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Miami Beach public votes to acquire Sanford Biggers quilt for public art collection

The city bought the piece from the local dealer David Castillo’s virtual Art Basel in Miami Beach display as part of its Legacy Purchase Program

Artists and architects ask MoMA and other institutions to remove Philip Johnson’s name citing his racist views

The famous architect attended Nazi rallies in his youth and openly made anti-Semitic and white supremacist comments

Eight miles of Ice Age rock art uncovered in Colombian Amazon

The prehistoric murals—dubbed the "Sistine Chapel of the ancients"—depict people interacting with now extinct animals such as mastodons and giant sloths, before the region became a tropical rainforest

James Demetrion, director who shaped the Hirshhorn Museum’s collection, has died, aged 90

The much loved leader is remembered for his unpretentiousness and his warmth, as well as his pioneering vision

Jaws shark installed in the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles

The museum, due to open in April 2021, has acquired the 25-foot prop model for its permanent collection

Gordon Baldwin, longtime Getty photography curator, has died, aged 81

A former artist and fixture of Warhol’s Factory, the curator got his start at the Getty cataloguing two important photography collections

Three exhibitions to see in New York this weekend

From a portal to the Utah monolith at David Zwirner to Vivian Springford’s meditative paintings at Almine Rech

Designnews

Archives of Ivan Chermayeff, the designer behind Smithsonian sun and MoMA logo, donated to New York’s School of Visual Arts

The influential designer taught at the school and for years and students will now have access to his professional and personal work

Metropolitan Museum board appoints first woman co-chair

Candace Beinecke and Hamilton James will lead the trustees

Gordon Parks Foundation hires programme director to expand artist and social justice initiatives

Michal Raz-Russo, a photography curator at the Art Institute of Chicago, will oversee new grants, fellowships, exhibitions and publications

Designnews

Mississippi voters approve new state flag design, trading controversial Confederate symbol for magnolia flower

The replacement banner was approved by a 71% majority, and was created by a local graphic designer

How to build the next American president

Gretchen Andrew’s “power trip” sees her manipulating the internet to design her ideal leader of the free world

Living monuments of Trump’s failures arrive in Washington ahead of the election

The Trump Statue Initiative, a guerrilla troupe of performers, have satirized the darkest moments of the presidency

Souls Grown Deep Foundation will give living artists a 5% royalty when collection works are resold

The initiative aims to address historic discrimination against artists of colour, who often gain recognition—and market value—later in their careers

Art programme that keeps minor offenders out of court at risk of defunding

New York City might pull the budget for Project Reset, which has helped 4,500 people stay out of the criminal justice system and find a second chance through art

Massive ancient cat image discovered among Peru’s Nazca Lines

The 2,000 year-old earth carving could be the oldest geoglyph ever found

Three exhibitions to see in New York this weekend

From Trenton Doyle Hancock's face-off with Klansmen at James Cohan to Feliciano Centurión's textile paintings at Americas Society

Exhibitionsinterview

'I learned a lot from Goya': an interview with the poet and artist Lawrence Ferlinghetti

The influential 101-year-old founder of San Francisco’s City Lights Bookstore discusses his paintings and drawings, now on view in New York

Lacma has put its director’s spacious $6.57m home on the market

A more modest Los Angeles dwelling seems to be lined up for Michael Govan

Cowan’s auction house returns indigenous war god sculpture to a Zuni Pueblo

The figures, carved by tribal members every winter and left in ceremonial shrines atop a mountain, have regularly been stolen and made their into museums and private collections throughout the US and Europe

Robert Bechtle, Bay Area photorealist whose work captured the magic of everyday moments, has died, aged 88

The painter created hyper realistic images based on photographs he took in his Bay Area neighbourhood

New Jersey artist residency turns their campus into a free drive-in theatre

Gardenship in Kearny Point has been hosting video art exhibitions and film screenings during the pandemic, including the Jean Michel-Basquiat cult classic Downtown 81 this weekend

Three exhibitions to see in New York this weekend

From Brian Clarke's light-filled stained glass at the Museum of Arts and Design to Dan Herschlein's dark horror movie tropes at JTT gallery

Wake up call: artist Hank Willis Thomas wants to spur voter turnout with the Wide Awakes group

Based on the 1860 Wide Awake movement that mobilised against slavery and helped elect Lincoln, the new network of artists and creatives has launched Kickstarter's largest collaboration to date

Labournews

Crisis at Hunter College: after surprise layoffs, remaining art assistants refuse to work

The part-time staff who were spared from the axe still do not have contracts for the autumn semester, while classes have already started

Siah Armajani, the Iranian-American conceptual artist, has died, aged 81

Artist and exploratory thinker delved into architectural imagery, including revitalised bridges and poetic farm buildings

Sotheby’s teams up with the Keith Haring Foundation to auction Haring’s personal collection for charity

All works—by artists such as Basquiat, Warhol and Rammellzee—will make their auction debut in the sale, which is expected to make $1m for the LGBTQ nonprofit the Center

Lawnews

Bathurst family sues art lender over Gainsborough painting offered as collateral by disgraced dealer

The noble family, whose ancestors are depicted in the work, says Art Finance Partners should have known Timothy Sammons did not legally own the painting

Luchita Hurtado, painter who gained greater fame later in life, has died, aged 99

A recurring theme of the artist’s enormous body of work is the cosmic unity of all things

Booksnews

Former US president George W. Bush unveils portraits of immigrants in new book

But blowback has been swift against the hobbyist painter, whose immigration policies while in office included the creation of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement