‘Life-changing’ exhibition to feature MP’s artwork

Abstract artist Joey Lowe is organizing a large-scale art exhibition at The Sessions House in Spalding, Lincolnshire, on May 9-10, featuring around 50 artists. A surprise participant is Sir John Hayes, the local MP for South Holland and the Deepings, who has submitted his own artwork for the show. The event also includes a mini youth exhibition with works from five local schools. Joey Lowe launched his first exhibition in 2024, and the event has grown in popularity, drawing hundreds of visitors and creating opportunities for participants.

Popular art exhibition at Ellesmere College makes long-awaited return

The National Art Exhibition is returning to Ellesmere College in Shropshire after a four-year hiatus, running from May 28 to May 30 in the college's Big School Hall. The event will feature over 300 works by more than 70 nationally recognized artists and sculptors, including featured artist Stephanie Eufemia, who recently appeared on Sky TV's Landscape Artist of the Year. Proceeds from this year's exhibition will support Nightingale House Hospice in Wrexham, providing specialist palliative and end-of-life care.

Students share their artistic talents at 2Create Gallery opening reception

The 2026 Student Art Exhibition opened at 2Create Gallery in Ramona on May 1, featuring works by local high school students. Aspen Gribbon, a 15-year-old Ramona High sophomore, displayed two sculptures titled “Log” and “Tiger in Pond,” inspired by nature and her favorite animal. Other student artists included Sydney Culton, who showed ceramic pieces and plans to pursue ultrasound technology, Simon Fogarty with his surreal painting “Breaking Out,” and Mckenzie Beaty, who painted a shrimp in acrylics. The reception brought together aspiring, amateur, and professional artists.

'Ocean of Peace' Micronesian art exhibition opens at Honolulu Hale

The Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts, in collaboration with the East-West Center Arts Program, will present 'Ocean of Peace,' a group exhibition featuring seven artists of Micronesian heritage at Honolulu Hale from May 8 to June 11, 2026. The exhibition centers on the 'Ocean of Peace' declaration, a political and cultural framework endorsed at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ meeting in the Solomon Islands in September 2025, which envisions Pacific Island nations as sovereign and free from geopolitical conflict and coercion. Participating artists include James Bamba, Carol Ann Carl, Gillian Duenas, Kalany Omengkar, Anthony Watson, Lissette Yamase, and Manny Crisostomo, exploring themes of Indigenous Pacific knowledge, identity, and storytelling.

George Lucas Announces New 'Star Wars' Project Tied to Skywalker Saga Coming Later This Year

George Lucas announced a new Star Wars exhibition titled "Star Wars in Motion" at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, set to open on September 22, 2026. The exhibition will feature vehicle designs, props, costumes, and illustrations from the first six films of the Skywalker Saga, including Luke Skywalker's landspeeder and General Grievous' wheel bike. It is part of the museum's inaugural lineup of over thirty installations curated by Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson, timed ahead of the franchise's 50th anniversary of A New Hope in 2027.

Exhibition Opening Reception - Brain Drawings: The Art of Harry Smith

The Hansell Gallery at The Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles is presenting "Brain Drawings: The Art of Harry Smith," an exhibition running from May 7 to May 31, 2026. Curated by Rani Singh, the show features a wide selection of Smith's work, including early experiments in visualizing sound, a rare 1954 four-color silkscreen of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, string figure constructions, materials related to the Anthology of American Folk Music, photographs, and rarely seen films and audio works. An opening reception on May 7 includes a panel and multimedia presentation titled "Mind Maps: Exploring Harry Smith's Hermetic Allusions."

Studio art capstone exhibition running through May 8

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s School of Art, Art History and Design is presenting the Spring 2026 Studio Art Capstone Exhibition, featuring work from 21 graduating studio art and graphic design students. The exhibition runs through May 8 in the Eisentrager-Howard Gallery, with a closing reception on May 8 from 5-7 p.m. Students such as Anna Dirrim, Braylon Schroeder, Hannah Nigh, and Coralea Montague are showcasing pieces in mediums including painting, drawing, ceramics, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and interdisciplinary art.

