Vincent Valdez and KB Brookins picked for ACLU Texas's artist-in-residence programme

The ACLU of Texas has selected Austin-based writer and artist KB Brookins and San Antonio-born painter Vincent Valdez as its artists-in-residence for 2026. Chosen from nearly 200 applicants, each will receive $30,000 to create works addressing criminal law reform, immigrants' rights, and equality for LGBTQIA+ individuals. Valdez will focus on portraits of local community leaders for his New Americans series and produce 'Know Your Rights' poster packets, while Brookins will tackle the pretrial carceral system through community organizing and workshops.

Column: New Richard Hunt exhibit takes the measure of the artist and the man

A new exhibition titled "Freedom in Form: Richard Hunt" is on view at the Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA) in Chicago through November 15. The show features over 160 works, including intimate sculptures and maquettes, offering a personal look at the late sculptor Richard Hunt, who died in December 2023. It originated at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, inspired by Illinois first lady MK Pritzker. The exhibition highlights Hunt's early life, his self-taught welding skills, and his pivotal experience attending Emmett Till's funeral in 1955, which shaped his commitment to civil rights and social justice through art.

Young artists, Mia exhibit, shine uncomfortable light on American racism

The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) opened its fourth annual Teen Perspectives exhibition on May 10, titled “Minneapolis as Monument,” featuring works by high school students addressing health and racial equity. The show, running through July 20, includes paintings, photos, sculptures, and video installations inspired by the murder of George Floyd five years ago and the concurrent “Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys” exhibition. Speakers included Virajita Singh, Mia’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, and Bukata Hayes of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, the program’s sponsor. Student artists like Lydia Nobrega and Joseph Willie created pieces that explore personal stories, community, and systemic racism.

courtney mcclellan evangelical college supreme court simulation shirley fiterman liberty 1234767392

Courtney McClellan's exhibition "Simulations" at the Shirley Fiterman Art Center in Lower Manhattan features deadpan photographs of empty mock courtrooms at universities across the American South, including a haunting simulation of the Supreme Court's chambers at Liberty University, an evangelical Southern Baptist college in Virginia. The show, which includes images taken over six years, is installed with blue borders and wainscoting that blur the line between architecture and image, placing viewers in the position of judge and jury while highlighting the theatricality of these spaces.

ford foundation heather gerken next president 1234746580

The Ford Foundation has appointed Heather Gerken, dean of Yale Law School, as its next president. She will succeed Darren Walker and become the 11th president of the foundation, as well as the second woman to lead the organization in its nearly 90-year history. Gerken will officially assume the role on November 1, following a national search launched after Walker announced his departure after 12 years.

Now we open a Palestinian Pavilion at the Biennale. Interview with Tomaso Montanari

“Ora apriamo un Padiglione Palestina in Biennale”. Intervista a Tomaso Montanari

Tomaso Montanari, a member of the scientific committee for the exhibition "Gaza, il futuro ha un cuore antico. Materie e memorie del Mediterraneo" at Fondazione Merz in Turin, discusses the show's aim to highlight Gaza's 5,000-year history beyond the current war imagery. The exhibition, organized in collaboration with the Museo Egizio and the MAH – Musée d’art et d’histoire de Genève, juxtaposes ancient artifacts with contemporary artworks to assert the cultural and historical significance of Palestine. Montanari also addresses the upcoming Venice Biennale, criticizing the lack of a Palestinian pavilion and suggesting that the Turin exhibition itself serves as a de facto Palestinian pavilion, while calling for accountability for Israel's actions.

‘As an artist I have a duty to reflect the times’: photographer Misan Harriman explores protests and solidarity in new London show

Photographer and filmmaker Misan Harriman has opened a permanent installation titled 'The Purpose of Light' at London's Hope 93 gallery. The exhibition features over 100 black-and-white photographs taken over seven years at protests in the UK, US, and South Africa, including demonstrations related to Black Lives Matter, Gaza, and other social justice movements. The project debuted as a solo show last summer and, due to significant public response, has now been established as a long-term fixture with support from private collectors.

Met Gala Boycott Message Projected on Bezos’s Manhattan Penthouse

On May 3, 2026, the activist group Everyone Hates Elon projected messages condemning Jeff Bezos and Amazon onto Bezos's luxury penthouse in Manhattan's Madison Square Park, ahead of the Met Gala on May 4. The projections included a video testimony from Amazon warehouse worker Mary Hill, who called for honoring workers instead of billionaires, and slogans such as 'Boycott The Bezos Met Gala.' The group also projected onto the Chrysler and Empire State buildings. This action follows earlier protests, including littering the Met with fake urine bottles and wheatpasting posters across the city, all targeting Bezos's role as an honorary co-chair of the gala.

