Washington, DC

Biden inauguration is largely virtual—but some live art is planned

A public art installation of 200,000 flags opens on the National Mall, as coronavirus and heightened security forces most events online

‘Shameful vandalism and desecration’ : Met leaders condemn right-wing crowd's assault on US Capitol

Museum joins other institutions in assailing protestors' rampage and hate-inspiring imagery as a threat to democracy and equality

US Capitol’s works of art survive amid right-wing rampage in Washington

The authorities say that cleaning and conservation will be needed, however, after art was damaged by tear gas, pepper spray and fire extinguishers

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

Virtual photography show reveals modern Lebanon's many layers of tragedy

Lebanon Then and Now: Photography from 2006 to 2020 hosted by Washington, DC's Middle East Institute is both timely and prescient

Hirshhorn to unveil two acquisitions as it reopens its sculpture garden

Museum welcomes monumental 2018 works by Huma Bhabha and Sterling Ruby

Monuments across the US are toppled, damaged as protests over George Floyd's death continue

Lawmakers mobilise the National Guard to quell destruction while demonstrators deface Confederate memorials and public works emblematic of white supremacy

National Geographic Society defends disputed plan to remove sculptural installation

Organisation argues that Elyn Zimmerman’s site-specific 1984 work does not deserve protection

Washington, DC’s mayor and arts commission locked in conflict

Muriel Bowser launches rival office of creative affairs and blocks access to the city’s public art vaults

Marcel Duchamp’s box of delights opens at Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Readymades, miniature reproductions, collaborations with Man Ray, and games of chess to feature in new show

Ancient Bible fragments allegedly stolen by Oxford professor and sold to Hobby Lobby owner will be returned

Washington DC’s Museum of the Bible had acquired the artefacts through its founder Steve Green

Middle East think-tank opens art gallery in Washington, DC

New space for Modern and contemporary art from the Arab world will put on five exhibitions a year

Washington, DC mayor's office attempts to take control of the city Arts Commission's collection

Staff members found their keys to the city's Art Bank abruptly deactivated as tensions rose between Mayor Muriel Bowser and the commission

New US visa policy could stifle outspoken artists on social media

Several high-profile artists including Ai Weiwei have spoken out against the policy

Jewelleryinterview

Wakanda comes to Washington

Douriean Fletcher, who made the jewellery for Black Panther, speaks at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Boom or bust for DC museums: how the US government shutdown affected visitor figures

In January, the 19 Smithsonian institutions had just 13% of the footfall they had experienced the year before

She persisted: DC’s National Portrait Gallery looks at the history of the women’s vote

One of the longest reform movements in American history, which continues to be an issue today, is explored in the show

Lawnews

Protesters, influencers and AI: what museums need to think about today

Legal experts discussed the pressing topics for institutions at a recent conference in Washington, DC

Hiroshi Sugimoto to redesign Hirshhorn's sculpture garden

The renovation taps into the spirit of the founding architect, Gordon Bunshaft

Pakistani-American painter Ambreen Butt imbues traditional miniatures with timely social criticism

Her show Mark My Words is at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC—one of the museums still open during the shutdown

Battle brews over Washington’s arts commission

The mayor’s plan to curtail the powers of the leading arts funder in the US capital could reduce its vital independence

Rachel Whiteread’s breakthrough work Ghost gets complex conservation treatment

Structural engineers and architects were among those restoring the room-sized cast at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC

Washington, DC grant-making commission issues morality clause—then quickly backtracks

Works made with the funding should not be “lewd, lascivious, vulgar, overtly political, excessively violent, constitutes sexual harassment, or is, in any other way, illegal,” according to the clause

Lawnews

Claim on Guelph Treasure can go to trial in US federal court

Lawyers for the Prussian Cultural Foundation argued that it was not “genocide” when the objects were sold in 1935

Lawnews

Art dealer sues Poland over its failed efforts to extradite him from the US

After offering to return a work looted by the Nazis in exchange for his family’s former real estate, Khochinsky was placed under house arrest in New York and faced a 10-year prison sentence in Poland

The art world reacts to US Supreme Court’s travel ban decision

Early signs of the order’s impact on cultural exchange have artists and curators concerned

Take it to the top—how US museums are dealing with diversity

Institutions need all hands on deck to redress imbalances in jobs and programming