Art Newz

Museum exhibit takes visitors through history leading up to election

LEXINGTON, Ky. (UK Public Affairs) — From a celebrated portrait of the nation’s first president George Washington to a drawing of George Floyd, University of Kentucky Art Museum’s “This is America*” examines the nation’s story — the good, the bad and the ugly — as the nation approaches the most divisive presidential election in recent history. “Originally planned to coincide with…

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Protests in paint: Student uses art to fight for social justice

“COVID this way,” read a faux road sign across from Sky Bar and Southeastern on Aug. 28, with an arrow pointing toward the two establishments. While some students returning to Auburn in August took to downtown bars to party, some of their peers were dismayed. The mind behind the sign, Rose Williams, junior in theatre, was…

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Hammer Curator Erin Christovale on How Museums Can Support Social Justice

Museums are experiencing a cultural reckoning over race, identity and historical legacy. Black arts workers have been central in calling on museums to be more inclusive of the communities they serve. Erin Christovale, associate curator at the Hammer Museum, focuses on experimental moving images and visual art. She has helped give emerging Black artists the…

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Social media advocacy group calls for a boycott of all US museums in October

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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1st-in-the-U.S. show at Newfields will let you experience a painting with all your senses

Indianapolis will soon feel what it’s like to walk inside — and even listen to and smell — paintings in a new experience that takes up a space almost equal to half a football field. The Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields announced Wednesday that it will open The Lume Indianapolis, a cinema-like installation that will comprise…

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How AR Is Redefining Retail in the Pandemic

Covid-19 has supercharged all things virtual, propelling industries like retail well into the future. According to IBM’s 2020 U.S. Retail Index report, the pandemic has accelerated the shift to digital shopping by roughly five years. Augmented Reality (AR) applications have been on the rise with virtual “try-before-you-buy” experiences ranging from previewing furniture and products in your…

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How Technology Is Reshaping Art to Make Us Rethink Our World

As the CEO of Silicon Valley’s leading art studio Drue Kataoka Studios, artist-technologist-activist Drue Kataoka is leading the way into the future. Her commissioned artwork, which spans genres from steel sculpture and painting to virtual reality and EEG brainwaves, is at the forefront of democratizing art and, in the process, creating massive social impact. For Kataoka, creating…

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Mellon Foundation Pledges $250 Million To Rethink Nation’s Monuments

Hundreds of people gather at the Robert E. Lee monument in Richmond, Va., in July. The Mellon Foundation says it will spend $250 million over five years to re-imagine commemorative spaces in the U.S. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation says the nation’s current monuments offer an “incomplete and even inaccurate” picture of the nation’s diversity…

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Dutch government committee recommends return of colonial-era artefacts

A Dutch panel set up by the culture ministry has recommended the return of artefacts removed from former colonies in a report calling for “the recognition that an injustice was done to the local populations of former colonial territories when cultural objects were taken against their will”. The committee, which included museum staff members, recommends…

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Ahead of US elections, artist group highlights ‘devastating impact’ of Trump’s travel ban three years on

The controversial executive order issued by the US president three years ago continues to affect artists from countries throughout the world 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…

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