated by Mindy Johnson, the exhibition features production artwork, studio artifacts, rare imagery, films, and newly uncovered research spanning over a century of innovation.
The Cumberland Valley Artists Exhibition at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts has concluded after an extended run from November 8, 2025 to April 26, 2026. The exhibition invited artists to respond to four themes tied to America's semiquincentennial: Unfinished Revolutions, Power of Place, Tell Everyone's Story, and American Experiment. Eighty-five artists submitted 198 works, with 62 selected for display. Over 13,500 visitors attended, and more than 3,000 participated in the popular vote. The first-place winner was James Roberts for his work "Fabric," a mixed-media piece critiquing gun violence.
An art exhibition titled 'No Strings' has opened in Ann Arbor, inspired by the city's guaranteed income program. The show features works from local artists who explore themes of economic security, dignity, and community support, drawing directly from the experiences and principles of the universal basic income initiative.
The Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art in Tarpon Springs, Florida, has launched a dynamic spring 2026 exhibition season featuring four shows that highlight regional artists and student creativity. Exhibitions include "Richard Heipp: Reliquaries & Artifacts" (through July 26), which uses hyper-realistic paintings to explore how museums shape cultural memory; "Dallas Jackson: Unsung Heroes, The Fabric of America" (through June 14), a mixed-media tribute to overlooked community figures; and "David Anderson: Now and Again" (through June 14), presenting eight newly acquired works never before publicly exhibited. The season also includes student-focused programming from kindergarten through middle school.
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.
The USC Fisher Museum of Art is hosting the "Freedom Plane National Tour: Documents That Forged a Nation," a traveling exhibition of rare founding-era documents from the U.S. National Archives. The show, which runs through May 3, includes items such as a rare engraved copy of the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Paris (1783), and a Senate markup of the Bill of Rights (1789). USC is the only university stop on the eight-city national tour, and the documents arrived in Los Angeles on a special Boeing 737. The exhibition has drawn history students, faculty, and the public, with USC Distinguished Professor Peter C. Mancall bringing his class to study the documents up close.
The Sertoma Arts Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, is hosting a series of exhibitions throughout 2025 and 2026, featuring a wide array of local and regional artists. The current exhibition is the 47th annual Sertoma Parks Artists Association (SPAA) show, featuring over 30 artists, running from February to April 2026. Upcoming shows include a May-June 2026 exhibition highlighting artists like Adam Cooley and Natacha Sochat, and the center regularly presents themed exhibits such as its annual Student, Instructor, and Patron exhibition.
Syracuse University Art Museum is hosting "Possible Worlds: 20 Years of the Wynn Newhouse Awards," an exhibition curated by Daniel Fuller. The show features 11 artists selected from a pool of 115 past grant recipients, all of whom live with physical or mental disabilities. Notable works include Courttney Cooper’s expansive ballpoint pen maps of Cincinnati, Kambel Smith’s intuitive architectural models, and the Rev. Joyce McDonald’s clay portraits, showcasing a diverse range of media from oil painting to multimedia installations.
American artist Charles Magistro will host a public artist talk at the Petersburg Area Art League (PAAL) on February 28. The event offers a rare opportunity for the community to engage directly with the artist as he discusses his creative process and a new series of works that span abstract painting, sculpture, and imagined landscapes.
Three museums in the Philadelphia area—the Woodmere Museum, the Maguire Museum at St. Joseph’s University, and the Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College—have jointly organized a major retrospective of sculptor Syd Carpenter's five-decade career. The exhibition, titled "Syd Carpenter: Planting in Place, Time and Memory," is split across the three venues, each focusing on different aspects of her artistic evolution, from early pottery to recent organic, plant-inspired sculptures.
Gallery 1075 in West Sacramento is hosting a Black History Month art exhibition featuring works by local Black artists. The show runs through February, with a special reception on February 12 where artists will discuss their work with the community.
The Gabba Gallery in Los Angeles will open a major exhibition titled 'Echoes of Gen X: The Art of the Fillmore (1980s–2000s)' on February 21. The show will feature a vast collection of deadstock gig posters and ephemera from the iconic San Francisco music venue, representing over 1,000 concerts from the late 1980s through early 2000s, with works by poster artists like Chuck Sperry, Frank Kozik, and Rex Ray.
Four new free art exhibits have opened at the Morean Arts Center in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. The shows include Rebecca Sexton Larson's solo exhibition "Where Leaves Remember," featuring soft paintings and hand-colored photographs; "Day Dreams," a collaboration with SARTQ Artist Collective exploring dream imagery; "A Journey Through My Imagination," a juried exhibition by the National Association of Women Artists; and the Morean Center for Clay's Artist in Residence program show. The first three exhibits run through March 26, while the clay residency show closes February 16.
