American Museums

Exhibition at New York's Drawing Center explores the ‘freedom to ornament’

Nearly 200 works from various civilisations, cultures and histories chronicle shifting approaches to beautification and the complex language of patterns

Kohler heiress's foundation announces inaugural grants for non-profit cultural organisations

The grant-making initiative was launched with a $440m bequest from the late vernacular art collector and patron Ruth DeYoung Kohler

Metropolitan Museum of Art increases admission fee

The museum initially changed its "pay-as-you-wish" policy in 2018

Daniel H. Weiss will step down as president and chief executive of the Metropolitan Museum

Weiss, who guided the Met through several major projects and challenges during his tenure, will step down in June 2023

Smithsonian's hunt for sites for national Latino and women’s museums narrowed down to four locations

The institution will announce the selected Washington, DC sites for the National Museum of the American Latino and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum by the end of the year

The newly-restored Morgan Library and Museum opens a public garden

The $13m project entailed a comprehensive exterior restoration and landscape redesign

Jewel box museum of Old Master artworks reopens in San Diego

The Timken Museum of Art, the only museum with a Rembrandt on public display in San Diego, underwent a major two-year renovation

New York’s Jewish Museum announces formation of a union

The unionisation follows similar decisions made by the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and others

Time is up on relaxed rules for US museums wanting to sell their works—did this brief shift have any lasting impact?

As stringent restrictions on art sales return after a pandemic reprieve, American institutions seem more polarised than ever

Light and much more Space: first look at the expanded Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

La Jolla museum is set to reopen after a $105m renovation and collection revamp, telling the story of contemporary art from a distinctively West Coast perspective

Tainted gifts: as British Museum and the Met disavow the Sackler name, museums rethink donation deals

Institutions are increasingly including “morals clauses” in gift agreements to protect themselves if donors fall from grace

Medieval Jewish codex to be shown in New York before conservation

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will begin conservation efforts later this year with a $27,600 grant from The European Fine Art Foundation

Labournews

Can New York's imminent salary transparency law pierce the art world's smokescreen?

City council's move to enforce wage disclosures in job adverts could usher in a sea change at major US cultural institutions—challenging persistent pay inequality in the sector

Suspect in Museum of Modern Art stabbings arrested in Philadelphia

The man suspected of stabbing two front desk workers at MoMA was apprehended in a bus station in Philadelphia after a days-long manhunt

Metropolitan Museum picks Mexican architect Frida Escobedo for $500m revamp of Modern and contemporary art wing

Escobedo, the first woman to design a wing at the museum, was chosen over candidates including David Chipperfield, Ensamble Studio and other firms

Crime news

Suspect in stabbing of MoMA employees remains at large, threatens former president Donald Trump

A man identified as Gary Cabana stabbed two front desk employees at the Museum of Modern Art on 12 March and the following day threatened to trespass Mar-a-Lago

Historic East Hampton museum Guild Hall begins $25m renovation

Founded in 1931, Guild Hall holds a collection of more than 2,000 artworks by Jackson Pollock, Thomas Moran and others

SFMoMA receives gift of 350 works and $10m bequest from late American trustees

The donation includes works by Marcel Duchamp, Jeff Koons, Ai Weiwei and others from the collection of the late philanthropists Norah and Norman Stone

Yinka Shonibare unveils project focused on the Great Migration

The third iteration of the artist’s 'Libraries' series will be permanently installed at the Rollins Museum of Art in Florida

US revises law governing repatriation of Indigenous remains and burial objects

The effort, conducted in consultation with Native American tribes and nations, would enable greater enforcement of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston to expand its Islamic art galleries

The museum’s Islamic art collection spans more than 1,400 pieces as well as important long-term loans

‘Communities are affected when someone is imprisoned’: Arizona exhibition explores the social impact of mass incarceration

The show, at the Arizona State University Art Museum, comes as museums nationwide grapple with the fine line between ‘fetishising’ prisoners and broadening dialogue around incarceration

UC Berkeley returns Wiyot human remains and burial objects

The university still holds one of the largest collections of Indigenous human remains and sacred objects in the US

How US museums are celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day, from coast to coast

The 27th anniversary of the federal holiday honouring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is being celebrated nationwide through a dynamic series of online and in-person events

Bronx Museum of the Arts to undertake $21m expansion

The project includes the addition of a multi-storey entrance and lobby, and is being supported with state and city funds

The Met begins $70m renovation of African, ancient American and Oceanic art galleries

The galleries, housed in the Michael C. Rockefeller wing of the museum, will be modernised to better contextualise the collection and illustrate the ‘complex story of cultural development over the last 5,000 years’

Boston College museum receives $25m in art and grants from philanthropist Peter Lynch

The McMullen Museum of Art is gaining works by Winslow Homer, Mary Cassatt, Childe Hassam, Albert Bierstadt, and others

Brooklyn Museum appoints KP Trueblood as its new president and chief operating officer

Trueblood, who will replace David Berliner early next year, has a background in government and public service

Studio Museum in Harlem raises $210m for new David Adjaye building

Site for black artists expected to open in 2024 with site-specific commission by Theaster Gates