Arts Council News – Fine Art Exhibition Awards

Gallery 50 hosts opening reception for “Here Comes the Sun” art show on May 8

Gallery 50 in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, will host an opening reception for its new exhibition “Here Comes the Sun” on Friday, May 8, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The show features 11 local artists—Jonathan Frazier, Robyn Jacobs, Sarah Maclay, Pat McCleary, Mary Moores, Judy Pyle, Jayne Shord, Anne St. John, Lindsay Tozier-School, Anita Williams, and Marti Yeager (also the gallery’s curator)—with works in oil, acrylic, pastel, photography, watercolor, and enamel on copper. The evening includes free refreshments, live music from Sons of Pitches, and the unveiling of a new mural by California-based artist Nigel Sussman, whose large-scale, hand-drawn murals feature fantasy architecture and imaginary machines.

Ann Arbor guaranteed income program inspires ‘No Strings’ art exhibit

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.

Remains of time: Discarded Material Finds New Life As Artwork

Two Indian artists, Manveer Singh (aka Plasticvalla) and Smriti Dixit, are creating artworks from discarded materials to address environmental degradation. Singh transforms multi-layered plastic waste into sculptures inspired by local landscapes and folk traditions, such as a snow leopard for Spiti Valley and a landfill-inspired piece for Delhi. Dixit finds her practice meditative, while other young artists like Anuja Dasgupta and Mrugen Rathod recently exhibited at the 'Sustaina' exhibition using recycled materials like agricultural waste and discarded hotel textiles. Additionally, Tara Lal's Aranyani Pavilion, made from invasive Lantana Camara wood, was displayed at Sunder Nursery to promote forest restoration.

Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art highlights dynamic spring exhibition season

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.

Chosun University Museum of Art Hosts 'Strolling Through the Garden' for 80th Anniversary

Chosun University Museum of Art in Gwangju, South Korea, is hosting a special exhibition titled 'Strolling Through the Garden' from May 7 to May 27 to celebrate the university's 80th anniversary. The show features 34 works by 13 contemporary artists working in Western painting, Korean painting, installation, and media art, organized around three themes: 'Garden of Imagination,' 'Garden of Senses,' and 'Garden of Metaphor.' Admission is free, and the exhibition coincides with the university's Rose Week (May 14–17), encouraging visitors to experience nature and art together on campus.

‘Ojai Mystique’ exhibition returns to Ojai Valley Museum

The Ojai Valley Museum has opened its annual 'Ojai Mystique' exhibition, featuring 19 invited artists from California and beyond. Each artist created two paintings inspired by the Ojai Valley—a large masterwork and a smaller companion piece—resulting in 38 works that explore the region's landscape, atmosphere, and light. The exhibition runs through August 9 and includes a series of Sunday Town Talks with artists and a master framer.

Turner Center for the Arts honors regional artists at the 39th Annual Spring Into Art Exhibition Gala

The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta hosted its 39th Annual Spring Into Art Gala on April 13, drawing hundreds of attendees. Over 150 regional artists submitted more than 300 original works for the region's most prominent art exhibition, which remains on display through June 10. Cash prizes totaling $6,000 were awarded across four categories, with Joe Morgan winning Best of Show for his painting "Lobster Lottery." The exhibition was curated by Madison Caldwell, and admission to the galleries is free.

Art or jungle gym? The Power Plant’s new interactive exhibition is all about play

The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto has opened a new interactive exhibition titled "Colourful Parachutes: Imagining Alternative Futures Through the Power of Play," running until September 7. The show features 10 international and local artists and breaks the traditional gallery rule of "do not touch" by inviting visitors to play, climb, and alter the artworks. Curated with children in mind, the exhibition includes works like Harold Offeh's immersive installation "The Mothership Collective 2.0," which uses music, video, and interactive elements to encourage imaginative thinking about the future.

IFAC provides pathway to folk art show in Mumbai through ‘Harshit’ exhibition

Dubai-based Indian Folk Art Corridor (IFAC) held its first-ever exhibition in Mumbai, titled 'Harshit — Experience the Joy of Indian Arts' (April 6–11). The show featured 30 artists—15 from the UAE and 15 from India—curated by IFAC founder Vidisha Pandey. It showcased diverse Indian folk and tribal art forms including Kalighat, Madhubani, Sohrai, Bhil, Warli, Pichwai, Miniature, Jogi, Manjusha, and Tholu art. Dignitaries such as Maharashtra Minister Ashish Shelar, singer Anup Jalota, and actress Sadhna Singh attended. Several artworks were acquired, including a Tholu piece by Shelar and two works by Shoma Banerjee purchased by Jalota; Pandey's works were placed at the Ministry of Culture in Mumbai.

In Minor Keys and legacies held in common

The article reflects on the 61st Venice Biennale, curated by Koyo Kouoh, who passed away on 10 May 2025 at age 57 after a cancer diagnosis. Her curatorial concept, "In Minor Keys," will be realized posthumously by her team. The Biennale preview opens on 6 May 2026, with the public opening on 9 May. Additionally, artist Henrike Naumann, selected for the German Pavilion, died on 14 February 2025 at age 41, also from cancer; her work will be shown in her name.