Brushes at the ready: entries open for Redland Art Awards

Entries have opened for the 2026 Redland Art Awards, a biennial contemporary painting prize coordinated by Redland Art Gallery in Queensland, Australia. The competition is open to all Australian artists, offering a total prize pool of $30,500, including a $20,000 acquisitive first prize. The lead judge is curator and arts writer Alison Kubler. The awards, which began in 1981 as a local prize by Redland Yurara Art Society, will culminate in a finalist exhibition from November 2026 to January 2027.

WaterFire Arts Center Unveils Immersive Summer Exhibitions in Providence

The WaterFire Arts Center in Providence, Rhode Island, is launching two large-scale summer exhibitions in its 15,000-square-foot Main Hall. From June 9–12, artist Yuval Gur presents "RIFT: A Sonic Environment for Multi-Timescale Listening," an immersive sound installation using environmental recordings from Iceland that transforms sound into a physical, felt experience. From July 2 through August 30, the group show "America, Unfinished?!" features artists from Rhode Island and across the country, selected via open call, exploring themes of labor, migration, memory, and civic life through interactive installations and mixed media, with live performances on Thursday evenings.

Investigators search again for stolen Celtic gold treasure

Ermittler suchen erneut nach gestohlenem Kelten-Goldschatz

More than three years after the theft of a Celtic gold treasure from the Kelten Römer Museum in Manching, Bavaria, investigators are conducting a new search for the missing loot. Four perpetrators were arrested and sentenced to long prison terms in July 2025, but only a small portion of the stolen gold coins was recovered. Now, based on new intelligence, Bavarian state police are searching the property of the main suspect and his partner in Plate, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, using X-ray and radar technology. They believe 411 gold coins and a gold casting ingot—about three kilograms of gold—are professionally hidden there, along with cash from other burglaries. The suspect's partner is under investigation for money laundering for allegedly offering to help sell the gold.

Asian-American artists shine at US fair amid ongoing anti-immigrant rhetoric

At the San Francisco Art Fair in April, held at Fort Mason Centre’s Festival Pavilion, organizers, curators, and gallerists centered Asian-American and Pacific Islander voices through a curated group exhibition titled “Da Da Daam” and a pop-up design store featuring over 70 Asian diaspora artists and brands. The fair’s 14th edition, directed by Kelly Freeman, responded to ongoing anti-immigrant rhetoric in the US by celebrating the strength of the immigrant community in a city where nearly 35% of the population identifies as Asian.

Coral Springs to Celebrate Haitian Heritage with Art Exhibit, Opening Reception

The Coral Springs Museum of Art will host a free opening reception on Thursday, May 7, from 5 to 7 p.m. for its Haitian Heritage Exhibit, featuring the debut of “Continuum: Heritage & Expression,” the inaugural exhibition of the Haitian Women Fine Art Collective (HAWFA). The event will include remarks from city leaders and artists, a tribute to Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer, light bites, beverages for purchase, and a commemorative ribbon art activity. The exhibition will be on view in the Center for the Arts Lobby Hall Gallery through May 29.

Ukrainian artist unveils Tender Light exhibition in Cheb church

Ukrainian artist and poet Oksana Zayets has opened a solo exhibition titled "Tender Light" in the historic Church of St. Nicholas and St. Elizabeth in Cheb, Czech Republic. The show features 40 oil landscapes created between 2022 and the present, with the most recent painting completed about a month ago. The exhibition runs until June 21 and marks the eighth exhibition by a Ukrainian artist in the Czech Republic.

TIA KI hosts Flower Moon art exhibition in Dimapur

TIA KI – Nagaland Art Space in Dimapur is hosting 'Flower Moon: May Special', a week-long art exhibition running from May 2 to 9, 2026. The exhibition features 12 participating artists and brands from Nagaland, including KINTEM, Hues of Hills, and Smallshop by Jason Anshu, with works spanning poetry, spoken word, textiles, drapery, dance, and performance. The opening on May 1 featured a performance art piece written by Anungla Zoe Longkumer, performed by Virieno Christina Zakiesato and Carol Humstoe, with styling by Imchatsung Imchen.

