museum artist ranking june 2025 2661244

Artnet News published its quarterly museum artist ranking for June 2025, analyzing temporary exhibitions at over 250 U.S. museums to identify which living artists received the most institutional attention. The list includes over 4,500 names, with Indigenous contemporary artists dominating the top ranks: Cara Romero and Sky Hopinka remain highly visible, joined by Jeffrey Gibson and Andrea Carlson. Cindy Sherman appears in at least 10 group shows nationwide, while Alex Katz continues as a rare painter favored by museums at age 97. The ranking prioritizes career retrospectives, dedicated exhibitions, and special commissions over group show appearances.

Art Movements: Dozens Laid Off at Artnet and Artsy

Digital art giants Artnet and Artsy have implemented significant layoffs following their recent merger under the investment firm Beowolff Capital. The cuts, which occurred on April 16, impacted dozens of employees across both organizations, including senior editorial staff such as Sarah Cascone and Eileen Kinsella. The restructuring follows a reported 12% revenue decline for Artnet in early 2025 and involves the shutdown of Artnet's German entity as the two companies consolidate into a single team led by CEO Jeffrey Yin.

lucas museum of narrative art pilar tompkins rivas departs 1234765433

Pilar Tompkins Rivas, chief curator and deputy director of curatorial and collections at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, has left her post, as first reported by the Los Angeles Times. Her departure is the latest in a series of leadership exits at the institution, which is set to open on September 22, 2026. The museum was founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, and Rivas was one of six women of color appointed to high-ranking roles in 2020 by then director and CEO Sandra Jackson-Dumont, who left in February. The museum laid off 15 employees in May, and CEO duties are now held on an interim basis by Jim Gianopulos, while Lucas himself oversees curatorial content.

talladega college hale woodruff murals partnership 1234759606

Talladega College, a historically Black college in Alabama, has partnered with the Toledo Museum of Art, Art Bridges, and the Terra Foundation for American Art to share six monumental murals by artist Hale A. Woodruff. Painted between 1939 and 1942, the murals depict key moments in African American history, including the Amistad uprising and the Underground Railroad. Under the agreement, the Toledo Museum of Art acquired *The Underground Railroad* (1942), while Art Bridges and the Terra Foundation jointly acquired the three Amistad murals; the remaining two murals stay at the college. All six works will be periodically reunited on campus, ensuring their continued connection to the institution that commissioned them.

10 Art Shows to See in Los Angeles This November

This article highlights ten art shows to see in Los Angeles this November, featuring a diverse range of exhibitions. Key shows include Kathleen Ryan's bejeweled rotten fruit, Puppies Puppies's homage to freedom flags, and TJ Shin's bird songs. Historical perspectives are offered through a survey of prints by Robert Rauschenberg at Gemini G.E.L., rarely seen works by Mexican muralist Alfredo Ramos Martínez at Scripps College, and a tribute to the Brockman Gallery at the Vincent Price Art Museum. The two-venue exhibition 'Monuments' investigates how art reflects national narratives, while Puppies Puppies's dual shows use color and text to address contemporary liberation struggles.

LACMA’s New Era Begins With David Geffen Galleries Opening

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is preparing to open its new David Geffen Galleries in April, marking a major milestone in a two-decade transformation led by CEO and director Michael Govan. The opening coincides with the 20th anniversary of Govan's hiring and features Jeff Koons's outdoor sculpture 'Split-Rocker' as an anchor piece.

The Center for Creative Photography acquires nine significant archives

The Center for Creative Photography (CCP) at the University of Arizona has announced the acquisition of nine significant photography archives, including the legacies of Laura Aguilar, Jack Dykinga, Jody Forster, Frank Gohlke, Mark Klett, Nathan Lyons, Stephen Marc, Patrick Nagatani, and Susan Wood. This marks one of the largest expansions of CCP's holdings in recent years, adding to its renowned collection that already includes archives of Ansel Adams, W. Eugene Smith, and others. The archives contain not only prints but also correspondence, notebooks, and teaching materials, and will be processed over the next several years for researcher access.

This Week at LACMA

This week at LACMA features the opening of Tavares Strachan's first museum exhibition in Los Angeles, "The Day Tomorrow Began" (October 12, 2025–March 29, 2026), with immersive multisensory installations including uncanny everyday spaces, a field of rice grass with ceramic figures, and monumental bronze sculptures. The museum also offers a gallery tour of "Deep Cuts: Block Printing Across Cultures" with curator Erin Maynes on November 18, alongside ongoing exhibitions such as works by Beeple, Zheng Chongbin, Youssef Nabil, Ai Weiwei, Mark Bradford, Robert Irwin, Barbara Kruger, Richard Serra, and Chris Burden, plus public programs like Mindful Monday, Communities Create LA! workshops, and member screenings of Academy Award contenders.

