art new york museum visit guide

CULTURED magazine gathered insider tips from its editors, contributors, and frequent museumgoers on how to save time, money, and enhance the experience when visiting New York museums. Hacks include entering the Metropolitan Museum of Art through the education center to avoid crowds, visiting free ground-floor galleries at the Whitney Museum and MoMA, and using MoMA's movie theater for cheap or free films. Other tips recommend Café Fledermaus at the Neue Galerie for a quicker meal, and the Noguchi Museum's membership discount on Akari light sculptures.

kim sajet milwaukee art museum director

Kim Sajet has been appointed as the new director of the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM), starting September 22. The announcement comes shortly after Sajet was ousted as director of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery for supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. During her 12-year tenure there, she doubled attendance, raised over $85 million, and oversaw major capital improvements. Sajet previously held leadership roles at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

art studio museum harlem reopening

The Studio Museum in Harlem will reopen on November 15 after a seven-year closure, unveiling a new seven-floor, 82,000-square-foot building designed by Adjaye Associates and executed by Cooper Robertson. To mark the occasion, Cultured magazine convened three conceptual artists—Nikita Gale, Camille Norment, and Sable Elyse Smith—who received early support from the museum, each reflecting on how the institution shaped their careers. Norment, featured in the 2001 exhibition "Freestyle," is creating a new installation for the reopening; Gale and Smith both participated in the 2017 show "Fictions."

documenta 16 artistic team naomi beckwith

Naomi Beckwith, deputy director and chief curator of the Guggenheim Museum, has announced her four-person artistic team for Documenta 16, set to open in Kassel, Germany, in June 2027. The team includes Carla Acevedo-Yates, Romi Crawford, Mayra A. Rodríguez Castro, and Xiaoyu Weng, who will collaborate on the exhibition, publication, and programming for the quinquennial.

national museum of asian art announces first us exhibition of masterpieces from the collection of former samsung chairman lee kun hee

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA) has announced it will host the first US exhibition of masterpieces from the collection of former Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-Hee this fall. Titled 'Korean Treasures', the show will feature over 200 items spanning 1,500 years, including a dozen National Treasures designated by the Korean government, many exhibited in the US for the first time. Co-organized with the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Museum of Korea, and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea, the exhibition includes ancient Buddhist sculptures, ceramics, paintings, furnishings, and modern works. Highlights include Jeong Seon’s 'Clearing after Rain on Mount Inwang' (1751) and a 1459 woodblock-print book compiled by King Sejo. Nine items from the Leeum Museum of Art will be shown exclusively at the NMAA before the exhibition travels to Chicago and the British Museum.

smithsonian american history museum trump impeachment display

The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History has restored a placard for President Donald Trump to its impeachment display, updating it with new information. The change follows controversy after a temporary placard mentioning Trump was removed, which drew criticism from Democratic leaders and concerns about political interference at the Smithsonian. The museum stated the removal was due to the placard not meeting standards in appearance and presentation, and that no administration requested the change.

cuts to neh grants ruled unlawful by federal judge oregon

A federal judge in Oregon ruled that the government's elimination of National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grants was unlawful, finding that the cuts violated the Constitution's grant of spending power to Congress. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and Oregon Humanities against the NEH and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which had terminated grants in April following extreme cuts. A separate case in New York, brought by the American Historical Association, the Modern Language Association, and the American Council of Learned Societies, also resulted in a ruling that the government violated the law, with the judge advising that funds be escrowed pending trial.

whitney museum person jumps staff email

An unidentified 34-year-old man died after jumping from the Whitney Museum in New York on Wednesday evening, shortly before the museum closed. Whitney director Scott Rothkopf informed staff via email, stating that authorities confirmed the individual jumped from Whitney property onto the plaza below. The New York Police Department responded to a 911 call at 5:26 p.m. and found the man unconscious and unresponsive with injuries indicative of a fall; he was pronounced dead at the scene. The museum delayed its opening to noon on Thursday to allow staff time to process the incident, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is investigating.

