News Briefs: 12th Art in the Village beats the heat; major support for local historical society; Sears School names new asst. principal

The 12th annual Art in the Village, organized by the North Shore Art League, took place June 21-22 in Hubbard Woods Park, featuring a juried exhibition of artists from across the U.S. The event included live portrait painting by faculty member Lisa DePinto, a silent auction, and a raffle with donations from local businesses. Professional artists Bill Marvin and Corey Postiglione served as judges, awarding first place to Jenny Henley of Satsuma, Florida. Separately, the Winnetka Historical Society raised $132,000 at its annual gala honoring the late Jim Hansen, and Jeff Rosen was named assistant principal at The Joseph Sears School.

Three works by artist and sexual abuser Eric Gill withdrawn from UK exhibition after consultation with survivors group

Three artworks by Eric Gill, a sculptor and artist who sexually abused his daughters, have been withdrawn from the exhibition 'It Takes A Village' at the Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft in the UK, opening on 5 July. The works—two depicting his daughter Petra naked in a bath and one of a nude Elizabeth—were removed after the museum consulted with the Methodist Survivors Advisory Group, a group of abuse survivors. The survivors found the pieces offensive and potentially upsetting to visitors. The exhibition will still include Gill's watercolor 'Annunciation' in a separate room, and the museum's director, Stephanie Fuller, emphasized that the decision was led by the survivors' input.

Embark on a creative journey through time and space at the Leiji Matsumoto exhibition

Tokyo City View is hosting 'Leiji Matsumoto Exhibition: A Creative Journey', the first large-scale retrospective dedicated to the legendary manga artist who died in 2023. The show, running until September 7, traces his seven-decade career through original drawings discovered after his death, immersive installations, and recreations of his creative space, highlighting iconic works like 'Space Battleship Yamato', 'Galaxy Express 999', and 'Space Pirate Captain Harlock'.

2025 Summer + Fall Exhibitions at the WaterFire Arts Center

WaterFire Arts Center in Rhode Island has announced its summer and fall 2025 exhibition lineup, featuring five shows from June through November. Highlights include Kate Blacklock's solo exhibition "Inside Out" (June 5–July 6), which explores memory and identity through large-scale narrative paintings; "Growing the Networks" (July 10–August 31), a group show building on the 2024 NetWorks Rhode Island and Chazan Collection; "Family Business" (September 11–October 19), an immersive installation by the WaterFire Accelerate 2024–2025 cohort of six emerging artists; and "Nothing Follows its Spontaneous Course" (October 23–November 9). The season also includes the BuyArt holiday sale, reinforcing WaterFire's role as a hub for local creativity.

Crosscurrents Art Exhibition Open at Stifel Center; Winners Announced

The annual Crosscurrents art exhibition has opened at Oglebay Institute’s Stifel Fine Arts Center in Wheeling, West Virginia, running through July 12. Now in its 46th year, the show features 92 works selected from over 250 submissions by artists across six states and Washington, D.C. Pittsburgh-based artist Michael Lotenero served as juror, awarding Best in Show to Asha Cabaca for “Unit,” with second and third prizes going to Jade-Lynn Lewis and Jesse Baggett, respectively.

Seven years after brutal fire, National Museum of Brazil to partially reopen

The National Museum of Brazil (Museu Nacional-UFRJ) in Rio de Janeiro will partially reopen its galleries nearly seven years after a devastating electrical fire destroyed around 90% of its collection. The temporary reopening features guided tours of three rooms, including one displaying decorative paintings uncovered during restoration, the surviving Bendegó meteorite, a suspended sperm whale skeleton, and donated objects such as fossils, manuscripts, ceramics, and Indigenous artefacts. The museum's full reopening is scheduled for 2028, with a reconstruction budget of 516.8 million reais ($90.4 million) and an additional 170 million reais ($29.8 million) still needed.

