Art on the Square returns for 24th year with art, food and entertainment

Belleville Art on the Square returns for its 24th year from May 15-17, 2026, in downtown Belleville. The festival features over 100 artists from more than 27 states and one international artist, showcasing works in multiple mediums. Highlights include artist demonstrations by the Gateway East Artists Guild, a high school art show with judged awards, a Children's Art Garden with interactive activities, live entertainment at the Wine Court, and food vendors offering a variety of cuisines. Admission is free, and the event runs Friday evening through Sunday afternoon.

"Shared Spaces" Opens Season at Haley Art Gallery

Haley Art Gallery in Kittery, Maine, has opened its 21st season with the group exhibition "Shared Spaces," featuring works by Paul Burke, Sheridan Cudworth, Barbara D’Antonio, Jozimar Matimano, Bill Oakes, and Carlos Vega. The show runs through August, with gallery artist talks scheduled for June 13 and June 27. The gallery also offers special purchasing incentives for local business owners and designers, as well as a Victorian Tea-Time Art experience for groups.

Al Museo Egizio di Torino ora c’è un centro di ricerca per studiare la scrittura dell’Antico Egitto attraverso tremila anni di storia

The Museo Egizio di Torino has launched ME-Scripta, a new research center dedicated to the study, restoration, and digitization of ancient Egyptian written sources, including papyri, ostraca, and Coptic bindings. Funded by a €3 million grant from the Fondazione CRT, the center will operate under the direction of Susanne Töpfer and employ a dedicated team of curators, collaborators, a data manager, and an apprentice. ME-Scripta will pursue three major projects: reassembling and studying papyri from Assiut and Gebelein, analyzing ostraca, and restoring 17 Coptic bindings, with a goal of launching an integrated digital platform by 2034.

The papal residence of Castel Gandolfo had been opened to museum visits by Pope Francis, now Pope Leo closes it again

La residenza papale di Castel Gandolfo era stata aperta a visite museali da Papa Francesco, ora Papa Leone la chiude di nuovo

Pope Leo XIV is closing the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo to the public as of July 2026, ending nearly a decade of museum access initiated by Pope Francis. Online ticket sales stop on June 30, and the palace will revert to its original function as the pope's summer residence. The decision follows preparatory works begun in May 2025 and is partly motivated by security concerns, as the current temporary lodging at Villa Barberini has logistical and access-control issues.

A unique breast cancer charity raising money through art

Belinda Gray, founder of breast cancer charity Art For Cure, shares her story ahead of the charity's latest exhibition at Wyken Vineyards. After her own breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, Gray launched Art For Cure in 2014, initially hosting an exhibition in her home and garden that drew 2,000 visitors and raised £100,000. The charity has since sold over £3 million worth of art through exhibitions and online sales, with a percentage of each sale donated by artists to fund UK breast cancer research and support services. Gray, who had no prior art-world experience, now leads a voluntary team of 10 people staging annual public exhibitions at unique venues.

SPAIN ORIOL VILANOVA AND THE ABOLITION OF THE MUSEUM AND THE ARCHIVE

The Spanish Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale presents "Los restos," a project by Catalan artist Oriol Vilanova, curated by Carles Guerra. The installation transforms the pavilion into an anti-museum or pseudo-museum, featuring Vilanova's collection of postcards sourced from flea markets over more than twenty years. The work critiques traditional archival systems through accumulation, repetition, and fragmentation, and includes a publication and a performative action titled "El fantasma de la libertad" (2026), inspired by Luis Buñuel, which will take place across the Giardini and Arsenale.

Spain: Oriol Vilanova and the Abolition of the Museum and the Archive

ESPANA ORIOL VILANOVA Y LA ABOLICION DEL MUSEO Y EL ARCHIVO

The Spanish Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale presents "Los restos," a project by Catalan artist Oriol Vilanova, curated by Carles Guerra. The installation transforms the pavilion into an anti-museum or pseudo-museum, featuring over twenty years of postcards collected from flea markets, arranged in a wall-based accumulation that challenges linear narrative and archival hierarchy. The project also includes a publication and a performative action titled "El fantasma de la libertad" (2026), inspired by Luis Buñuel, which will take place across the Giardini and Arsenale through unannounced encounters.

