Nearly 70 student artists are featured in SUNY Oneonta’s 2026 Juried Student Show, now on display at the Martin-Mullen Art Gallery through May 2. The exhibition includes over 90 works in media such as painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, digital art, and mixed media, selected by faculty from more than 100 submissions. A public reception with 17 awards will be held on April 30.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, announced it will lay off 33 employees, representing 6.3% of its workforce. The cuts, which take immediate effect, include 16 unionized positions represented by United Auto Workers Local 2110, with the union claiming it received only one day's notice. The museum cites an "unsustainable deficit" and the need for a restructuring to achieve financial sustainability.
The Louvre museum in Paris will increase ticket prices by 45% for visitors from outside the European Union, effective January 14, 2026. The cost for non-EU visitors from countries such as the UK, US, and China will rise from €22 to €32, generating an estimated €17.5 million in additional annual revenue. The decision comes as the museum faces significant budget cuts, including a 7% reduction in public subsidies, and seeks funding for a €1.1 billion renovation project. Staff unions have criticized the move as undermining the museum's universal mission since its founding in 1793.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is opening "Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times," an exhibition exploring the artistic and cultural legacy of Emperor Trajan (AD 98–117). The show features loans from major Italian institutions including the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli and the Vatican Museums, with standout works such as a 2-meter marble statue of Trajan and a colossal portrait of his wife Plotina. The exhibition, conceived in 2021 with Italian consultancy StArt, will travel to the Saint Louis Museum of Art in March 2026, with each venue offering a different focus—Houston emphasizing large-scale objects like a recreation of Trajan's Column, and St. Louis delving into the port city of Ostia.
The decades-long reconstruction of Dresden's Royal Palace (Residenzschloss), a project costing €400 million, is nearing completion after beginning in 1985. The palace, which was reduced to a burnt-out shell by Allied bombing in February 1945 and remained a ruin through much of East Germany's history, will see its final phases unfold from autumn 2024 through 2027. These include a new installation in the former picture galleries, the rebuilt Schlosskapelle (palace chapel) opening in November, a Rüstkammer installation in the ballroom in early 2026, the completion of the Grosser Schlosshof courtyard in 2027, and a new exhibit in the Gothic Hall chronicling the palace's history. The palace now houses major collections of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD), including the Grünes Gewölbe, Kupferstich-Kabinett, and Rüstkammer.
Collectible design fair returned for its second edition in New York, taking over the entire 39th floor of the WSA building in Manhattan’s Financial District. The fair featured 123 exhibitors, many local, presenting limited-edition and unique design objects. Highlights included Tuleste Factory's lighting-heavy stand 'Afterglow' with ceramic lamps by Ethan Streicher, a collaborative living-room set by Streicher and Ian Love called the Kindred Collection, and a special-projects section with a performance dinner and a piercing station. Co-founder Liv Vaisberg emphasized the fair's curated, designer-centered approach and experimental spirit.
London's National Gallery is launching NG Citizens, a citizens' assembly that will advise the museum on its future policy and direction. Starting next month, 15,000 households across the UK will receive invitations, from which 50 participants will be selected via a civic lottery, eventually narrowing to 20 individuals who will serve on the panel for five years. The gallery states the initiative places audiences at the heart of decision-making, aiming to shape programs around the needs of diverse UK communities, though the assembly will not directly choose exhibitions or acquisitions but will produce recommendations on purpose, priorities, and public value.
You Hong-jun, a Myongji University art historian and author, has been appointed director of the National Museum of Korea and its 13 provincial affiliates. This appointment is part of a broader reshuffle following South Korea's snap presidential election in June, which brought Lee Jae-myung's Democratic Party to power. Other key appointments include Youn Bummo as president of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation, and Amal Khalaf and Evelyn Simons as co-curators of the 2026 Busan Biennale, marking the first female duo to curate that event.
An exhibition of 70 artworks by legendary writer Flannery O'Connor has opened at Andalusia, the farm outside Milledgeville, Georgia, where she spent her final years. The paintings and pencil drawings—depicting birds, cows, landscapes, and a striking self-portrait—were discovered in a storage unit behind a Cook Out restaurant, where they had been hidden for decades. Curated by Cassie Munnell, the show offers a rare glimpse into O'Connor's visual art practice, revealing another dimension of the author known for her Southern Gothic prose.
MASP CONTESTED NARRATIVES BETWEEN REPLICA AND WEAVING
The Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) has opened two simultaneous exhibitions that critically examine how narratives in Latin American art are formed. 'Réplica (Replica)' is a retrospective of Peruvian artist Sandra Gamarra Heshiki, featuring over 70 works that appropriate and alter historical pieces to expose the exclusionary mechanisms of museums. 'Vivir, tejer (Living, Weaving)' presents the collaborative textile work of Claudia Alarcón and the Silät collective, a group of over one hundred Wichí women weavers, foregrounding ancestral knowledge and collective creation.