LACMA Expands Local Access Initiative with New Museum Partners and Exhibitions

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has expanded its Local Access program, adding three new museum partners: the California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) University Art Gallery, the Millard Sheets Art Center at the LA County Fair, and the Ontario Museum of History & Art. Supported by the Art Bridges Cohort Program, the initiative brings exhibitions sourced from LACMA's permanent collection to communities across Southern California. The program's latest exhibition, 'Act on It! Artists, Community, and the Brockman Gallery in Los Angeles,' opens at the Vincent Price Art Museum on September 27, exploring the legacy of the historic Brockman Gallery and its role in the Black Arts Movement.

LACMA Expands Local Access Initiative with New Museum Partners and Exhibitions

LACMA has expanded its Local Access initiative by adding three new museum partners: the California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) University Art Gallery, the Millard Sheets Art Center at the L.A. County Fair, and the Ontario Museum of History & Art. Supported by the Art Bridges Cohort Program, these institutions join four existing partners in creating exhibitions sourced from LACMA’s permanent collection. The program’s latest exhibition, "Act on It! Artists, Community, and the Brockman Gallery in Los Angeles," will open at the Vincent Price Art Museum on September 27. Local Access, launched in 2021, was the first Art Bridges Cohort Program in the Western United States.

Before You Now: Jessica Wimbley

The Vincent Price Art Museum is hosting 'Before You Now: Capturing the Self in Portraiture,' an exhibition drawn from LACMA's collection that explores self-portraiture through over 50 contemporary American artists working in photography, prints, drawings, video, and installation. The show includes a video series featuring artists like Jessica Wimbley, who discusses her work 'Cabinet Portrait: Wife Portrait' (2022), a large-scale reimagining of a 19th-century cabinet card bridal portrait that centers Blackness in American material culture by depicting herself in a non-traditional black wedding dress. The exhibition runs through August 30, 2025, with a related collage workshop led by Kalli Arte Collective on August 23.

Act on It! Artists, Community, and the Brockman Gallery in Los Angeles

The article reports on the exhibition "Act on It! Artists, Community, and the Brockman Gallery in Los Angeles," currently on view at the Lancaster Museum of Art and History through August 31, 2025, before traveling to the Vincent Price Art Museum and CSU Dominguez Hills in 2026. Organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the show revisits the legacy of the Brockman Gallery, founded in 1967 by brothers Alonzo Davis and Dale Brockman Davis in Leimert Park. As one of the first Black-owned commercial galleries on the West Coast, it provided a vital platform for Black artists during the Black Arts Movement, showcasing early works by figures such as Betye Saar, David Hammons, John Outterbridge, Charles White, Noah Purifoy, and Doyle Lane. The gallery also expanded into a nonprofit cultural hub through Brockman Gallery Productions, offering residencies, film festivals, and jazz concerts.

Henryk Ptasiewicz, His Life, His Art

Henryk Ptasiewicz, a British-born artist who became a fixture of the St. Louis art scene, died on October 22, 2025. He moved to St. Louis in 1999, built a practice through commissions and teaching, and in 2014 was invited to paint fiberglass cake sculptures for the city's 250th birthday, featuring figures like Dred Scott and Vincent Price. He was also a founding member of the Missouri Plein Air Painters and a frequent winner on the regional plein air competition circuit.

At ELAC’s Vincent Price Art Museum, an exhibition pays tribute to 30 years of Latina lesbian activism

East Los Angeles College’s Vincent Price Art Museum is hosting an exhibition through August that spans three decades of Latina lesbian activism in Los Angeles, from the 1980s to the late 2000s. The show features photos, posters, letters, and ephemera highlighting the fight against anti-gay hate crimes, alongside struggles for LGBTQ+ healthcare, affordable housing, fair wages for janitors, and immigrants’ rights. Co-curated by Jocelyne Sanchez and Vanessa Esperanza Quintero, the exhibition is a collaboration with UCLA’s Latina Futures 2050 Lab and pays tribute to activists including the late archivist Yolanda Retter Vargas.

Ofelia Esparza: Mexican Traditions in California Since 1945

OFELIA ESPARZA SINCE 1945 MEXICAN TRADITIONS IN CALIFORNIA

The Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College is presenting 'Ofelia Esparza: A Retrospective' until May 2026. This first major museum survey for the Chicana artist and altarista features 85 works, including recreations of her iconic altars and examples of her drawing, painting, and printmaking, tracing her artistic evolution from 1945 to the present.