'Everything you will see is the fruit of her work': Venice Biennale 2026 will follow late curator Koyo Kouoh's vision

The 2026 Venice Art Biennale will proceed exactly as planned by its curator, Koyo Kouoh, who died earlier this month at age 57. Titled "In Minor Keys," the edition is scheduled to open on May 9, 2026. At a press conference in Venice, Biennale press head Maria Cristiana Costanzo confirmed that Kouoh had intensively developed the curatorial concept, selected artists and works, and defined the exhibition's theoretical framework, graphic identity, and spatial design before her death. Her core team will complete the show in strict accordance with her plan, with full support from her family. Collaborators read texts she prepared and displayed images she selected during the presentation.

Mural Arts’ ‘No Place Like Home’ student exhibition champions the importance of art education

Mural Arts’ Art Education program presented its annual student exhibition, “No Place Like Home,” at a transformed exposed-brick home in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood. The two-day show featured artwork from over 100 students ages 11 to 18 who attend the organization’s after-school art courses. The gallery space was turned into a whimsical house with themed rooms, including a bedroom, kitchen, and living room, displaying drawings, paintings, and craft projects such as paper flowers, painted clouds, and papier-mâché pets. Mural Arts founder Jane Golden spoke at the opening, emphasizing the importance of art education access for all Philadelphia youth.

ART06870 Gallery Announces Opening Reception for “Recycle Reuse Repurpose” on Saturday

ART06870 Gallery in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, will host the opening reception for "Recycle Reuse Repurpose" on Saturday, May 3, from 6:00–8:00 PM. The exhibition features artists working with recycled and repurposed materials such as plastics, discarded newspapers, and found objects. It is timed with Earth Day celebrations at Old Greenwich School and the annual beach cleanup by the Live Like Luke Foundation. The gallery partnered with the Developing Artist Program and the Greenwich Alliance for Education to host a creative workshop where students created art from washed-up plastics, guided by artist Alejandro Durán.

Two new art centres set to open in Venice

Two new art centres are set to open in Venice in early May 2025. The San Marco Art Centre (SMAC) will launch on 9 May on the second floor of the Procuratie in St Mark’s Square, founded by David Hrankovic, Anna Bursaux, and David Gramazio. It will focus on temporary exhibitions spanning art, architecture, fashion, technology, and film, and is funded through admissions and sponsors. Its inaugural shows, timed with the Venice Architecture Biennale, feature architect Harry Seidler and landscape designer Jung Youngsun. Separately, the Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation opens a non-profit venue in the Dorsoduro district on 7 May, with a site-specific installation by Georgian artist Tolia Astakhishvili.

In Phibsborough Tower, artist Oisín Tozer prepares a fleeting exhibition

Artist Oisín Tozer is preparing a fleeting exhibition titled "Yearn" as part of Phizzfest 2025, a local festival in Phibsborough, Dublin. The exhibition is held in his studio at Richmond Road Studios, located within the brutalist Phibsborough Tower. Tozer, a 2023 fine art graduate of TU Dublin, has carved a large orchid design directly into the wall, emphasizing site-specificity and impermanence. The show is part of Phizzfest's visual arts strand, which also includes Jim Donnelly's "The Walk to the Workhouse" and Eileen Ferguson's "Area C." Tozer's work draws on philosophers Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, and Mark Fisher, exploring desire and the political potential of inaccessible, temporary art.

A Primer on Buddhist Monuments

The New York Times Art section published a primer on three architecturally significant Buddhist stupas (reliquary mounds) located in Nepal, Thailand, and Taiwan. The article highlights the distinct design and cultural importance of each monument, serving as an educational overview for readers interested in Buddhist architecture.

France Passes Law Easing Process of Returning Looted Art

France has passed a new law that simplifies the process of returning looted art and cultural artifacts to their countries of origin. The legislation, championed by President Emmanuel Macron, is seen as a major step in addressing colonial-era acquisitions, particularly for African artworks held in French museums. Experts describe the law as a seismic shift in restitution policy, enabling faster and more systematic returns without requiring individual parliamentary approvals for each item.

