Artnews

Construction crews dismantling Vaillancourt Fountain at the Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco on April 27, 2026. Photo Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images The family of 96-year-old Quebecois sculptor Armand Vaillancourt is not giving up the fight to save the 710-ton concrete landmark known as Québec Libre! or the Vaillancourt Fountain. The public artwork …

Family of Nonagenarian Sculptor Is Fighting to Halt Demolition of Iconic Brutalist Fountain in Downtown San Francisco Read More »

Production still from Raven’s Murderers Bar, 2025. ©Lucy Raven/Courtesy the Artist and Lisson Gallery After an inaugural edition last year, the AIR festival will return to Aspen, Colorado, in July with a program of performances, exhibitions, talks, and other events in the high-flying mountain town. The second edition, slated for July 27-31, will feature some …

Aspen AIR Festival to Feature Lucy Raven, Camille Henrot, Los Thuthanaka, Morgan Bassichis, and More Read More »

Treat a Stranger Grant recipients (from top left to bottom right): Samiya Bashir, Malcolm-X Betts, Agosto Machado, Jacolby Satterwhite, Christopher Udemezue, Pe Ferreira, Gavilán Rayna Russom, Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo), Mercy Kelly, and Keioui Keijaun Thomas. Courtesy Giorno Poetry Systems Giorno Poetry Systems, a nonprofit organization founded by the artist and downtown New York …

Giorno Poetry Systems Gives Grants to 12 Artists Including Jacolby Satterwhite, Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo), and the Late Agosto Machado Read More »

Essence Harden will be senior curator at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Photo Barrington Darius The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) in San Francisco has named Essence Harden as senior curator. She will begin in the role on May 18. Harden currently serves as curator of the Expo Chicago art fair. Since …

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Appoints Essence Harden as Senior Curator Read More »

A design for the Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art. Courtesy Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art The forthcoming Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art has received a $490 million construction grant from Diriyah Company, a real estate juggernaut that has previously thrown its support behind an array of resorts, a digital art institution, and …

Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art Gets $490 M. from Powerful Real Estate Firm Read More »

Janne Sirén. Courtesy Buffalo AKG Art Museum Janne Sirén, the director of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum in Upstate New York, will depart his post in October after more than a decade, opening up yet another top role at a US art institution. Sirén oversaw the museum as it expanded dramatically in 2023, adding another …

Buffalo AKG Art Museum Director Janne Sirén to Depart After 13 Years Read More »

Kate Kraczon. Montclair Art Museum. The Montclair Art Museum has a new chief curator. The New Jersey institution hired Kate Kraczon, who lost her job as director of exhibitions and chief curator at the David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island, late last year amid a wave of layoffs; she had …

Montclair Art Museum Hires Esteemed Curator Kate Kraczon After Layoffs at Brown University Read More »

A seagull stands on the 16th-century Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal in Venice, 2026. NurPhoto via Getty Images To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter. Good morning! Emails between Venice Biennale organizers and the Russian Pavilion commissioner reveal plans to close the latter pavilion to the public after the vernissage. Matthew …

Emails Suggest Venice Biennale Organizers Planned for Limited Russian Participation, SF Appoints First Arts and Culture Director, and More: Morning Links for April 28, 2026 Read More »

Natalia Kaliada and Daniella Kaliada pictured with a work in progress by Sergey Grinevich for “Official. Unofficial. Belarus.” Photo Tina Zaborowska/Courtesy Belarus Free Theatre While much attention—and controversy—has been generated in recent months over the return of Russia to the Venice Biennale, another outcast nation will also have its first presence at the global art …

A Theatre Group of Exiled Belarusian Artists Arrive in Venice, With an Exhibition That Shows What Repression Feels Like Read More »

Vaillancourt Fountain with prominent Closed sign on construction fence, San Francisco, California, November 20, 2025. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images) Gado via Getty Images To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter. The Headlines BLIND BLISS. A new sculpture has popped up in London’s Waterloo Place, bearing the signature of the elusive Banksy, …

Advocates Try to Save Brutalist Fountain in San Francisco, José Aparicio Painting Returns to Prado Museum: Morning Links for April 30, 2026 Read More »