taipei dangdai cancels 2026 edition art assembly

Taipei Dangdai, the art fair in Taiwan, has canceled its 2026 edition as organizers undertake a "strategic re-evaluation" of the fair's model, timing, scale, and format. The fair, which held its sixth edition in May 2025, is part of The Art Assembly, a conglomerate overseeing three regional Asian fairs including Art SG and Tokyo Gendai. The number of participating galleries dropped from over 90 in its 2019 inaugural edition to 54 in 2025, with no mega-galleries participating this year. The announcement follows a similar "strategic pause" by the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) for its flagship fair, The Art Show, and comes amid broader challenges for the fair's organizer, Angus Montgomery Arts, which also canceled recent editions of Photofairs in Hong Kong and New York.

juvenile ceratosaur dinosaur fossil sothebys auction record

A juvenile Ceratosaurus dinosaur fossil sold for $30.5 million at Sotheby’s natural history sale on July 16, far exceeding its high estimate of $6 million. The auction featured a six-minute bidding war among six bidders, making it the third-highest price ever for a dinosaur at auction. Other top lots included a Martian meteorite that sold for $5.3 million, a Pachycephalosaurus skull, and a Tyrannosaurus Rex foot, each fetching $1.758 million. All four top lots accepted cryptocurrency payments.

kazimir malevich mnac bucharest yaniv cohen dispute

Yaniv Cohen, a Bucharest-based Israeli businessman, is threatening to sue the art publication e-flux and Ukrainian American art historian Konstantin Akinsha for defamation over an article questioning the authenticity of three paintings attributed to Kazimir Malevich. The works—'Suprematist Composition in Color' (ca. 1915), 'Cubo-Futurist Composition' (ca. 1912–13), and 'Linear Suprematism' (ca. 1916)—are currently on view at the National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC) in Bucharest as part of the exhibition 'Kazimir Malevich: Outliving History.' Akinsha accused MNAC of lacking expertise and challenged the provenance of the previously unseen works, prompting Cohen to demand the article's removal and an apology via a letter from the Tel Aviv–based law firm Rosen-Ben Gal.

unique juvenile dinosaur sothebys

A rare juvenile Ceratosaurus fossil sold for $30.5 million at Sotheby's New York, far exceeding its $6 million presale estimate after a six-minute bidding war. The 154-159 million-year-old specimen, discovered in 1996 at Wyoming's Bone Cabin Quarry, contains 139 original bone elements and stands over 6 feet tall. Sotheby's stated the buyer plans to loan the fossil to an institution.

anderson ranch gala arts center 2025 gala titus kaphar

Anderson Ranch Arts Center held its 2025 gala on July 10 in Snowmass Village, honoring artist Titus Kaphar with the International Artist Award. The evening featured a seated dinner, a gala auction with works donated by galleries including Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, White Cube, and Marianne Boesky Gallery, and drew a crowd of collectors, artists, patrons, and cultural figures such as Peter Waanders, Sarah Harrelson, Jessica Silverman, and Kristina Newman-Scott.

smithsonian white house national museum american history

The Smithsonian Institution is facing renewed scrutiny from the Trump administration, this time targeting the National Museum of American History's permanent exhibition "Entertainment Nation." Fox News reported that the White House has raised concerns about wall texts in the display, which opened in 2022 and explores the entertainment industry's impact on American pop culture. One text notes that Mickey Mouse's design has roots in blackface minstrelsy, while another describes pop star Selena Quintanilla-Pérez as sparking conversations about identity and Latinx influence. A 1923 circus poster is accompanied by a placard linking circuses to colonial impulses. White House lawyer Lindsey Halligan criticized the exhibition as framing American culture as "inherently violent, imperialist, or racist." The Smithsonian has stated it is reviewing content to ensure it meets its standards of unbiased scholarship.

canadian art schools nscad enrollment application growth

NSCAD University (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design) in Halifax has reported a dramatic surge in applications and acceptances from US-based students for fall 2025, driven by tightening US immigration policies under the Trump administration. Undergraduate applications from the US spiked 220%, acceptances rose 186%, and student responses increased 66%, with interest coming from 23 different states. NSCAD president Jana Macalik noted that student feedback cited concerns over trans rights, disability, same-sex marriage, and women's freedoms as motivating factors. Similar trends are being seen at other Canadian institutions like the University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, and Alberta University of the Arts.

alison saar artist studio

Alison Saar, a Los Angeles-based sculptor known for works rooted in the African diaspora and spirituality, is featured in a studio visit interview. She discusses her creative process, use of salvaged materials, and recent achievements, including a monumental commission for the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2025 David C. Driskell Prize from the High Museum of Art. The interview covers her daily routines, tool preferences, and reflections on the art world.