U.S. and Italy Honor Alliance to Curb Art Looting, Amid Broader Tensions

Officials from the United States and Italy gathered near dozens of repatriated artifacts to celebrate their ongoing alliance against art looting, which has resulted in the return of thousands of artworks to Italy. The event highlighted collaborative efforts between the two nations to curb the illegal trafficking of cultural property, even as broader diplomatic tensions persist.

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.

Everything You Need to Know to Start a Garden

The New York Times has published a comprehensive guide aimed at aspiring gardeners, detailing the essential steps required to cultivate and maintain a successful green space. The resource covers foundational gardening knowledge, from soil preparation and plant selection to long-term maintenance strategies for various types of outdoor environments.

For Baccarat, This Artist Created a Different Kind of Chandelier

Artist Harry Nuriev has designed a new chandelier for the luxury crystal house Baccarat. The piece, titled "Everyday Chandelier," replaces a portion of the traditional, ornate crystal components with mass-produced, utilitarian objects like plastic cups, water bottles, and light bulbs.

Mending Ceramics and Slowing Time With the Japanese Art of Kintsugi

The article explores the Japanese art of kintsugi, the practice of repairing broken ceramics with lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. This technique does not hide the damage but highlights it, transforming fractures into visible, celebrated features of the object's history.

The Distance Between Art and Survival in Rojava

The article is a first-person dispatch from Rojava, a Kurdish-majority region in northeastern Syria, where the author meets artists and fighters living and working on the front lines against jihadist groups. It focuses on artist Diyar Hesso, who has exchanged his camera for a rifle, and YPJ fighter Hevi, who articulates the necessity of armed self-defense for women facing a genocidal enemy. Their stories illustrate the impossible choice between artistic creation and survival in a war zone.

Li Yi-Fan: Poet of the Enshittosphere

Taiwanese artist Li Yi-Fan is preparing to present work at the Venice Biennale. His video works feature a digitally animated character, voiced and puppeteered by the artist himself, which delivers improvised, punkish lecture-performances critiquing technology, algorithmic control, and the loss of human agency.

Accused of Harassing Staff, Martha Ortiz Steps Down as Director of Bogotá’s MAMBO

Martha Ortiz has stepped down as director of Bogotá’s Museo de Arte Moderno (MAMBO) amid allegations of harassing staff and fostering a toxic work environment. The museum announced her retirement and will begin a search for a successor, with board president Ángela Royo and financial manager Francy Hernández assuming interim leadership. Ortiz, who had no prior museum management experience, took the role in March 2024. Her departure follows the ousting of artistic director Eugenio Viola less than three months earlier, after he raised concerns about deteriorating working conditions.

Goldsmiths Art College Staffers Will Fight Proposed Cuts

Staff and faculty at Goldsmiths, University of London, are preparing for strike action in response to a restructuring plan titled "Future Goldsmiths." The initiative aims to save £22 million by the end of the 2026/27 academic year through significant job cuts, starting with professional services staff and extending to academic positions. The Goldsmiths University and College Union (UCU) reports that 81 percent of its members voted in favor of the strike, arguing that the proposed austerity measures will devastate the institution's educational quality and its capacity for radical creative thought.

The New School Plans to Lay Off 15% of Staff By June

The New School in New York City plans to lay off 15 percent of its full-time faculty and staff by June. This follows a months-long conflict with faculty and a reported $48 million deficit, with the university previously offering voluntary separation packages to 40% of staff.

“Jeffrey Epstein Walk of Shame” Appears in Washington, DC Public Park

A guerrilla art installation called the "Jeffrey Epstein Walk of Shame" appeared in Washington, DC's Farragut Square. It consists of sidewalk stickers resembling Hollywood stars, bearing the names and images of twenty public figures linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including Prince Andrew, Ghislaine Maxwell, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Gates, and Bill Clinton. Each sticker features a QR code linking to Department of Justice evidence or the Epstein Files.