Jack Moskowitz, a Thames local, opened his first solo exhibition titled "Jack's Exhibition" at the Vessel Art Gallery on April 18. The show features 32 artworks including portraits, landscapes, and cars, rendered in pastels, watercolour, ink, and dye, with a strong emphasis on colour. Jack, who has been making art since age five, received tutoring from several local artists including Sue Clark and Laurie Spera, and many pieces sold quickly to the public.
Brandon Sines, the artist behind FrankApeWorld, opens his first solo exhibition in eight years, titled “Let’s Be Frank,” on May 1 at Cycol Gallery in New York. The show features a cohesive, journey-like curation culminating in a site-specific immersive installation, with every piece minted on Exchange.Art. Cycol Gallery, located at 91 Allen Street, describes itself as Solana’s first brick-and-mortar gallery, built on Solana infrastructure and powered in part by the BONK memecoin, which acquired Exchange.Art in March 2025. Physical display uses Blackdove Art’s digital frames, allowing works to exist as tangible objects and verifiable onchain assets simultaneously.
Visual artist and faculty member Anthony Ryan debuted his solo exhibition, "Imperfect Pixels," at the City College Art Gallery with an opening reception that highlighted his unique printmaking process. The collection features screen prints and woodcuts developed from digital illustrations created using a MacPaint simulator, embracing the aesthetic limitations of early 1980s software. During the event, Ryan’s students demonstrated printmaking techniques, showcasing the practical application of the methods seen in the gallery.
Artists and curators in the UK are increasingly mobilizing to address the rapid integration of artificial intelligence in the creative sector. Following a public backlash against an AI-focused workshop at a local gallery in Hull, curator Lucy Brooke organized forums to discuss the ethical implications of machine learning, including copyright, plagiarism, and environmental impacts. While some creators are calling for stricter institutional policies and collective lobbying against AI exploitation, others, like illustrator Eleanor Tomlinson, view the technology as a transitional challenge similar to the invention of photography, focusing on public education rather than opposition.
The city of Red Deer is launching its March 'First Fridays' gallery cycle, featuring a series of exhibition openings across several local venues. Highlights include Jessica Symons’ landscape exhibition "Upon Return" at the Red Deer Arts Council Community Gallery, a group show titled "Alberta Animals and Their Homes" by the Red Deer Art Club at the Marjorie Wood Gallery, and the mixed-media installation "Anima Motrix V.2.0" by Trudy Golley and Paul Leathers at Viewpoint Gallery.
Kendall Hamelryck, the current artist-in-residence at Milligan University, has debuted her solo exhibition titled “Building a Life” at the Milligan Art Gallery. The showcase features mixed-media installations and sculptures, including the centerpiece “Be Content,” which explores themes of domesticity, faith, and the simplicity of childhood. The works reflect Hamelryck’s personal transition into marriage and family life, utilizing everyday objects like tea sets and stuffed animals to convey spiritual contentment.
Graduate students in the University of North Texas's MFA Studio Art program are withdrawing their upcoming thesis exhibitions in protest. Their action is a direct response to the unexplained cancellation of artist Victor "Marka27" Quiñonez's solo show, "Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá," which addressed Mexican-American identity and violence by ICE. The school papered over the gallery windows and removed the exhibition page without providing a public rationale to the artist or the community.
Grundy Art Gallery in Blackpool is celebrating its 115th birthday in 2026 with a winter exhibitions programme that includes a giant birthday cake drawing installation in the foyer, the largest-ever Grundy Open Exhibition for local artists, newly commissioned paintings by locally based artist Jayne Simpson, and a collection spotlight exhibition themed around 1926 featuring loans from Showtown History Centre. The gallery invites the public to a special launch on January 24, 2026, and the exhibitions run through March 7.
Ashland artist Crystal Proffitt's interactive installation 'Don't Touch My Hair: An Interactive Crowned Experience' at the Langford Art Gallery in Phoenix, Oregon, invites viewers to touch the braids and locs attached to portraits of local Black models while listening to voice recordings about hair as cultural identity and resilience. The work, supported by the Oregon Cultural Trust and the Black Alliance & Social Empowerment (BASE) Southern Oregon, debuted January 3 and runs through January 24, after which it will join BASE's Black Cultural Legacy Series at the Rogue Gallery & Art Center in Medford. Proffitt intentionally allows the hair to show wear from handling, treating the erosion as part of the artwork's meaning.