Beloved CUNY Social Practice Art Program to Shut Down

Social Practice City University of New York (SPCUNY), an artist-led initiative supporting social justice-minded art across the CUNY system, will cease operations in February 2027. Founded in 2021 by artists Chloë Bass and Gregory Sholette with support from the Mellon Foundation, the program distributed over $535,000 in fellowships to 129 faculty and student fellows. The closure is prompted by the departure of both co-directors from their academic positions at Queens College, leaving the independent project without a clear institutional pathway for leadership transition.

Heavy in more ways than one: Confederate statues hit the road for Los Angeles exhibition

The exhibition "Monuments" opens this week at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Moca) and the Brick in Los Angeles, featuring decommissioned Confederate statues alongside contemporary artworks. The show includes a double monument of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson on loan from Baltimore, which required road closures and careful logistics to install, as well as works by Kara Walker, Hank Willis Thomas, and Karon Davis that recontextualize these symbols of white supremacy. Curators Hamza Walker, Bennett Simpson, and Kara Walker collaborated on the exhibition, which runs from October 23 through May 3, 2026.

Local artists transform waste into striking art at the Melrose Gallery

The Melrose Gallery in Johannesburg is hosting "Junkyard Dogs," an exhibition featuring South African artists Dr. Willie Bester and Prof Pitika Ntuli, running until October 31. The show transforms discarded materials into sculptures, paintings, and installations that address social and political issues, including apartheid and post-colonial identity. Curated by Ashraf Jamal and Tumelo 'Tumi' Moloi, the exhibition includes a soundscape, children's workshops, poetry sessions, and guided walkabouts, all free to the public.

CSUN Art Exhibits to Focus on Los Angeles, Place and People

California State University, Northridge's Art Galleries presents two new exhibitions exploring Los Angeles, place, and people. The Main Gallery hosts "The Journey is the Destination: Recording Los Angeles," featuring photography, mixed-media, site-specific installations, and sculptures by artists including Marisela Norte, Debra Scacco, Fía Benitez, Aaron Douglas Estrada, Vincent Enrique Hernandez, Erick Medel, and Pamela Smith Hudson. Curated by Holly Jerger, the show challenges colonial mapping conventions and highlights gentrification, environmental depletion, and stereotypes affecting historically neglected parts of the city. In the West Gallery, "The Warmth of the Sun: A Recent Survey of Tierra Del Sol Artists" runs through October 15, the first of a three-part series spotlighting local San Fernando Valley art organizations, with subsequent exhibitions featuring Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural and 11:11 Projects.

Ai Weiwei's cat-mouflage takeover of New York City park

Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has unveiled a public art installation titled *Camouflage* at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park on Roosevelt Island, New York City. The installation, which opened on September 10, 2025, drapes the park's memorial to President Roosevelt in fabric patterned with cat silhouettes, reinterpreting military camouflage patterns. It coincides with the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, located across the East River. The work marks the launch of Art X Freedom, a new annual public art commissioning program by the Four Freedoms Park Conservancy, aimed at sparking dialogue around social justice. Inside the tent-like structure, LED lights display a Ukrainian proverb, and visitors can attach messages to the netting in collaboration with the artist-run organization For Freedoms.

Hear the untold stories of North Korean women in this limited-time NYC art show

A limited-time art exhibition titled "UNSEEN: 14 Artists on Resilience and Rights of Women in North Korea" will open in New York City's Tribeca neighborhood from September 20 to 27 at Lume Studios on Broadway. Curated by Dr. Stephanie Seungmin Kim, the show features 14 international artists alongside video testimonies from North Korean escapees, coinciding with the 80th session of the UN General Assembly.

How the State Supports Provenance Research

Comment l’État soutient la recherche de provenance

The French Ministry of Culture has created two specialized missions to assist museums in researching the provenance of their collections, addressing looted artworks, human remains, colonial acquisitions, and illicit trafficking. The Mission for Research and Restitution of Looted Cultural Property (M2RS), established in 2019, focuses on Nazi-era spoliations (1933-1945) with a budget of €220,000 annually, while the newer Mission "Provenance," launched in 2024 under curator Catherine Chevillot, covers human remains, colonial-era objects, and illicit goods with a €450,000 budget. These missions provide expertise, funding, and coordination with institutions like the Commission for the Restitution of Property and Compensation of Victims of Anti-Semitic Spoliation (CIVS), though most museums still only initiate provenance checks during acquisitions or donations.

