California
New California law could reverse outcome in dispute over Nazi-looted Pissarro
The new law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom is intended to resolve a decades-long restitution claim in a California family’s favour
Employment in California’s creative economy took a hit in 2023, but ‘museums were leading the way’ to growth
The latest Otis College of Art and Design report on the state’s arts economy found every sector experienced declines in employment last year—except the fine and performing arts
Robert Irwin, pioneering creator of light and experiential art, has died, aged 95
Irwin explored human perception with his installations as well as the spaces he designed for institutions such as the Getty Museum in Los Angeles
Collection of late California patron Chara Schreyer could net more than $70m at Sotheby’s in New York
In sales spanning this year and next, hundreds of works that once belonged to the SFMoMA trustee will be offered, including a box in a suitcase by Duchamp
California museum returns nearly 1,300 pre-Columbian artefacts to Mexico
The repatriation ceremony at the San Bernardino County Museum was timed to coincide with the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month in the US and Mexican Independence Day
San Francisco gallerist filmed hosing down unhoused woman strikes deal to have battery charges dismissed
Collier Gwin, who was facing up to six months in prison if his case had gone to trial, will complete 35 hours of volunteer work
Less than half of California State University campuses are complying with federal Native American restitution regulations, audit finds
The California universities “generally lack the policies, funding and staffing necessary to follow the law and repatriate their collections”, the report found.
Oil giant Chevron removed public art installation without warning, artists allege
The energy giant did not inform the associated artists of their plans to remove a piece of art that advocate for environmental justice, according to organisers
Visual and performing artists have struggled to recover from the pandemic, analysis of California’s creative economy shows
Fine and performing artists contributed $34.9bn to California’s economy in 2021, according to Otis College of Art and Design’s latest annual report, far less than workers in media and even architecture
Van Gogh goes to Hollywood: the celebrities who have owned Vincent's work
Californian collectors had the taste and cash to buy some of his finest paintings, with stars including Elizabeth Taylor, Edward Robinson and Barbra Streisand
With new $94m building, the Orange County Museum of Art gets its own version of the Met museum steps
Fourteen years in the making, the new 53,000 sq. ft building designed by Thom Mayne of architecture firm Morphosis features a wide outdoor staircase intended to serve as a gathering place
Facing mounting financial losses, Santa Barbara’s Museum of Contemporary Art will close permanently
The museum’s longstanding struggles to balance its books were exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic
Aztec goddess statue marks opening of ‘the Cheech’ museum of Chicano art
The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in Riverside, California will house the collection of its patron, the actor and long-time champion of Chicano art
Creative workers accounted for nearly one quarter of California’s economy in 2020, report finds
The latest edition of the annual Otis College Report on the Creative Economy makes the point that even as California’s arts sector bounces back, long-term support is needed to ensure it truly thrives
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
Artist-led campaign urges climate action across California
The initiative A Cool Million, launched by three artist-led collectives, features climate-themed public artworks and aims to preserve one million acres
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive staff grows with Christina Yang as new chief curator
The museum’s director Julie Rodrigues Widholm has made several senior-level hires in her first year
California man admits to selling over $1m in forged art, purportedly by Richard Hambleton and Barkley Hendricks
Jason Harrington pleaded guilty to selling phony paintings to at least 15 galleries and individuals between 2018 and 2020
Further cuts at SFMoMA end its film programme, art loan gallery and publishing platform
Seven staff will also lose their jobs as tightened budgets and low attendance impact operations
‘Some Like It Not’: protesters rally against plan to install Marilyn Monroe sculpture near Palm Springs Art Museum
Dozens gather to denounce sexualised depiction of actress with her skirt flying up
Return to La La Land: art is back in California
Plus, artists' album covers, and Grace Jones in the Work of the Week
After avoiding layoffs, Oakland Museum of California now plans job cuts of 15%
Staff will shrink from 126 to 106 as institution pursues an organisational makeover
As state restrictions drag on, pressure grows for more California museums to reopen
With lockdown lifted for nail salons and zoos, anger rises over arts institutions’ continued closure, estimated to cost the sector $22m a day
Desert X loses venue for Judy Chicago ‘smoke sculpture’
Following environmental concerns, The Living Desert garden and zoo has pulled out of a planned project with the artist this month
Smoke sculptures, word gardens and a ‘jackrabbit homestead’: Desert X announces artist projects for third edition
Judy Chicago, Oscar Murillo, Nicholas Galanin and others to present works in Southern California's first major art event since the pandemic shutdown last year
Getty hands out more than $5m in grants for 2024 Pacific Standard Time festival
The next iteration of the region-wide exhibition series will focus on art and science
Governors propose ambitious plans to bring the arts back to California and New York
Gavin Newsom and Andrew Cuomo have announced plans to support art institutions and artists hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic
Once greeted as a sensation, 1931 aluminum-clad house gets a boost for relocation at the Palm Springs Art Museum in California
$100,000 grant will advance an effort to reassemble and display Albert Frey and A. Lawrence Kocher’s Modernist Aluminaire House
California needs a plan to restart the arts
There is not a person in the arts who wants to open until it is safe to do so, but we cannot even prepare to start without state guidelines
Hallucinogenic flower inspired Native Californian rock art, archaeologists say
“Doses” of datura plant used in communal ceremonies have been found embedded in the ceiling of Pinwheel Cave