D’ART Gallery has opened in Baku’s White City district with its inaugural exhibition, “From Generation to Generation,” featuring nearly 50 works by Azerbaijani artists spanning multiple generations, including People’s Artists, Honoured Artists, and emerging painters, graphic artists, and sculptors. The gallery aims to bridge Azerbaijan’s historical artistic heritage with contemporary art, and all exhibited works are available for sale. The opening ceremony included remarks from notable figures such as sculptor Ömər Eldarov, Executive Director Rəvan Həsənov, Vice-Rector Fuad Salayev, and gallery co-founder and director Dilara Muzaffarli.
Thomas Duffield, a photographer, has created a body of work documenting his relationship with his father after years of estrangement. The project captures their gradual reconnection, moving beyond superficial conversation to address deeper, unspoken tensions. Duffield's images explore the emotional landscape of rebuilding a father-son bond, using photography as a tool for reconciliation and understanding.
Colorado legislators are considering a bipartisan bill to establish the nation's first Artist Corporation (A-Corp), a specialized limited liability company exclusively for artists. This legal framework aims to simplify incorporation, protect intellectual property rights, and allow artists to secure investors without ceding ownership of their creative output.
Pocket Art, Hong Kong's first art collection card exhibition, curated by local artist armechan, will run at PMQ from May 29 to June 21, 2026. The show features 10 local and overseas artists, including Li Chi Tak, Rex Koo, Lio Yeung, Erika Shiba, and Abby Lee Yan Yee, who have created nearly 200 collectable palm-sized art cards. Visitors can buy packs, swap cards, and build their own mini collections, with grading and authentication services provided by Grading Eleven Authentication. A collaboration with local fashion brand Grocery also translates the card motifs into wearable items.
St. Petersburg multimedia artist Cato Galen is profiled for their wide-ranging creative practice, which includes curating immersive installations, writing music, leading workshops, and creating spaces for reflection at festivals. Galen's recent projects include a virtual gallery for How Bazar's “Memories and Fortunes” exhibition in Tampa and the Decompression Space at the Big Culture and Arts Festival in Gainesville, where QR codes merged physical and digital experiences to improve accessibility. Galen also performs music under the name Creating Cato, produces a zine series called “Guide for Blocked Artists,” and hosts a gathering called “Artist Block.”
The Pajaro Valley Arts gallery in Watsonville is hosting a new exhibition titled "Over the Edge: Printmaking Without Limits," curated by Jane Gregorius and Katherine Levin-Lau. The show features works by 30 local artists using techniques such as woodcut, linocut, screen printing, etching, monotype, and jelly prints, with an emphasis on pushing prints beyond traditional flat formats through cutting, folding, layering, and installation. The exhibition runs from May 26 to July 11, with a public reception on May 30, and includes free workshops like Kitchen Table Printmaking and Trace Monotype.
Art House Gallery is set to present "OUR OWN LANGUAGE," an exhibition curated by Andrea McKenna. The show will feature a group of artists exploring themes of personal and collective expression through visual language.
Art VallARTa, an art fair in Puerto Vallarta, has announced a special exhibition titled "Queer Artists Take Center Stage at Art VallARTa for Pride 2026 Exhibition," which will spotlight LGBTQ+ artists during Pride Month 2026. The fair aims to feature works by queer and allied artists, celebrating diversity and inclusion within the visual arts.
The Children's Gallery in Tampere, Finland, is presenting two exhibitions this spring. At the Culture House Laikku, schoolchildren from Wivi Lönn School (grades 1, 2, 5, and 7) display imaginative park designs through June 14. Simultaneously, the Lielahti Manor Cultural Centre features babies' art created during Rulla's Colour Immersion course, on view from May 7 to June 2, 2026. Both exhibitions are free and open to the public.
The Smithsonian National Museum of African Art has opened "Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art," the largest exhibition of LGBTQ+ African art to date, featuring nearly 60 artworks by 30 queer artists from across Africa and its diasporas. Curated by Kevin D. Dumouchelle and Serubiri Moses, the exhibition was originally scheduled to coincide with WorldPride DC 2025 but was delayed to early winter 2026, shortly after President Donald Trump issued an executive order targeting the Smithsonian for material deemed "divisive ideology," including discussions of gender identity. Museum officials attributed the postponement to budget and fundraising challenges rather than political pressure.
Flick Chafer-Smith, a First Nations artist, turned her life around after being incarcerated on her 18th birthday and spending six years in and out of prison due to drug addiction. Through the Victorian Indigenous arts program The Torch, she discovered painting as a means of expression and healing. She is now among 424 artists featured in Confined 17, an annual exhibition at Glen Eira Town Hall showcasing works by First Nations artists with lived experience of incarceration in Victoria. The exhibition includes paintings, weavings, ceramics, and carved emu eggs, with sales proceeds going directly to the artists.