When a Palestinian Artist Asserts Her Own Humanity

Palestinian artist Basma al-Sharif faced a coordinated smear campaign and threats after being invited to screen her film "Morgenkreis" at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. The controversy erupted not over the film's content, but over her social media posts referencing Palestinian resistance and historical injustices, leading to demands from public officials and advocacy groups to cancel the event.

May You Live in Interesting Times — The IFPDA Print Fair Asks, Do Bad Times Really Inspire Great Art?

The 2026 IFPDA Print Fair, featuring over 80 exhibitors at New York's Park Avenue Armory, explores the provocative theme of whether societal crises and 'bad times' inspire great art. The fair presents a historical survey of printmaking as a medium for dissent and therapy, showcasing works from Francisco Goya's anti-war etchings to Kara Walker's critiques of racial injustice, German Expressionist responses to post-WWI turmoil, and contemporary pieces addressing ongoing conflicts.

New York Court Orders Restitution of a Modigliani to the Oscar Stettiner Estate

La justice new-yorkaise ordonne la restitution d’un Modigliani à la succession d’Oscar Stettiner

A New York court has ordered the restitution of Amedeo Modigliani’s 1918 painting 'Seated Man with a Cane' to the heirs of Oscar Stettiner, a Jewish art dealer. The work was seized during the Nazi occupation of Paris and sold at a forced auction in 1944 before eventually being purchased by the billionaire Nahmad family via an offshore company in 1996. Judge Joel M. Cohen ruled that the evidence of Stettiner’s prior ownership was "unusually strong" and dismissed the defense's claims that the painting was a different version or that the claim was filed too late.

Santiago Yahuarcani: The Beginning of Knowledge

SANTIAGO YAHUARCANI: EL PRINCIPIO DEL CONOCIMIENTO

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) is hosting "El principio del conocimiento," the first solo exhibition in Brazil for Peruvian artist Santiago Yahuarcani. Curated by Amanda Carneiro, the show features approximately 35 paintings on llanchama (tree bark) that explore the Uitoto worldview. The exhibition is organized into five thematic sections that navigate the sensory experience of the Amazon, the spiritual significance of sacred plants like coca and tobacco, and the brutal historical memory of colonial extraction.

Remembering Napoleon Jones-Henderson, an AfriCOBRA Founding Member Who Imbued Art and Life with Exuberant Energy

Napoleon Jones-Henderson, a founding member of the influential African American artist collective AfriCOBRA, has died. Born in Chicago in 1943, he studied at the Sorbonne and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he was mentored by Bauhaus textile artist Else Regensteiner. In 1969, he co-founded AfriCOBRA, becoming known as "the weaver" of the group for his vibrant textile works that incorporated metallic threads and found objects. He later moved to Boston, taught at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and maintained a prolific studio practice in Roxbury for over 50 years, creating works focused on empowerment, Pan-Africanism, and racial justice.

victoria helena artist money matters financial literacy artists 1234771234

Victoria Helena, an artist and former CFO, is launching Artist Money Matters, a financial consultancy designed specifically for artists. The service aims to provide independent, informed support to artists navigating a volatile and opaque art economy, addressing common issues like contract clarity, payment terms, and intellectual property.

south africa pavilion venice biennale cancelation qatar 1234769587

South Africa has canceled its pavilion at the Venice Biennale, which was to feature a performance by artist Gabrielle Goliath addressing the killings of women and queer people in South Africa, a German-led genocide in Namibia, and Israel’s war in Gaza. The performance would have included readings of poetry by Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2023. South African Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie blamed an unidentified foreign nation for seeking to use the pavilion for "proxy power," and Israeli publication Ynetnews reported that nation is Qatar. McKenzie denied censorship, claiming a rift with the nonprofit Art Periodic South Africa over a foreign nation's offer to purchase artworks after the Biennale.

pussy riot labeled extremist organization by russias justice ministry 1234767119

Russia’s justice ministry has officially designated Pussy Riot, the feminist punk rock band and art collective co-founded by Nadya Tolokonnikova, as an “extremist organization.” The ruling follows a December 15 closed-door hearing at Moscow’s Tverskoy Court, where prosecutor general Alexander Gutsan filed a lawsuit against the group. The designation bans all Pussy Riot activities in Russia and allows the state to seize property of members and their families, and to prosecute anyone supporting the group. Tolokonnikova told ARTnews the group will appeal, calling the decision a source of “anxiety and bureaucratic nonsense.” In September, five members were sentenced to 8–13 years for spreading “fakes” about the Russian military, and Tolokonnikova was placed on Russia’s wanted list in 2023 after her performance *Putin’s Ashes*.

