The article critiques the growing influence of wealthy tech entrepreneurs on public art commissions, arguing that their personal tastes and desire for monumental, often self-aggrandizing works are reshaping civic spaces. It highlights how this trend sidelines professional curatorial expertise and community input, replacing public dialogue with private patronage that prioritizes technological spectacle over artistic depth or social relevance.
Artist Raili Jänese, an Estonian-born painter now based in Kirkland, Washington, creates colorful acrylic works that capture everyday human and animal behaviors with humor and tenderness. Her practice, which began after a corporate career, focuses on observation of mundane moments—people eating, drinking coffee, riding transit, and animals in urban settings. Her upcoming solo exhibition, "E.L.U," will be on view at Ryan James Fine Arts from May 1–31, 2025, with a Gallery Night on May 22. Jänese has shown work regionally at venues including Happy Time Studio Gallery, Oxbow Montlake, and the Seattle Art Fair, and has completed public art projects in Bellevue, Kent, Kirkland, and Seattle.
The Amherst Town Hall Art Gallery will host an exhibition of giclée prints by local photographer Stephen Texeira, opening on April 23rd. The show coincides with the return of Amherst Arts Night Plus, and the public is invited to a free reception with the artist that evening, featuring refreshments and music.
Lavorare nell’arte: opportunità da Roma Capitale, Fondazione Cariplo, Comune di Milano e Fucine Vulcano
This article lists five current job and funding opportunities in Italy's cultural sector. These include a call for live performance projects for Rome's Museum Night at the Civic Museums, the "Luoghi Plurali" grant from Fondazione Cariplo for urban regeneration through cultural reuse of disused spaces, a public art commission for a new library in Milan, a call for artists to access the workshops at Fucine Vulcano in Milan, and a search for cultural mediators by the Provincial Museums of South Tyrol.
Artist Phoebe Boswell has unveiled a major public art commission for Art on the Underground, installed across the escalators of Bethnal Green and Notting Hill Gate stations in London. The immersive photographic series features Black subjects moving underwater, captured in a stop-motion style that responds to the physical movement of commuters. The project was inspired by the statistic that 95 per cent of Black British adults do not swim, a reality Boswell links to generational trauma and structural inequality.
Rochdale recently hosted the FAB Youth Arts Festival, a multi-disciplinary event marking the conclusion of the town’s tenure as the Greater Manchester Town of Culture 2025-26. The festival featured a diverse array of visual arts, including the unveiling of a major new mural by artist Hayley Garner (Aylo) on the Regal Moon building, an outdoor exhibition at the Square Gallery by Hopwood Hall College students, and interdisciplinary showcases at Ebor Studio. The event attracted over 1,500 visitors and focused on the themes of freedom, art, and belonging.
Brooklyn-based photographer Keisha Scarville has been named the 2026 winner of the Brooklyn Museum’s Uovo Prize. The award includes a $25,000 cash prize, a solo exhibition at the museum, and a public art commission featured on the facade of Uovo’s Bushwick facility. Her upcoming presentation, titled "Where Salt Meets Black Water," will debut in May 2026 and features vinyl reproductions from her "Mama’s Clothes" series, which explores Guyanese heritage and maternal legacy through textiles.
High Line Art has announced its 2026 season of public art commissions for New York's elevated park. The program includes a billboard work by Katherine Bernhardt and three major installations by Patricia Ayres, Ximena Garrido-Lecca, and Derek Fordjour, alongside video works for the High Line Channel by Saba Khan and a film grouping by Marianna Simnett, Filip Kostic, and Ana Hušman.
Artist Judy Chicago recounts her frustrating experiences with public art commissions, focusing on a recent failed collaboration with Google for its Chicago headquarters at the Thompson Center. After being encouraged by her dealer to apply, Chicago was awarded a commission in fall 2025 to create a large terrazzo floor and a 17-story glass elevator shaft using her "Through the Flower" imagery. However, the project fell through after months of effort, mirroring earlier disappointments with the Beverly Hills Sculpture Park, where a city councilor questioned the value of her work, which Chicago attributes to institutionalized sexism.
A curated list of open calls, grants, and residencies for artists and designers for February 2026 has been published. Key opportunities include applications for The Other Art Fair Brooklyn, the Quilt Visions 2026 exhibition at Visions Museum of Textile Art, Jackson’s Art Prize, a public art commission for Boise Airport, the McNeese National Works on Paper Exhibition, the Melancholy 2026 online exhibition, the Sónar+D digital creativity festival, the World of WearableArt Competition, and the Hasselblad Masters 2026 photography contest.
The Mansfield Public Art Commission and the Mansfield Richland County Public Library are hosting a memorial art exhibition honoring the late Ruthie Akuchie, a local artist known for her creativity, musical abilities, and adventurous spirit. A dedication event is scheduled for February 5, 2026, at the library's second-floor atrium, and the exhibition will run through February and March as part of the library's Black History Month celebration. Akuchie's work explores themes of identity, emotion, and lived experience, with her sister Naomi Cantwell and father Rev. El Akuchie sharing personal reflections on her legacy.
The Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco announced a major public art commission by Jeffrey Gibson for Super Bowl LX festivities. The work, an adaptation of Gibson's 2022 video installation "THIS BURNING WORLD," will be installed as a 433-foot-long vinyl mural on the former Bloomingdale's building at San Francisco Centre, wrapping an entire city block. It will be fully unveiled on February 2, 2026, coinciding with the FOG Design+Art Fair. The project is funded by the San Francisco Downtown Development Corporation and the Yerba Buena Partnership, which have previously supported public art by Sarah Sze and Hank Willis Thomas.
The Mansfield Public Art Commission, in partnership with the Mansfield Richland County Public Library, is presenting a memorial art exhibition honoring the life and work of Ruthie Akuchie, a beloved local artist. A dedication event will be held on February 5 at the Main Library in Mansfield, Ohio, and the exhibition will remain on display through February and March as part of Black History Month celebrations. Akuchie, whose art explored identity, emotion, and lived experience, was also a musician and missionary; her work continues to tell stories of resilience and cultural pride after her untimely death last year.