Extraordinary opening of Forte Aurelia in Rome. The military garrison becomes a new space for culture

Apertura straordinaria del Forte Aurelia a Roma. Il presidio militare diventa nuovo spazio per la cultura

After ten years of restoration, the Forte Aurelia complex in Rome has reopened to the public as a cultural space, museum, and venue for events and exhibitions. Built between 1877 and 1881 as part of Rome's defensive ring, the fort was later used as a shelter, Red Cross hospital, and logistics center for the Guardia di Finanza. The official inauguration took place on the symbolic date of Rome's founding, attended by Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, and Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli, who framed the project within a broader strategy to enhance the city's historical heritage.

Get a first look at the immersive art exhibit that takes over 80 rooms in a shuttered downtown L.A. hospital

The 'Hospital of Emotions' is an immersive art exhibition occupying 80 rooms across four floors of the shuttered St. Vincent Medical Center in downtown Los Angeles. Running from May 27 through July 31, the 45,000-square-foot show features over 70 artists whose works are organized into emotional departments such as grief, fear, hope, joy, and sadness. Installations incorporate the hospital's existing fixtures—surgical lights, beds, IV bags—transforming former medical spaces into interactive art experiences, including a life-size Twister game, ceramic egg-covered walls, and neon-lit beds.

Stunning art exhibition reveals textured takes on local landscapes

Local artist Mirabela Varga's exhibition 'Coherence' is on display at Byron Spaces Gallery in the Byron Community Centre, featuring bright, textured artworks inspired by the landscapes and flowers of the Northern Rivers region. Varga, known for her palette knife technique and contemporary impressionism, aims to convey emotional depth and spontaneity through her work. The exhibition runs until June 1, with free entry.

Libri d’arte. 7 novità in libreria tra saggi, racconti e fotografie

This article from Artribune presents seven new art book releases in Italy, all united by a common theme of bringing marginalized subjects back into focus. Featured titles include Johnny L. Bertolio's "L'ha scritto lei, ma…" which examines why female authors are excluded from Italian school curricula, and Carla Rossi's "Oltre i margini," a rigorous study of European female miniaturists from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Other works address queer representation in museums, children's voices on Gaza, photographic portraiture by Lorenzo Cicconi Massi, a collective volume on the Bertolucci family, and a theatrical project by Kepler-452 set in the central Mediterranean.

Photography exhibit at Estevan art gallery showcases SE landscape

The Estevan Art Gallery and Museum (EAGM) in Saskatchewan is hosting two new exhibits until May 29: 'Below the Tree Line' by Nicole Adair and 'Selection of Specimens' by Kristin Teetaert. Adair's photography explores the landscapes of southeast Saskatchewan, highlighting the region's prairie environment, native plants, and wildlife. Teetaert's exhibit features drawings, felt sculptures, and painted tiles inspired by botany and nature, emphasizing interconnection and playfulness.

𓇽𓇽𓇽 CATALINA BAUER: EL VOLCÁN, LA BALLENA Y OTROS MUNDOS 𓇽𓇽𓇽

Chilean artist Catalina Bauer presents her exhibition "El volcán, la ballena y otros mundos" at the Sala Capilla of Centro Cultural Montecarmelo in Santiago de Chile, 2026. The show features an immersive installation centered on a whale-like sculptural form that has beached inside the chapel, surrounded by cosmic and natural elements such as stars, ferns, and maranta plants, creating a dreamlike ecosystem that invites tactile and contemplative engagement.

Ormond Memorial Art Museum hosts 'Tradewinds' Seabreeze art show

Ormond Memorial Art Museum is hosting the 2026 'Tradewinds' art show, featuring 138 artworks by Seabreeze High School students. The juried exhibition includes 2D and 3D pieces created in media such as acrylic, ceramic, clay, colored pencil, and glass, with awards distributed at a May 7 reception. The show runs through May 24 and was judged by museum guest curator Ruth Grim.

Lehman College Art Gallery Presents the 2026 Thesis Exhibition

The Lehman College Art Gallery is presenting the 2026 BFA, MA, and MFA Thesis Exhibition from May 20 to May 28, 2026. The show features the culminating work of over thirty graduating undergraduate and graduate artists from the Lehman College Art Department, spanning digital media, painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, and interdisciplinary forms. Themes include identity, memory, technology, migration, and social space. An opening reception on May 20 will include an awards announcement and a year-end celebration.