Turner Center announces winners of 39th Annual Spring Into Art Gala

The Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia, has announced the winners of its 39th Annual Spring Into Art Gala. The event recognizes local and regional artists across multiple categories, including painting, sculpture, photography, and mixed media, with awards presented during a formal ceremony at the center.

Street art: Everything you need to know about Aberdeen Nuart 2026

The Nuart Aberdeen street art festival has returned for its 2026 edition, running from Wednesday through Sunday. Thirteen international artists are creating new murals and installations across the city, including the first indoor work at the historic Bon Accord baths, alongside pieces on the Chapel Street car park and North East Scotland College. A guide and walking tours help visitors locate both new and existing artworks.

Sertoma Arts Center Gallery Exhibitions

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.

Debra Wick’s raindrop art on display in Redlands

Artist Debra Wick is presenting a new series of hyper-realistic watercolor paintings focused on the intricate physics of raindrops at the Redlands Art Association. The exhibition, running from April 18 to May 15, showcases Wick’s unique self-taught technique involving masking fluid and layered washes to capture atmospheric reflections, alongside her earlier works and functional art pieces like painted umbrellas and pillows.

Notta Gallery Celebrates Hispanic Art and Culture with Fuego Festival and ‘Caballo de Fuego’

Notta Gallery in Lakeland, Florida, is launching a major retrospective titled 'Caballo de Fuego: Firehorse' dedicated to the 90-year-old Cuban master Gonzalo Borges. The exhibition features over 40 works spanning three decades, ranging from 1994 to a new piece completed in 2025. To mark the opening, the gallery is hosting the inaugural Fuego Festival, a street event celebrating Hispanic heritage through art, Latin cuisine, and live music.

The existential answers - China Daily

The Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning is currently hosting "Walking in the Sun — Ai Jing Art Exhibition 2026," a major solo retrospective of the multidisciplinary artist Ai Jing. Curated by He Guiyan, the exhibition features a diverse range of works including painting, sculpture, and a significant installation involving 150 bags of black soil transported from the artist's hometown of Shenyang. The show is structured into three thematic sections that explore the artist's personal history and her philosophical engagement with the concept of "walking" as a metaphor for life's journey.

Kent art exhibition slammed as antisemitic and reported to police

Artist and former art critic Matthew Collings has sparked intense controversy with his exhibition 'Drawings Against Genocide' at Joseph Wales Studios in Margate. The show features provocative imagery, including a Star of David juxtaposed with Nazi symbols and depictions of IDF soldiers, which critics argue cross the line into antisemitism. The backlash intensified after Sunday Telegraph columnist Zoe Strimpel reported a hostile confrontation with the artist, leading to public condemnation from figures such as Dover MP Mike Tapp and Israel’s charge d’affaires, Daniela Grudsky.

Quilts made by 35 fiber artists on exhibit in Poway through April 4

Thirty-five fiber artists from the Southern California/Nevada region of Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) are showcasing their work in the exhibition “Beyond the Canvas” at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts. The exhibition features a diverse range of styles, including abstract designs, landscapes, and representational pieces, all created using fabric and thread rather than traditional paint or clay. Featured artists such as Kathleen McCabe, Mary Tabar, and Kathy Piper demonstrate the versatility of the medium through works that range from hand-dyed cotton abstracts to nature-inspired imagery.

Henrike Naumann—selected for this year's Germany pavilion at the Venice Biennale—has died

Artist Henrike Naumann, who was selected alongside Sung Tieu to represent Germany at the 2024 Venice Biennale, has died at age 39. She passed away on February 14 in Berlin after a short, serious illness, which her website specified was a late cancer diagnosis. The Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (Ifa), which oversees the German Pavilion, confirmed her death and stated that her planned work for the Biennale will be realized posthumously according to her completed vision.

Sunnyside artist celebrates Bowie & friends final exhibit at Aubergine Cafe

The final exhibition of 'Bowie and Friends,' a series of portraits by Sunnyside-based artist Gareth Doyle (dubhghaill.art), was celebrated at Aubergine Cafe in Queens, New York. The two-month show featured 13 original works inspired by music icons like David Bowie, Debbie Harry, Kurt Cobain, and John Lydon, with prints and original canvases available for sale.

Dazed Club callout! Apply to bring your exhibition project to life

Dazed Club has partnered with The Gallery at Hackney Downs Studios to offer an aspiring curator the chance to stage an exhibition in East London for three weeks starting 12 March. The selected curator will receive a £1,000 fee, a £2,000 production budget, and support from the Dazed team, including a private view. Applications are open via the Dazed Club app until 10am on 29 January.