Inkfish Gallery in Des Moines will open a new exhibition titled “Creatures of the Deep” on Saturday, Dec. 20, featuring marine-inspired works by local artists George C. Scott and Fred Andrews. The opening reception runs from 2 to 5 p.m. at the gallery, located at 22220 7th Avenue South, and is free to the public. The exhibition includes glass art, paintings, photographs, collages, and sculptures, with live jazz guitar by Ron Peters.
The 2025 Arts Open by Guernsey Arts has opened at the George Crossan Gallery in St Peter Port, featuring over 130 artworks from 132 artists. The exhibition includes a wide range of media from oils and acrylics to embroidery and crochet, and drew a large crowd at its private preview event, with queues stretching through the Market Buildings. Organizers Louise Le Pelley and Jared Fox highlighted the inclusive, no-judgment submission process that welcomes both professional artists and first-time exhibitors.
An exhibition titled "Art Deco: A Modern Vision" has opened, featuring a series of social photographs capturing attendees at the event. The images show various pairs and groups of visitors, including Mary Abbott and Katie Abbott, Penelope Curtin and Janet Worth, and others, documenting the opening night's social scene.
Globally-renowned English felt artist Lucy Sparrow has opened a new 13,000-piece felt exhibition titled "Lucy Sparrow’s Quick Shop" at FloridaRAMA in St. Petersburg, Florida. The immersive grocery-themed pop-up features handmade felt versions of everyday products like avocados, toothpaste, and seafood, and functions as both an art installation and a shop where visitors can purchase the signed felt items. The exhibition will remain open only as long as the stock lasts, with special shopping events alongside the artist scheduled for November 25, 26, and 28.
An exhibition celebrating the centenary of British artist and television personality Tony Hart has opened at Creative Maidstone Community Arts Hub in Maidstone, Kent. Curated by his daughter Carolyn Ross, the retrospective features original sketches, watercolours, television pieces, and portraits—including a study of Carolyn painted when she was eight. The free show opened on what would have been Hart's 100th birthday, 15 October 2025, and runs until 8 November 2025.
A new group exhibition titled 'Grit' opened at Echo Contemporary Art in Atlanta's Echo Street West, featuring works by local artists in painting, illustration, sculpture, installation, tech-driven pieces, and a quilt by Evereman. Co-curated by Alfonso Alday Vergara of Alday Hunken Gallery, Melanie Shaw of ArtShare, and Kyle McNeill (BignPasty), the show explores the theme of perseverance in art-making. The opening night reception drew a crowd, and the week-long exhibition includes artist talks, live music, and a panel discussion with Hayley Smith of SCOPE Art Show and Plushette Ellis of Artistic Logistics.
A Blueprint of Resonance: Building Detroit’s Artistic Future is a multimedia exhibition presented by DETROIT SALON, running from October 18 to November 9, 2025. Curated by Juana Williams, the show highlights 18 Detroit-based artists who build on the city's legacy of collaboration and community care, drawing from historic institutions like Pewabic Pottery and the Scarab Club as well as artist-led movements such as the Cass Corridor and Gallery 7. The exhibition marks DETROIT SALON's official launch in Paris and the start of its global roadshows, ahead of its flagship event in Detroit in 2028.
“Nordic Echoes: Tradition in Contemporary Art” is a traveling exhibition opening October 4, 2025, at the South Dakota Art Museum and running through January 3, 2026. Curated by Sally Yerkovich, it features 55 works by 24 artists from the Upper Midwest, including Bill Amundson, Sonja Peterson, and Tara Austin. The show examines how Nordic folk arts—such as weaving, carving, and blacksmithing—inspire contemporary painting, textiles, and metalwork, presenting tradition as a living, evolving practice.
A new exhibition titled "Calidelic Psychefornia" opens at Studio Channel Islands in Camarillo, California, on October 4, 2025, showcasing over 60 works spanning 70 years of psychedelic art. Curated by California Lutheran University art historian Michael Pearce, the show features paintings by early LSD experiment participants like Dolores Chiappone, as well as contemporary artists such as Joe Adams, aiming to highlight an often-overlooked art movement.
The Onera Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving historic American architecture, has opened a physical venue in New Canaan, Connecticut. Its inaugural exhibition, "Treaties on De-Fences" (through March 2026), features sculptures and prints by Spanish American artist Jorge Otero-Pailos, inspired by his work preserving the Eero Saarinen-designed US Embassy in Oslo. The foundation, founded by David B. Peterson, acquired the landmark 1836 Greek Revival building in 2018 and restored it to host exhibitions and public programs.