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.

MACRO / micro Members Exhibition Opens Friday At The AVA Main Gallery

AVA's annual members-only exhibition, MACRO / micro, opens this Friday, May 1st, at the AVA Main Gallery in Chattanooga. The thematic show explores scale in all its forms, featuring works that range from large-scale statements to intimate pieces, examining contrasts between the monumental and the microscopic. Concurrently, the gallery presents Cross-Pollination, a collaborative installation by four artists—Claire Vassort, Lisa Houser, Dixon Stetler, and Cody Havens—who work across silk, mosaics, 3D mixed media, and photography to create an immersive, cross-disciplinary dialogue.

New art gallery inspired by Norfolk landscape to open in nature reserve

A new art gallery is set to open within Pensthorpe, a nature reserve in Norfolk, on May 25, in partnership with local artist Claire Frances Smith. Housed in the former education building, the gallery will display Smith's original landscape paintings and giclée prints in a relaxed, interiors-led setting, and will also host seasonal painting workshops, starting with an En Plein Air Masterclass on June 30. The reserve's education centre will be relocated and enhanced over the summer.

Landmark £5.36m UK touring art exhibition to conclude in Edinburgh

A landmark £5.36 million UK touring art exhibition, "Earthly Paradise: Radical Living in the UK," part of the Going Places scheme coordinated by Art Fund, will conclude at Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh from March to September 2028. The exhibition is one of several initiatives under Going Places, which also includes "Making Her Mark: A Celebration of Women in Art" launching April 30, 2026 at Penlee House Gallery & Museum in Penzance, touring to Kirkcaldy Galleries in 2027, and "Communities of Making" at Inverness Museum & Art Gallery exploring Scottish wool traditions, plus "New Faces New Focus" at Aberdeenshire Farming Museum.

Area artists invited to submit work for summer library exhibit

The Mansfield Public Art Commission and the Mansfield Richland County Main Public Library are collaborating on a prehistoric-themed art exhibition titled "Unearth a Story," part of the library's summer reading program. The exhibition is open to all ages, with categories for youth, teens, and adults, and accepts submissions in various media including painting, photography, digital art, textiles, and mixed media. The deadline for digital submissions is May 29, with accepted artists notified by June 1 and the exhibition opening June 15.

Bavarian State Police Return Saint Figures to the Czech Republic

LKA gibt Heiligenfiguren an Tschechien zurück

Bavarian state police (LKA) have returned five stolen religious sculptures—saints and angel figures—to Czech authorities. The artworks, some dating back centuries, were stolen from Czech churches as early as 1993 and later offered for online sale in Bavaria and Berlin. The handover ceremony took place in Prague, coordinated with Germany's Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM).

NRW will Verbot für Handel mit Holocaust-Dokumenten

The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is introducing a legislative bill to ban the commercial trade of personal Holocaust documents and artifacts, such as letters from concentration camps, Gestapo cards, and yellow stars. The initiative follows international outrage over a planned auction in Neuss in November 2025, which was halted at the last moment; around 460 objects from that auction were transferred to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. The bill, to be presented at the Bundesrat session on May 8, aims to prohibit the sale of items directly linked to Nazi victims, while exempting museums, archives, and research institutions.

M.Lyn Arts Invites the Community to Art Show that Focuses on New Work, Hurricane Imagery, and Community Connection

M. Lyn Arts will host its first 2026 Art Show on May 9-10 at Mystic Brew in Tillet Gardens, St. Croix, featuring original artwork for sale. The exhibition introduces new techniques, color palettes, and larger-scale works, including storm-themed pieces inspired by hurricanes Irma and Maria, with a shift toward personifying storms to convey human emotions. Food and drinks will be provided by Mystic Brew and Rock City Tacos.

