Ces 5 créatrices « inoubliables » à découvrir absolument à Gand

The Museum of Fine Arts (MSK) in Ghent is hosting the exhibition "Inoubliables" (Unforgettables), on view until May 31, which highlights the work of women artists from the 17th and 18th centuries in the former Netherlands region. The show features about 40 female creators active between 1600 and 1750, including painters like Michaelina Wautier, Judith Leyster, and Rachel Ruysch, working in genres from portraiture and still life to engraving, lacemaking, and paper cutting. The exhibition aims to restore these women to their rightful place in art history.

Can the V&A’s New Museum Fulfill Its Democratic Promise?

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has opened its new V&A East museum and V&A East Storehouse in Stratford, East London. This expansion, part of a £660 million redevelopment, presents the museum's collection with a focus on community co-design, social justice themes, and local artists, aiming to be more accessible and democratic than its imposing South Kensington flagship.

V&A East opens as ‘civic space’ for creativity and community

V&A East Museum, a major new branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum, opened on 18 April in London's Olympic Park as part of the East Bank cultural quarter. The free-entry museum features permanent galleries and temporary exhibitions, launching with a landmark show titled 'The Music is Black: A British Story,' which traces over a century of Black British music through more than 200 objects. Developed with BBC Music, the exhibition includes items from artists like Winifred Atwell, Little Simz, Skepta, and Mis-Teeq. The museum's permanent display, 'Why We Make,' was co-created with the V&A East Youth Collective and explores global creative motivations. The opening was marked by a star-studded event with performances by AJ Tracey, Beverley Knight, and MNEK.

An Art Historian’s Riotous Novel Melds Medieval Art with Monica Lewinsky

Julia Langbein's new novel *Dear Monica Lewinsky*, published by Doubleday, follows translator Jean Dornan as she revisits a traumatic relationship with a professor from her youth, set against the backdrop of the 1998 Monica Lewinsky scandal. The story interweaves medieval art, particularly the 13th-century *Golden Legend*, with Lewinsky's public shaming, as Jean prays to Lewinsky for guidance and is visited by a haloed version of her. Langbein, an art historian with a PhD from the University of Chicago, draws on her expertise to explore themes of humiliation, self-estrangement, and collective experience.

‘Good for the soul’: Local art show opens at Oshawa art gallery tonight

The Oshawa Art Association (OAA) is hosting the opening reception and awards night for its 58th annual juried art exhibition tonight at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, Ontario. The free event runs from 6 to 9 p.m., featuring live music by local singer David Saliba, attendance from local politicians, and a cash bar. The exhibition, which includes over 100 artworks selected from nearly 300 submissions, will remain on display until May 10. Categories include wildlife, people, abstracts, sculptures, and a youth category for artists aged 12 to 18, with $3,000 in total prize money awarded by jurors Hi-Sook Barker and Lucy Manley.

Haitham Al Busafi to Represent Oman at 2026 Venice Biennale

Oman has chosen artist, architect, and curator Haitham Al Busafi to represent the country at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026. Al Busafi will curate and present his own monumental installation, Zīnah, in the national pavilion, commissioned by the Omani Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth. The work transforms a traditional Omani horse harness into an interactive spatial experience using sand, metal, and sound.

You told us want you want to see in our arts coverage. We heard you

During the Milwaukee Art Museum’s annual Art in Bloom event, the Journal Sentinel gathered feedback from hundreds of attendees and digital survey respondents about what they want from arts coverage. The new arts and culture reporter, who wrote the article, outlines the key requests: more advance event coverage (especially free, family-friendly, and hands-on activities), support for smaller and underground art scenes, profiles of local artists including youth, coverage of overlooked art forms like graffiti and fabric arts, and diverse representation of Latino, women, LGBTQ+, and immigrant artists.

Desert art and youthful joy fill Cobre Valley Center for the Arts

The Cobre Valley Center for the Arts in Arizona is hosting a month-long Desert Art Show through April, featuring hand-painted items, paintings, and photography from local and international artists including Debbie Yerkovich, Amanda Moore, Jessica Goodwin, Ivan Macarambon, and Wanda Mitchell-Tucker. During the same period, the Center celebrated the 'Week of the Young Child' with a special elementary student display titled 'A Joyful World,' showcasing artwork by local schoolchildren that explores themes of joy, family, and community. The children's exhibit also serves as a tribute to Carolyn Haro, a former key figure at the Center who had long envisioned such a display.

Exhibits feature local artists, including youth

The Public Works Art Center in downtown Summerville is currently hosting four concurrent exhibitions featuring local artists, including Tom Stanley, Paul Matheny, Karyn Healey, and the late Gene Merritt, as well as a showcase for student artists. The shows, which run through May 16, present a range of works from paintings reflecting Southern culture to documentary photography of the town and youth art.

Oman announces artist, concept for Venice Biennale

Haitham Al-Busafi will represent Oman at the 61st Venice Biennale, serving as both artist and curator. His installation, titled "Zinah," transforms the tradition of Omani silver horse adornment (Al-zaanah) into an immersive environment of sand, suspended metal, and collectively generated sound. Located in the Arsenale Artiglierie and commissioned by Oman's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, the work was developed through a community workshop in Muscat where participants inscribed marks into silver forms. The exhibition runs from May 9 to November 22, 2025.

Cocoa’s picks: Gallery openings, mural celebrations and music competitions

The article highlights several arts events in Bellingham, Washington, including a community mural celebration led by Coast Salish artist Jason LaClair, an opening reception for Charles Villiers' solo exhibition "Untethered" at Cordata Gallery, an improvised musical called "You: The Musical" at The Upfront Theatre, and a Youth Chamber Music Competition hosted by the Harmony Chamber Music Festival. These events span visual art, theater, and classical music, with the mural project involving over 500 children and families in selecting the design.

