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article news schedule Dec 12, 2025 visibility 2 link 7 artists, 1 gallery

tate director steps down smithsonian returns khmer sculptures and more morning links for december 12 2025 1234766706

Maria Balshaw, director of Tate in London, will step down in spring 2026 after nearly a decade leading the institution. During her tenure, she oversaw major exhibitions including "Van Gogh and Britain," "Yoko Ono," and "Sargent and Fashion," and her final project will be a Tracey Emin survey at Tate Modern. Separately, the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Asian Art announced it will return three Khmer Empire sculptures—Head of Harihara, The Goddess Uma, and Prajnaparamita—to Cambodia, citing evidence they were looted during the country's civil conflict. The US Senate also unanimously approved the HEAR Act of 2025 to help heirs reclaim art looted during the Holocaust.

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newly established uc irvine langson orange county museum of art names kathryn kanjo as first director 1234765963

The newly formed UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art has appointed Kathryn Kanjo as its first director. Kanjo, who currently leads the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD), will assume the role in February 2026, also overseeing the UC Irvine Jack & Shanaz Langson Institute of California Art. The appointment follows the amicable merger of the University of California, Irvine, and the Orange County Museum of Art, finalized this fall, which created a new entity uniting three major California art collections—the Irvine, Buck, and OCMA collections—totaling some 9,000 works housed in a 53,000-square-foot facility at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.