Art Talk Sunday Featuring Exhibition ’10th Street Studio’

The Humboldt Arts Council presents an Art Talk Sunday event at the Morris Graves Museum of Art on January 4th, featuring the four artists from the exhibition '10th Street Studio': Carol Andersen, Laura Corsiglia, Peggy Rivers, and Van Shields. The exhibition showcases works by these like-minded artists who recently began sharing a studio space dedicated to creativity and mutual support. Andersen, Corsiglia, and Rivers have over 110 years of combined art-making experience, with works in significant public and private collections, while Shields joins as an emerging artist. The talk will include discussions on their practices, with Andersen focusing on wildlife as metaphor, Corsiglia drawing from nature and her time in Paris, Rivers exploring color theory through series, and Shields reflecting on his post-retirement artistic awakening.

In bid to diversify KW Institute in Berlin, artist Sung Tieu sells work to fund new board member

Artist Sung Tieu has sold her work *Declaration of Donation* (2025) for €25,000 to fund a new board member at KW Institute of Contemporary Art in Berlin. The work, a contract engraved on four A4-sized mirrors, stipulates that the proceeds cover the five-year term of curator and academic Mi You, whom Tieu nominated to the board. The sale directly challenges KW’s board structure, which requires a €5,000 annual fee from each member—a key revenue stream for the institution amid Berlin’s arts funding cuts. Tieu’s piece argues that such fees perpetuate exclusion and economic gatekeeping, and that institutional change requires structural shifts, not mere declarations of inclusivity.

We've brought a new fine art gallery to Sunderland city centre to celebrate local creativity

A collective of 26 local artists has opened a new fine art gallery called Twenty-Four North East in Sunderland city centre, transforming the former Sweet Home Alabama shop on Fawcett Street. The gallery launched with a busy opening night attended by the Mayor and Mayoress of Sunderland, featuring works ranging from screw art by Darren Timby to SAFC fan scenes by Chris Cummings and pieces by Dr Ron Lawson, creator of the Molly sculpture. The gallery operates Tuesday to Saturday, selling original fine art from £90, prints, and cards, and plans to host workshops.

Art among the wreckage: An artist brings new life to a long-abandoned pier

Artist George McCalman is preparing to launch his interactive exhibition “A March Through Time” on November 22 at Pier 29 in San Francisco. The exhibition is housed within a curtained-off section of the 122,000-square-foot pier, which McCalman describes as a timeworn space that reflects his belief that the past and present are intertwined. He has worked for nine years from a studio in an Outer Sunset home, a stripped-down, weathered building owned by architect Douglas Jacuzzi and ceramicist Georgia Hodges, which embodies a philosophy of material purity and reverence for process. The studio itself is filled with projects in various stages, including the 155 portraits of Black pioneers that make up his book “Illustrated Black History.”

‘Heart of WeHo’ Art Exhibition Celebrates the City of West Hollywood at 40

The City of West Hollywood’s Arts Division will host an artist reception on October 24 for 'Heart of WeHo,' a new group exhibition celebrating the city’s 40th anniversary. Featuring 27 local artists, the show presents paintings, photography, sculpture, and mixed media that depict West Hollywood’s landmarks, history, and everyday spaces—from iconic nightlife and architecture to quieter corners and imagined futures. The exhibition is on view at the West Hollywood Library through May 2026.

California School Shutters Exhibition After Altering "Political" Art

Pepperdine University, a private Christian university in Malibu, abruptly closed the exhibition "Hold My Hand in Yours" at its Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art six months early, after at least a dozen artists requested to withdraw their works in protest. The school had removed or altered artworks it deemed "political," including Elana Mann's video "Call to Arms 2015-2025" (2025), which documented performances using megaphone-like sculptural instruments and included footage from a 2017 May Day March with chants supporting immigrants and racial justice. Another work by the group AMBOS, a collaborative sculpture featuring an embroidery reading "Save the Children" and "Abolish ICE," was altered by turning the fabric swatch to hide the text and removing a sign inviting visitor interaction. The school did not explain its decisions to the artists.

Interview with Lisja Tërshana

Lisja Tërshana, co-founder of Khrais–Tërshana, an art dealership and production studio based in London with operations between Tirana and Krakow, discusses her unconventional path from law to the art world. After studying law in London and passing the Solicitor Qualifying Exam, she enrolled in Central Saint Martins' MA Innovation Management, where she met co-founder Sofian Khrais. The dealership operates across three distinct art markets: Poland's confident and institutionally anchored scene, Albania's emerging infrastructure with few international commercial galleries, and London's established yet innovative market. Tërshana emphasizes the importance of curation in her work, blending market instincts with curatorial vision, and draws on her legal background to ensure fairness and trust between artists and collectors.

'Rhino World Order' to open Tyler Art Gallery season

SUNY Oswego's Tyler Art Gallery opens its fall season with 'Rhino World Order,' an exhibition of large-scale ceramic and plaster sculptures by Buffalo-based artist Richard Tomasello. The show runs from September 2 to October 8, with an opening reception on September 5. Tomasello's work draws inspiration from Eugène Ionesco's 1959 absurdist play 'Rhinoceros,' using the rhinoceros as a metaphor for fascism and conformity. His sculptures address themes of physical assault, school shootings, mob mentality, toxic masculinity, and systemic violence, emphasizing the power of individual resistance. Related events include a panel discussion with the artist and gallery director Davana Robedee, and a student reading of the play.