A trailblazing publication on Thomas Gainsborough has won the 2020 William MB Berger Prize for British Art History, a UK-based award for scholarly publications which “recognises excellence in the field of British art history”. A panel of seven judges picked Thomas Gainsborough. The Portraits, Fancy Pictures and Copies after Old Masters by Hugh Belsey (published by Yale University…
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The idea of socially engaged artmaking is nothing new, and artists and designers have long used their work to give voice to the powerless, advance issues of economic and social injustice, and enhance the lives of the people within their communities. These values are woven throughout MICA’s culture and infuse the practices of our alumni…
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The activist group and Instagram account @changethemuseum has issued a public call to forgo visiting all US museums for the month of October, as many reopen after months of coronavirus-related closures. Yet some museum workers have expressed concerns that the initiative may actually harm workers, and fear that a boycott may not yield real institutional…
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The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation says the nation’s current monuments offer an “incomplete and even inaccurate” picture of the nation’s diversity and complicated history. So it’s pledging $250 million over five years to change that. “Statues are not just bodies in bronze, and monuments are not just stone pillars,” the foundation’s announcement says. “They instruct. They lift…
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A recently unveiled idealized nude sculpture honoring feminist philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft has been widely seen as a step backward for feminism. But the much-derided artwork has given a boost to efforts to honor other pioneering female figures, including Virginia Woolf. Spearheaded by art nonprofit Aurora Metro Arts and Media, the fundraising campaign to build a monument to the Bloomsbury author…
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Ancient Egypt is yielding some not-so-ancient discoveries. Archaeologists recently excavated more than 100 painted sarcophagi—some of which hold mummies—in Saqqara, an ancient burial ground south of Cairo. The details of the discovery, the largest made at the site this year, were shared during a splashy press conference on Saturday, November 14. The news follows the…
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The British Museum is working with Nigerian officials on an ambitious $4 million excavation that will lay the groundwork for the new museum. The forthcoming Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA) in Benin City, Nigeria, is sitting atop a treasure trove of cultural heritage. Valuable archaeological remains from the former Kingdom of Benin are buried beneath…
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The Polish artist Joanna Piotrowska has donated 100 limited edition photographs in a bid to raise money and awareness for women’s rights in Poland. The move follows a ruling last month by the country’s constitutional court banning abortion in cases of severe fetal abnormalities, meaning terminations in Poland are now only allowed in cases of…
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In the run-up to the US presidential election this November, the New York-based human rights non-profit Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI) is drawing attention to one of President Donald Trump’s most controversial acts, Executive Order 13780, the so-called travel ban that prevents people from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. “AFI very much hopes…
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PERFORMANCE ART takes many forms. On Sunday, it was realized in the impassioned sermon preached by Rev. William J. Barber II from the pulpit of his Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, N.C. Invoking history, astronomy, and the lyrics of Mary J. Blige, he said Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris is the light of the world, emerging four years…
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