Unchained.Art Contemporary Gallery presents Erin Carle: "you should eat a burger" opening reception

Unchained.Art Contemporary Gallery in Austin, Texas, is hosting the opening reception of "you should eat a burger," a solo exhibition by local artist Erin Carle. The show uses food as both subject and symbol, drawing from Carle's background in ballet to explore the coded language and expectations surrounding women's bodies, addressing themes of self-worth, desire, shame, and control through bright colors and stylized figures.

'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.

New shows in the spotlight at museum’s New Look Weekend

The Minnesota Marine Art Museum (MMAM) will host its Spring New Look Weekend from May 15-17, 2026, celebrating the opening of two new exhibitions: “Gordon Coons: Gidibaajimomin / We Tell Stories” and “Myths & Legends of Minnesota: An Exhibition of the Minnesota Plein Air Collective.” The weekend features a Friday dinner at Nosh Scratch Kitchen with a marine-themed menu by Chef Greg Jaworski, and a full Saturday of programming including a Paint-Along Demonstration with Nelia Harper French, drop-in printmaking with Gordon Coons, a Meet the Artist tour, a plein air paint-out, and a social gathering. Both exhibitions run through August and September 2026.

Equatorial Guinea debuts at the Venice Biennale with Paraguayan artist Ingrid Seall and the theme of undergrowth

Equatorial Guinea makes its debut at the Venice Biennale with a national pavilion at Palazzo Donà dalle Rose, featuring Paraguayan artist Ingrid Seall and her work "Manar." The pavilion, titled "The Forest: The Undergrowth," runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026, and presents an immersive journey inspired by Equatorial Guinea's forests. Seall's piece uses materials like paper, cellulose, iron, and cassava paste to create a vertical, living organism that transforms waste into vital matter. The exhibition includes works by multiple international artists and is curated by Joan Abelló, with Brazilian commissioner Paulo Speller.

Young artists make a strong impression at juried art show

The 15th Annual High School Juried Art Show at the Mann Art Gallery in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, held its awards ceremony at the E.A. Rawlinson Centre, drawing students, families, teachers, and community leaders. Peter Smallboy, a Grade 12 student from Big River Public High School, won Best in Show for his charcoal work "Inner Sight," inspired by the beauty of the human eye. Other award winners included Alice Rosetti, Tatianna Trautmann, Cristyn Mitchell, Jorja Hanson-Lemaigre, Arrow Anderson, Kiara Levesque, and Abeedah Saka-Bello, with 67 artists exhibiting works in media ranging from painting and sculpture to photography and textiles.

In My Place in My Time: Brian Tripp Archive Exhibition – 2 Upcoming Events

Cal Poly Humboldt's Reese Bullen & Goudi’ni Native American Arts Galleries will present "In My Time, In My Place: Brian Tripp Archive," an exhibition exploring the late Karuk artist Brian D. Tripp's (1945–2022) use of personal texts, symbols, and geometric language. The show runs April 2 through May 16, 2026, featuring reproduced archival materials from Tripp's papers held in the Cal Poly Humboldt Library Special Collections. Two related events are scheduled: an Artist on Artist Talk with Bob Benson on April 29 and an Archivist Talk with Susan Gehr and Carly Marino on May 7.

‘MANA’ Exhibit to showcase the richness of Masungi through art - Pressenza

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) invites the public to 'MANA', a contemporary art exhibition organized by the Silaw Artist Collective at the NCCA Gallery in Manila from May 7 to 30, 2026. Curated by Eghai Roxas, the show features works by 15 artists including Melvin Culaba, Henri Cainglet, and Derick Macutay, exploring the tension between commodification and environmental conservation, with a focus on the Masungi Georeserve landscape.

Art charity takes over vineyard for exhibition

Art for Cure, a charity founded in 2014 by Belinda Gray after her own breast cancer diagnosis, is holding its annual exhibition at Wyken Vineyards near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, from May 1 to June 28. The show features over 200 sculptures and artworks by 30 sculptors and numerous other artists, displayed across the vineyard grounds and in the Leaping Hare restaurant. Up to 50% of sales commissions go to breast cancer research charities; the charity has raised £1.5 million to date from £3 million in art sales.

