US politics

US President Biden names influential museum leaders to Institute of Museum and Library Services advisory board

The directors of the Parrish Art Museum, Honolulu Museum of Art and Cincinnati Art Museum are among those Biden has named to the National Museum and Library Services Board

Nancy Pelosi's controversial trip to Taiwan puts museum in the spotlight

US Speaker of the House visits National Human Rights Museum amidst tense relations between Taiwan and China

Uproar as Philadelphia excludes Black artists from commission process for statue of abolitionist Harriet Tubman

The $500,000 commission was awarded to a white artist whose work had previously been installed near the same site earlier this year

Reversing course after shakeup, San Francisco school board votes to keep controversial George Washington murals on view

Previously destined to be painted over, then simply covered up, the WPA frescoes have been at the centre of debates about US history, education and representation for four years

Former Trump lawyer's contemporary art collection makes star turn in 6 January committee hearings

Eric Herschmann, a former senior advisor to Donald Trump who represented him in his first impeachment trial, displays works by Rob Pruitt and others during committee testimony

Indigenous tribes will co-manage Utah’s long-contested Bears Ears National Monument

The governance and size of the monument have been disputed for years, and Utah Republicans are still trying to block president Biden's 2021 expansion of its boundaries

‘It’s not surprising, but it’s totally shocking’: artists respond to leaked US Supreme Court document threatening abortion access

Artists in the US and beyond expressed outrage, frustration and anger after a leaked draft of a decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade

Amid overwhelming silence from US museums on Roe v. Wade news, ICA San Francisco offers its space to abortion rights activists

Few museums have spoken out since a leaked draft of a US Supreme Court decision indicated that the country's highest court will overturn the landmark abortion rights case

Judge rules removal of artwork depicting man killed by police did not violate free speech

The artwork, commissioned a citywide arts event in Miami Beach, commemorated Haitian-American Raymond Herisse, who was killed by police in 2011

Massachusetts museum accused of hoarding Indigenous artefacts and human remains for decades

The Barre Museum is said to hold the largest collection of Lakota objects and human remains from the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre

Joe Biden taps major supporters of the Guggenheim, Menil Collection and Dia Art Foundation for advisory committee on the arts

The committee, established in 1958, advises the president on pressing issues in the arts and how federal policies can help shape them

Neon art installation begins tour of US states where abortion rights are threatened

The month-long tour of Alicia Eggert’s neon text work ‘OURs’ was organised by Planned Parenthood to pressure lawmakers and raise awareness of efforts to restrict abortion rights

‘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

Controversial statue of Theodore Roosevelt removed from American Museum of Natural History

The equestrian statue, which depicts Roosevelt on horseback flanked by a Native American man and a man of African descent, had been the focus of years-long campaigns from activists calling for its removal

'It’s time for museums to take critical race theory seriously'

There’s a campaign against discussions of race in the American education system—and museums have a part to play in fighting that

Smithsonian continues Capitol insurrection archival project

The museum initiated the project last year in the aftermath of the violent far-right riot on 6 January, and has added artefacts originating not only with the rioters but also those who acted against the mob

Controversial Roosevelt statue will be relocated to planned North Dakota presidential library

The statue, which has long stood outside New York City’s American Museum of Natural History, has been the focus of years-long campaigns by activists calling for its removal

US President Joseph R. Biden will be remembered as the father of the great artist Hunter Biden, his art dealer says

Criticism of the high-profile Hunter Biden exhibition, which has caused controversy for the Biden administration, is also rooted in stigma around addiction, Georges Bergès says

‘Build back beautifully’: new bill aims to support arts jobs with $300m federal grants and commissions programme

The bipartisan Creative Economy Revitalization Act is inspired by the New Deal-era Works Progress Association and the 1970s Comprehensive Employment and Training Act

Percent for art programme to expand into Los Angeles county’s unincorporated areas

A civic ordinance in effect from October sets aside 1% of building projects for arts and culture programmes

Timothée Chalamet kicks off the Met Gala with a flag-inspired collaboration with street artist JR

The actor debuted a new performance and installation in the Breuer building, before protestors crashed the party at the Costume Institute’s annual celebrity fundraiser

US Copyright Office suggests Congress pass new laws to protect artists from state infringement

A string of court cases have allowed states to claim sovereign immunity when they have used images without permission, giving copyright holders cause for concern and few options for remedy

Under the Biden administration, can US cultural policy better reflect American values?

Building relationships with all stakeholders—from dealers and collectors to museums and archaeologists—is vital

Brooklyn’s long history of resistance is celebrated on Juneteenth

A series of installations and programmes draw on the Center for Brooklyn History's extensive archive

Calls for reparations lead the commemoration of Tulsa Massacre

US President Biden acknowledged during visit that "some injustices are so heinous… they cannot be buried"

Trump protest work recovered by FBI four years after being stolen by white supremacists

He Will Not Divide Us was subjected to multiple attacks from far-right extremists before being snatched in a raid in Tennessee in 2017

Economic reports reveal drastic loss of arts jobs in the US

In New York, two-thirds of posts in the creative sector are gone, while nearly a quarter of the workforce in Los Angeles has been cut

Dolly Parton turns down memorial statue in Tennessee, saying she doesn’t want to be ‘put on a pedestal’

Lawmakers introduced a bill last month to honour the country singer’s contributions to the state