national portrait gallery director resigns trump kim sajet

Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., has resigned from her post after President Donald Trump claimed on social media that he had fired her. The Smithsonian Institution initially affirmed its independence, stating that only its secretary and Board of Regents control personnel decisions, and Sajet continued working. However, as of June 13, she departed the role she had held since 2013, citing her desire to put the museum first. Trump had criticized Sajet for being a supporter of DEI and for including a wall text with a portrait of him that mentioned his impeachments and the January 6 insurrection.

neh staff layoffs trump administration

The Trump administration laid off approximately 100 employees from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) on June 10, part of a broader reduction in force that has left fewer than 60 staff remaining at the agency. The cuts follow earlier funding freezes and a $65 million budget reduction by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with funds redirected to President Trump’s National Garden of American Heroes. The NEH’s union, the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3403, has condemned the restructuring as an existential threat to institutions that rely on NEH grants for research, preservation, and education.

smithsonian institution challenges kim sajet firing trump

The Smithsonian Institution issued a statement asserting its independence after President Donald Trump claimed he fired National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet. The statement did not name Sajet or Trump directly but affirmed that all personnel decisions are made by the Secretary, Lonnie G. Bunch, with board oversight. It followed reports that Sajet continued working despite the supposed firing and that the Trump administration had compiled a 17-point list of grievances against her. The statement also noted the Board of Regents directed the Secretary to ensure unbiased content in Smithsonian museums.

moca gala art performance party

The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) held its annual gala, presented by BVLGARI, at the Geffen Contemporary space in Little Tokyo. The evening introduced a new format called MOCA Legends, honoring artist Theaster Gates, architect Frank Gehry, and philanthropist Wendy Schmidt. Guests included actors Jane Fonda, David Alan Grier, Sarah Paulson, director Ava DuVernay, and artists Andrea Bowers, Charles Gaines, Henry Taylor, and Olafur Eliasson, whose exhibition OPEN was on view. After a performance by the TAIKOPROJECT Japanese drum ensemble, House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi surprised attendees by introducing Gehry. Rapper Tierra Whack performed during dinner, and the event raised $3.1 million for museum operations.

shooting washington dc jewish museum

A shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night killed two Israeli embassy staff members, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, in what authorities have called an antisemitic attack. The gunman, Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, opened fire as the victims exited a diplomatic event hosted by the American Jewish Committee, then entered the museum where he was detained by security. Police reported that Rodriguez shouted “free, free Palestine” after being taken into custody. The museum expressed heartbreak and condemned the violence, while the Israeli embassy mourned the loss of the couple, who were engaged to be married.

alison saar david c driskell prize 2

Alison Saar has been named the 2025 recipient of the David C. Driskell Prize by Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, recognizing her significant contributions to the African American art canon. The announcement was made in New York at a celebration held at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in partnership with CULTURED, with a formal gala planned for September featuring a performance by John Legend. Saar, a Los Angeles native known for her commanding sculptures and mixed-media works exploring race, gender, and spiritual identity, joins past honorees including Naomi Beckwith, Ebony G. Patterson, Amy Sherald, and Rashid Johnson.

flannery o connor hidden artwork exhibition

An exhibition titled "Hidden Treasures" at Andalusia Farm in Milledgeville, Georgia, is showcasing dozens of previously unseen artworks by celebrated Southern Gothic writer Flannery O’Connor, including childhood drawings, cartoons, paintings on wood, a stuffed doll, and a 1952 self-portrait. The works were recently rediscovered in a storage unit behind a fast-food restaurant and in the attic of a townhouse belonging to O’Connor’s late cousin Louise Florencourt, who had guarded the archive for decades. The exhibition marks the centennial of O’Connor’s birth and is organized by the Andalusia Interpretive Center in partnership with Georgia College & State University.

legal resistance grows against doge cuts

Two legal challenges advanced on Thursday against the Trump administration's cuts to U.S. cultural agencies. A coalition of academic groups—the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Historical Association, and the Modern Language Association—filed a lawsuit to stop the "illegal dismantling" of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which in April announced a 70–80 percent staff reduction and cancellation of over 1,000 grants. Separately, a federal judge issued an emergency order temporarily blocking similar cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, after the Department of Government Efficiency placed its 75-person staff on leave and the American Libraries Association brought suit.