Milan Depaves: A New Garden Arrives to Combine Sustainability and Culture

Milano si depavimenta: sta per arrivare un nuovo giardino per tenere insieme sostenibilità e cultura

Construction will begin in the coming weeks on Giardino Manifesto, an urban regeneration project at the historic Milanese cultural space Santeria Toscana 31. Presented on May 19, 2026, with Mayor Giuseppe Sala, Gruppo CAP President Yuri Santagostino, and architect Cristiana Cutrona of ReValue, the initiative transforms a fully paved external area into a green infrastructure applying sponge city (SUDS) principles. The design includes rain gardens, drainage surfaces, a rain-collecting amphitheater, and a sensory garden, aiming to reduce flood risk and lower perceived temperatures by up to 4-5°C through de-paving and resilient vegetation.

A review of the 2026 Venice Biennale without naming a single artist

Una recensione della Biennale di Venezia 2026 senza nominare neppure un artista

This review of the 2026 Venice Biennale describes an exhibition that overcame dire circumstances—the death of curator Koyo Kouoh early in preparations, losses of key artists, and international political controversies—to deliver a surprisingly joyful and engaging show. Titled "In Minor Keys," the Biennale features a well-conceived, flowing presentation across the Giardini and Arsenale that prioritizes beauty, craftsmanship, and hope over a punitive or documentary tone.

Interview with Dries Van Noten who opens his foundation on art & craftsmanship in Venice

Intervista a Dries Van Noten che apre la sua fondazione su arte&artigianato a Venezia

Fashion designer Dries Van Noten is launching a new foundation dedicated to craftsmanship and art in Venice. The Dries Van Noten Foundation, opening on April 25, 2026, will be a hub for the exchange and transmission of knowledge, focusing on skills like glassmaking, textiles, ceramics, and goldsmithing. Its inaugural presentation, 'The Only True Protest is Beauty,' curated with Geert Bruloot, will fill twenty rooms of a Venetian palazzo with over two hundred works spanning fashion, glass, ceramics, design, and photography.

François Ozon’s 'The Stranger': A Film Between Surface Aesthetics and Political Reinterpretation

“Lo straniero” di François Ozon. Un film tra estetica delle superfici e rilettura politica

Director François Ozon has adapted Albert Camus’s existentialist masterpiece 'The Stranger' into a new feature film, premiering at the 82nd Venice Film Festival. Shot in stark black and white by cinematographer Manuel Dacosse, the film departs from the 1967 Luchino Visconti adaptation by leaning into a cold, clinical aesthetic inspired by Michelangelo Antonioni. The narrative follows Meursault, an emotionally detached clerk in colonial Algiers, whose impassive reaction to his mother's death and the subsequent senseless murder of an Arab man leads to his legal and moral condemnation.

The concept of 'Italian Capital of Culture' needs a rethink

Il concetto di “Capitale Italiana della cultura” avrebbe bisogno di un ripensamento

Ancona has been named the Italian Capital of Culture for 2028, a decision that was widely anticipated but has sparked debate regarding the selection process. While Ancona’s proposal was praised for its depth and quality, critics point out that nine out of the ten shortlisted cities are led by center-right mayors, raising concerns about political influence and the independence of the evaluation commission.

Super Mario Galaxy is the first true video game film

Super Mario Galaxy è il primo vero film videoludico

The article analyzes the 2023 animated film 'Super Mario Galaxy – Il film,' arguing it represents a significant evolution in video game adaptations. The film, a sequel to 'Super Mario Bros. – Il film,' abandons traditional narrative concerns and instead structures itself like a video game, constantly introducing new characters, power-ups, and scenarios directly from the Super Mario game series, as if the protagonists are moving through game levels.