Redwood Art Association Gallery Hosting Humboldt Youth Exhibition on May 2

The Redwood Art Association Gallery in Eureka, California, will host the Humboldt Youth Exhibition on Saturday, May 2, from 6 to 9 PM. The event will feature music by guitarist Ron Hoenig and is open to the public at the gallery's location on 603 F Street.

In Romagna for over a century there is a "serious" spring carnival. The story of the plaster and thought floats

In Romagna da oltre un secolo c’è un Carnevale “serio” di primavera. La storia dei carri di gesso e di pensiero

A small town in Romagna, Casola Valsenio, has been hosting a unique spring festival for 125 years, featuring massive allegorical floats made of plaster and wood. Unlike traditional carnivals, this event—called the "serious carnival"—takes place in late April/early May and focuses on social and political themes. The floats, up to seven meters long and nine meters high, are built by local youth and paraded twice (day and night) with performers frozen in tableau vivant poses. A jury, this year chaired by Roberto Cantagalli, director of the MAR museum in Ravenna, awards a winner.

Young Lawrence artists of Hang12 unveil 32 new pieces of art celebrating Kansas

The Lawrence Art Center's Hang12 program, a group of high school students who curate art shows and events, unveiled 32 new pieces of art in the New Hampshire Street parking garage in Lawrence, Kansas. The artworks, designed by Lawrence High School juniors Wren Jay and Rilo Scholz, celebrate native Kansas plants and animals and were collectively painted and assembled by Hang12 members. A ribbon-cutting ceremony featured remarks from multidisciplinary artist Mona Cliff, who completed a mural in the same garage in 2025, and a tour of the new works.

‘Rightstarter’ art exhibit at Antioch revisits hip-hop’s golden era

The Herndon Gallery at Antioch College is opening a group exhibition titled 'Rightstarter: Resistance, Rap and the Golden Era,' curated by artist Joshua Whitaker. The show, launching with a reception on May 9, explores the rap counterculture of the late 1980s and early 1990s, featuring works by artists from Dayton and beyond. It includes drawings, paintings, sculpture, installations, video, and performance, with a live jazz performance by G. Scott Jones and the Freedom Ensemble. The exhibition highlights how hip-hop served as a platform for social commentary against the backdrop of Reaganomics, the crack epidemic, the war on drugs, and the AIDS crisis.

Emerging artists up for exhibition award

The 53rd Riversdale Mixed Media Arts Exhibition will take place in June at the Riversdale Community Centre in New Zealand, featuring a $1,000 emerging artist award for artists aged 13-25 from Southland, Queenstown-Lakes, and West Otago. The award received a record 44 entries in 2025, with judges Marcella and Jim Geddes selecting the top 10 artworks for display on opening day. Last year's winner, 18-year-old Finn Young from Southland Boys' High School, won with a woodcut printmaking piece depicting native birds and the extinction of the huia.

Skateboard Art Exhibit to display 80 students’ artwork

The Tioga Arts Council, in partnership with the Floyd Hooker Foundation and the Tioga County Youth Bureau, is hosting a Skateboard Art Exhibition at Owego Free Academy featuring artwork from 80 students. Artist Mark Rivard, through his program Do Rad Things, will lead seminars from April 27-30 covering motivational speaking, art entrepreneurship, and skateboard design, culminating in a public exhibition on May 1 at the Tioga Arts Council in Owego, New York.

Must-see Milwaukee exhibits on view in May 2026 | The Shortlist

The article highlights several art exhibitions on view in Milwaukee in May 2026, curated around themes of graduation and motherhood. Featured shows include Ahmari Benton's solo exhibition 'No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear' at Mitchell Street Arts, Cameron Clayborn's solo show 'That's When Love Swallows You Whole, Right. Now' at Experimental Sculpture Room, the group exhibition 'Mom & Art' at Milwaukee Makers Market, and a youth art exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Many of the shows honor resilience, identity, memory, and the complexities of motherhood, with some featuring works by artists who have passed away.

Students’ creativity celebrated at Armstrong art gallery

The Armstrong Spallumcheen Museum and Art Gallery in British Columbia is hosting "School Crossing," an exhibition featuring artwork from students of all ages across the Armstrong and Spallumcheen area. The show runs from April 30 to May 23, 2026, and includes works from Highland Park Elementary, Armstrong Elementary, Len Wood Middle School, Pleasant Valley Secondary, the North Okanagan Junior Academy, and local home-school families. A special reception for students, families, and teachers will be held on May 2.

Artists at work: A peek behind the canvas

The Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach has opened a small exhibition titled "Artists at Work," curated by first-time curator Sarah Bass, a curatorial research associate at the museum. The show features paintings, photographs, and sculptures that focus on the creative process rather than finished works, including pieces by Charles Griffin Farr, Hiram Williams, Ben Benn, Bay Williams, Robert Bailey, and William Zorach. Highlights include a self-portrait by Farr, Williams's seemingly incomplete "Big Studio Table," and Zorach's terra-cotta sketch for "Youth" displayed alongside the final marble sculpture. Photographs of artists like Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, and Fernand Léger in their studios further emphasize the theme of the artist at work.

Kim Gordon Was Never Just the “Girl in the Band”

Kim Gordon, best known as co-founder of the influential indie rock band Sonic Youth, is the subject of a new exhibition titled "Count Your Chickens" at Amant in New York. Curated by Patricia Margarita Hernández, the show surveys Gordon’s visual art from 2007 to the present, including paintings, drawings, ceramics, and video works such as "Jeanetta and Alex" (2026). The exhibition explores themes of celebrity, gender, electricity, and the tension between public image and private reality, featuring pieces like "Paris, Paris" (2025) and the "Airbnb Series" (2019).