russia pussy riot justice ministry extremist organization 1234764504

Russia’s justice ministry is seeking to have Pussy Riot, the feminist punk rock art collective, designated as an extremist organization, with a hearing set for December 15 at Moscow’s Tverskoy Court. The lawsuit, filed by prosecutor general Alexander Gutsan, aims to ban the group’s activities in Russia, marking the first time Pussy Riot faces official allegations of extremism. The move coincided with a performance of Police State by member Nadya Tolokonnikova at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, where she transformed the theater into a replica Russian prison cell for a five-day immersive piece. Tolokonnikova, who was previously imprisoned by Russia on religious hatred charges, has been placed on the country’s wanted list, and other members have received lengthy prison sentences for spreading alleged "fakes" about the Russian military.

confederate heritage group sues stone mountain exhibition 1234746944

A Confederate heritage group, the Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, has filed a lawsuit against Stone Mountain Park in Georgia, challenging a new exhibition that examines the site's history of slavery, segregation, and white supremacy. The group argues that the exhibition, commissioned by the Stone Mountain Memorial Association and developed by Warner Museums, violates state law by repurposing the park away from its original mandate to honor the Confederacy. The exhibition, funded with $11 million from the Georgia legislature in 2023, is not yet open to the public but has already sparked backlash from heritage groups.

south africa venice biennale court 2739102

South Africa's culture minister Gayton McKenzie canceled artist Gabrielle Goliath's selected presentation for the country's national pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, prompting Goliath and curator Ingrid Masondo to file a constitutional court challenge on January 22. The artist's work, *Elegy*, commemorates victims of injustice including women, queer people, and victims of the Herero and Nama genocide, and was to address deaths of Gazan women and children since October 2023. McKenzie described the work as "highly divisive" and canceled the exhibition on January 2, despite an independent committee's binding selection. The minister now plans to replace it with a project by the collective Beyond the Frames titled "Shameless Rebellions: a South African Chorus."

department of homeland security thomas kinkade 2664233

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted a painting by the late artist Thomas Kinkade titled *Morning Pledge* on social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and X, with the caption “Protect the Homeland.” The painting depicts an idealized American small town with midcentury cars, a schoolhouse, and an American flag. Kinkade, known for mass-producing sentimental, conservative scenes and dubbed the “painter of light,” was widely dismissed by the mainstream art world as kitschy. The DHS post coincided with the opening of a new ICE detention center in the Florida Everglades, nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” built to imprison immigrant detainees, and with the passage of a controversial bill expanding ICE funding while cutting healthcare and food benefits.

Where to see art in Houston now: 9 intriguing new exhibits opening in June

Houston's art scene is bustling in June 2025 with nine new exhibitions opening across the city. Highlights include Lawndale Art Center's annual "Big Show," juried by Dr. Phillip A. Townsend, featuring 88 works by 77 local artists; Sawyer Yards' "Be the Art: The Silos Selfie Experience," an immersive, social-media-friendly display; and three new shows at the Blaffer Art Museum, including "a way to mend" focusing on Gulf Coast artists and healing, "¡Cuidado!" by X Arriaga Cuellar and Adán Vallecillo about migrant healthcare workers, and Saif Azzuz's debut museum exhibition "Keet Hegehlpa’ (the water is rising)" addressing land and water privatization. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston also celebrates new acquisitions spanning luxurious historical works and AI-driven futures.

Watch: Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino in Conversation

Artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino discuss their project 'conference of one’s self' for the Australia Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale. Sabsabi explains how the work draws on the twelfth-century Sufi poem 'The Conference of the Birds' by Farīd al-Dīn ʿAṭṭār, mapping its seven spiritual valleys and adding an eighth level of 'wholeness and completeness'. He also reflects on his childhood in Lebanon, migration to Australia, and how his return to Lebanon in 2002 reconnected him with his Sufi lineage, which informs his artistic practice focused on memory, displacement, and social justice.

The National Museum of Mexican Art’s Special Mission

The National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA) in Chicago was founded in 1987 by a group of public school educators, led by Carlos Tortolero, to address a lack of Mexican history and culture in the curriculum. It has grown into a 48,000-square-foot institution with a collection of over 20,000 objects, spanning from Pre-Columbian times to the present, and was the first Latino museum in the U.S. to be accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.