‘Farm & Fields’ exhibit features local artists

The Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock, California, opens its annual juried exhibition “Farms & Fields” in the Lobby Gallery, featuring 52 works by 37 regional artists selected from over 150 submissions. Juror Susan Stephenson, a landscape painter and Stanislaus State professor, chose pieces across media including painting, photography, printmaking, ceramics, and fabric arts, all celebrating agriculture. Awards totaling $1,100 were given, with Rhett Regina Owings winning Best of Show for her gouache “Farm Near Tracy.” The exhibition runs through July 25, with a free public reception on May 7 as part of the downtown Turlock art walk.

Malaysia’s youngest solo art exhibitor debuts at Sunway Square Mall

A young Malaysian artist, recognized as the country's youngest solo art exhibitor, has debuted their exhibition at Sunway Square Mall. The showcase features a collection of original works, marking a significant milestone for the emerging talent in Malaysia's local art scene.

Castletownbere art exhibition raises funds for teenager Féile O'Sullivan

A one-day community art exhibition called Art 4 Feile will open in Castletownbere, Ireland, on April 30th to raise funds for teenager Féile O'Sullivan, who is rehabilitating after a farming accident. Organized by artist Ida Mitrani and Beara CETB Community Participation Through Art and Design students, the show features over 100 donated artworks from local artists, sold incognito to encourage unbiased appreciation.

Cosgrove Care spring art exhibition ends with special closing celebration

Cosgrove Care's Spring Art Exhibition concluded with a closing celebration on April 23 at Eastwood Park Theatre and Gallery in East Renfrewshire. The exhibition, which ran from April 2-23, featured works from 22 Cosgrove artists on the theme 'Awakening of the Landscape After a Cold, Harsh Winter'. Blair McDougall, MP for East Renfrewshire, attended and purchased an artwork for his parliamentary office. The event brought together artists, families, supporters, and board members, including Dr David and Mrs Carole Walton, and Kayleigh Quinn. New chief executive Carolann Lanigan praised the artists' passion and creativity, supported by Arts Tutor Susan Kennedy.

“Rodney Demps: The Surrealist of the Highwaymen" exhibition opening

The Cornell Art Museum will host the opening of "Rodney Demps: The Surrealist of the Highwaymen" on Friday, May 1, 2026. The exhibition highlights the work of Rodney Demps, a contemporary artist whose surrealist style connects to the legacy of the Florida Highwaymen, a group of African American landscape painters active in the mid-20th century.

An art exhibit showcasing AA Raiba’s versatility across mediums

Thapar Gallery is presenting an exhibition titled "Master Artist A. A. Raiba: A Unilateral Eclectic," showcasing the work of Indian modernist Abdul Aziz Raiba from the 1950s and 1960s. The show highlights Raiba's versatility across mediums including murals, paintings on jute, reverse glass paintings, serigraphs, calligraphy, and sketches, and features landscape drawings from his Kashmir sojourn between 1957 and 1959. The exhibition runs until June 21.

Shops at Foothills pop-up exhibit offers collaborative space for local artists

Curator and artist Louise Cutler has organized the Inside Out Pop-Up Art Exhibit at the Shops at Foothills mall in Fort Collins, Colorado, filling empty storefronts with works by 11 local artists. The exhibit, open through June 30, features a variety of art forms including abstract pieces and landscape paintings, and held a reception on April 24 to draw attention to the spaces. Artists like Cherokee Carr and Chavez (mononym) participate, using the platform to connect with the community and spark conversations.

Emerging artists up for exhibition award

The 53rd Riversdale Mixed Media Arts Exhibition will take place in June at the Riversdale Community Centre in New Zealand, featuring a $1,000 emerging artist award for artists aged 13-25 from Southland, Queenstown-Lakes, and West Otago. The award received a record 44 entries in 2025, with judges Marcella and Jim Geddes selecting the top 10 artworks for display on opening day. Last year's winner, 18-year-old Finn Young from Southland Boys' High School, won with a woodcut printmaking piece depicting native birds and the extinction of the huia.