Alton Yan

Plan to build border wall along the Rio Grande in Texas threatens prehistoric rock art, locals warn

Archaeologists and landowners claim the proposed extension of the Mexico-US border wall in Val Verde County could damage thousands of millennia-old cave paintings located within a designated national historic landmark

Christopher Columbus statue installed on White House grounds

A replica of a monument toppled during protests in 2020 has been erected near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building as Donald Trump frames the explorer as a national hero

Trevor Paglen wins $100,000 LG Guggenheim Award

The artist and investigator of digital surveillance infrastructures will deliver a hybrid lecture-performance at the Guggenheim in New York in May

Next edition of Getty's PST Art initiative will focus on Los Angeles’s connections around the Pacific Rim

The initiative’s fourth edition in 2030 will be devoted to transpacific cultural exchange, with grant applications opening to institutions across eight Southern California counties this June

Texas university's sudden cancellation of exhibition with works critical of Ice sparks censorship row

The removal of Victor Quiñonez’s immigration-themed exhibition at the University of North Texas without explanation has intensified concerns about artistic freedom at public universities in the state

White House presses Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery for new Trump portrait and display

Administration officials discussed adding multiple images of Trump to the “America’s Presidents” exhibition, and a second official portrait of the sitting president, even though the first has never gone on view

Metropolitan Museum, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and US collector return dozens of antiquities to Turkey

The repatriations are linked to long-running investigations into looting at Bubon and other archaeological sites, as prosecutors in New York step up pressure on museums and collectors

Bob Ross painting sells for record $1m at auction to benefit US public broadcasters

Four original canvases by the late television painting instructor have been sold lately to raise funds for US public broadcasting following slashes by the Trump administration, and dozens more will be offered in 2026

Vast pre-Maya earthwork in Mexico is a map of the cosmos, archaeological analysis suggests

The 3,000-year-old ceremonial complex of Aguada Fénix in Tabasco was designed as a monumental “cosmogram”, according to new research

Crypto entrepreneur proposes colossal, $450m statue of Prometheus for San Francisco’s Alcatraz Island

Ross Calvin envisions the logistically complex colossus, which would be around 50% taller than the State of Liberty, as a symbol of American ingenuity

Archaeologists from Costa Rica and Mexico restore ancient stone spheres at Unesco World Heritage site

Fragile limestone carvings from the Diquís culture undergo conservation at the Finca 6 Museum Site in southern Costa Rica

Pennsylvania man sentenced to prison for fraud scheme involving forged works by Picasso, Basquiat and Warhol

Court orders fraudster to pay more than $186,000 in restitution and a $50,000 fine, plus serve a two-month prison sentence

Egyptian doctor gets prison sentence for smuggling hundreds of looted artefacts into the US

New York court told of elaborate fake provenances, forgery toolkits and freshly excavated artefacts bound for the antiquities art market

Bard College's Center for Curatorial Studies to open $10m library expansion in October

The addition of the Keith Haring Wing will more than double the library and archives facility's capacity

Lost Maya stronghold against Spanish conquest discovered in Mexican jungle

Believed to be Sac Balam, the last stronghold of rebellious Lacandon Ch’ol Maya, the site sheds light on colonial resistance and Indigenous survival strategies