national endowment for the arts cancels grants trump

President Donald Trump's administration has canceled or withdrawn grant offers from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) via email, affecting arts organizations nationwide. The NEA stated it is updating its grantmaking priorities to focus on projects that reflect the nation's artistic heritage as prioritized by the president, including historically Black colleges, Hispanic-serving schools, the 250th anniversary of American independence, AI competency, houses of worship, disaster recovery, skilled trades, military and veterans, Tribal communities, and Asian American economic development. Some affected grants supported artists of color, and the language appeared to conflict with the administration's prior push against DEI initiatives. Similar cancellations have occurred at the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

VARINIA BRODSKY ZIMMERMANN: “ENTIENDO AL MUSEO COMO UN CAMPO DE REVERBERACIÓN”

Varinia Brodsky Zimmermann, director of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Chile, is interviewed as part of a series on contemporary museums in Latin America. She describes the museum as a "field of reverberation" that amplifies social, cultural, and political questions without reacting mechanically to demands. The conversation covers structural challenges facing public museums in Chile, including budget precarity and suspended exhibition projects, and Brodsky advocates for more permeable, horizontal, and sustainable institutions that maintain critical depth while engaging diverse communities.

LATIN AMERICA AT THE VENICE BIENNALE: A VISUAL TOUR OF THE CENTRAL EXHIBITION

LATINOAMÉRICA EN LA BIENAL DE VENECIA: UN RECORRIDO VISUAL POR LA MUESTRA CENTRAL

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys," opened its preview days on May 8, 2025, curated by the late Koyo Kouoh (1967–2025). The central exhibition, realized by a team she selected before her death, features 110 participants from around the world, with a strong Latin American presence of 15 artists, collectives, and organizations. The show explores themes of colonial history, plantation economies, geological memory, and environmental crisis through works that emphasize shared materials, politics, and poetics across geographies from Dakar to San Juan.

Form in the Age of Living Materials. Interview with Curator Pablo José Ramírez

LA FORMA EN LA ERA DE LOS MATERIALES VIVOS. ENTREVISTA AL CURADOR PABLO JOSÉ RAMÍREZ

The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles is presenting "Several Eternities in a Day: Form in the Age of Living Materials," an exhibition curated by Pablo José Ramírez running until August 23. Featuring 22 artists from the Americas, the show explores materials such as avocado, cacao, achiote, cochineal, stone, clay, and natural dyes that evolve, degrade, or transform over time. Organized into three acts, the exhibition challenges conventional notions of the art object by treating these materials as living agents with memory and agency, rooted in Indigenous knowledge and the concept of "brownness." In an interview, Ramírez discusses how these materials destabilize extractivist logics and institutional frameworks, forcing a rethinking of conservation protocols and the very conditions of exhibition-making.

GEORGE FEBRES: TRANSLATION, IRONY, AND LIBERATION. AN ECUADORIAN ARTIST IN THE DIASPORA

The article examines the life and work of George Febres (1943–1996), an Ecuadorian artist who spent most of his career in the United States, primarily in New Orleans. Febres’s practice blends Pop Art, Neo-Surrealism, and Southern US culture with his experiences as a migrant and queer subject, using bilingualism and ironic tropical imagery to create a hybrid, irreverent body of work. Despite his significance, no works by Febres exist in Ecuadorian public collections, and no major retrospective has been held in his home country, reflecting a broader erasure of queer narratives from national art history.

GEORGE FEBRES: TRADUCCIÓN, IRONÍA Y LIBERACIÓN. UN ARTISTA ECUATORIANO EN LA DIÁSPORA

George Febres (Guayaquil, 1943 – New Orleans, 1996) was an Ecuadorian artist whose work blended pop art, neo-surrealism, and Southern U.S. culture, shaped by his experience as a migrant and queer individual. The article traces his life from a privileged but unstable childhood in Ecuador to his migration to the United States, where he was drafted during the Vietnam War and eventually settled in New Orleans. Febres used bilingualism and ironic appropriation of tropical imagery to create a hybrid, irreverent body of work that challenges the official historiography of Ecuadorian art.