Cumbria’s largest museum gains six new trustees

Cumbria's largest museum, Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery Trust in Carlisle, has appointed six new trustees to its board, expanding the total to 15 members. The new trustees include Lord Richard Inglewood, a former government minister; Lisa Middleton, head of marketing at National Museums Liverpool; Joanne Orr, former director of Tullie and ex-chief executive of Museums Galleries Scotland; Malcolm Rogers, a banking and finance specialist; Helen Smout, chief executive of Culture Perth and Kinross; and John Stevenson, a former MP for Carlisle. The appointments were announced by Tullie chair Andrew Smith and director Andrew Mackay.

Near Florence there is a castle that recalls the Orient. The rebirth of the gardens begins with architect Tommaso del Buono

Vicino Firenze c’è un castello che ricorda l’Oriente. Al via la rinascita dei giardini con l’architetto Tommaso del Buono

The Castello di Sammezzano, a Moorish-style castle near Florence, Italy, is set for a major revival. Built in the 19th century by the Marquis Ferdinando Panciatichi Ximenes d'Aragona, the castle is one of Italy's most important examples of Orientalist architecture, featuring over sixty uniquely decorated rooms, a monumental park, and rare botanical species. After decades of neglect, auctions, and sporadic openings, the property was purchased in 2025 by the family of entrepreneur Giorgio Moretti, who plans a €50 million restoration. The first phase will focus on rehabilitating the historic gardens, with work beginning in June 2026.

No, the closed Museum of Comics in Milan has not found a new home in Brianza

No, il Museo del Fumetto chiuso a Milano non ha trovato la nuova sede in Brianza

The Museum of Comics (Museo del Fumetto) in Milan, which suspended operations in June 2025 due to a €180,000 debt to the city, has not found a permanent new home despite online rumors. Instead, the Fondazione Franco Fossati, which runs the museum, has secured temporary storage for its archive in Desio (Monza-Brianza) for up to two years, using spaces granted free of charge by the local municipality. The archive—containing over 500,000 items including publications, original boards, and memorabilia—will be cataloged and preserved there, but the museum itself remains closed to the public.

“La preistoria non è stata solo violenza, ma anche cura”. Intervista all’archeologa femminista Marga Sánchez Romero

Marga Sánchez Romero, a professor of Prehistory at the University of Granada and a leading voice in feminist archaeology in Spain, argues in an interview that prehistory has been misrepresented as a sequence of violence and hierarchies. She emphasizes that new questions are reshaping our understanding of the past, highlighting that care, cooperation, and solidarity were as crucial as conflict in human evolution. The conversation covers biases in archaeological interpretation, the famous Viking tomb of Birka, the origins of inequality, and the role of museums in creating more inclusive narratives.

First Friday Art Walk set this weekend in Sequim

The First Friday Art Walk in Sequim, Washington, will take place this weekend from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., featuring an aqua-themed self-guided tour of downtown venues. Highlights include a reception for "May Flowers" at Blue Whole Gallery with works by Jolene Sanborn and Rick George, a fiber arts exhibit at Sequim Museum & Arts, and new works at A. Milligan Art Studio and Gallery by Lyn Conlan and Anne Pfeiffer, along with live music and local artisan offerings at multiple participating businesses.

Four Seniors Bring Four Years of Work to the Gallery

Four senior students at Latin School showcased six artworks each at the Senior Art Show on April 24, held in the second-floor gallery. The exhibition featured intricately crocheted animals, architectural structures, and photographs, representing the culmination of their high school visual arts careers. Students like Justin Canelo incorporated personal heritage and architectural interests, while Peyton Remmer explored self-portraiture and photography, supported by teachers Christine Holloway and Ian Merritt.

BAA showcasing third annual Raiders of the Lost Art and May Flowers

The Belleville Art Association (BAA) is hosting two events on Saturday, May 9th, to celebrate the opening of its new exhibition. The third annual "Raiders of the Lost Art" treasure hunt will take place from 12-4 p.m., with over 100 original artworks hidden in 30 downtown Belleville businesses. Participants can pick up a map and search for art, with a "clue crew" offering hints; finders receive a ballot for a BAA gift certificate. Concurrently, the "May Flowers" show opens with a reception from 2-4 p.m., featuring paintings, jewellery, mosaics, textile art, and ceramics by local artists, all available for purchase. The exhibition runs from May 5th to June 6th at the BAA gallery on 208 Front Street.