{"id":163941,"date":"2025-11-28T08:47:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T08:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/163941\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T08:47:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T08:47:13","slug":"25-things-were-grateful-for-in-the-art-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/163941\/","title":{"rendered":"25 Things We’re Grateful for in the Art World"},"content":{"rendered":"

Features<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s to celebrating what brings us joy, great and small.<\/p>\n


\n \"Hyperallergic\"\/
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\"25
\n Jeffrey Gibson’s Met facade works, Thomas J Price’s “Grounded in the Stars,” Noah Fischer’s Relational Aesthetics costume, and more (edit Valentina Di Liscia\/Hyperallergic)<\/p>\n

It’s a weird time to be grateful. Over the past year, President Trump rolled back protections for Native lands and sovereignty while attempting to erase entire chapters from American history; namely, the ones where White people commit unspeakable injustices. As we recoil at the return of monuments honoring figures better left forgotten, we find solace in the members of our art community who, against all odds, are trying to do the right thing.\u00a0This Thanksgiving, we’re celebrating 25 things that bring us joy, great and small: gorgeous sculptures by Jeffrey Gibson at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, long-awaited repatriations, no-strings-attached grants for artists, gallery dogs, and more. \u2014Valentina Di Liscia, senior editor<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Gibson\u2019s Met Museum facade: Animated by ancestral joy and wisdom, this is easily one of the best art installations of the year<\/a>. The surprise I felt when I first saw this regal quartet of animals \u2014 deer, coyote, hawk, and squirrel \u2014 won’t leave me any time soon. \u2014Hakim Bishara, editor-in-chiefUniversity museums: Untethered to the forces of the market, they produce some of the most thoughtful and well-researched exhibitions. They\u2019ve been going through a rough time under Trump, and deserve every bit of support and encouragement. \u2014HBIndigenous curators: Native, First Nations, and Indigenous curators around the world are continuing to break the mold: April Phillips (Wiradjuri-Scottish of the Galari\/Kalari peoples) at the National Portrait Gallery of Australia, Candice Hopkins (Carcross\/Tagish First Nation) at the Forge Project, Sh\u00e1\u0144d\u00ed\u00edn Brown (Din\u00e9), Patricia Marroquin Norby (Pur\u00e9pecha) at The Met, Darienne Turner (Yurok Tribe of California) at the Brooklyn Museum, and so many others organized shows that are shifting the field, both in and out of the museum. \u2014Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editorRepatriations: The past year has seen some truly historic artwork returns, not all of them by major institutions that should have undertaken these efforts long ago. The Santa Ana Pueblo\u2019s entirely Native-led repatriation<\/a> of a trove of artifacts stolen four decades ago, including culturally relevant pottery, clothing, baskets, and more, is one moving example. \u2014VDLocal art publications: We salute the dedication of our colleagues at publications such as Carla in Los Angeles, Variable West in Portland, Oregon, Burnaway in Atlanta, and BmoreArt in Baltimore, and many others. Keep up the good work. \u2014HB\"\"Detail of Jeffrey Gibson\u2019s facade commission at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, \u201cThe Animal That Therefore I Am\u201d (photo Isa Farfan\/Hyperallergic)Thoughtful collection rehangs: Some museums periodically scramble their collection items and throw them all back out there like they\u2019re pressing the shuffle button on a playlist. Others invest time and resources to curate and strategize a wholly new visitor experience (see: The Met’s reimagined<\/a> Arts of Oceania galleries and the Brooklyn Museum\u2019s American wing). I\u2019m personally looking forward to the Chazen Museum of Art’s forthcoming reinstallation, where each space will feature a “focus object” from which other pieces radiate and deepen the conversation. \u2014VDArtists who don\u2019t make art just to sell: You are the real deal! \u2014HBFriendly gallerinas: My impression of a gallery is always more favorable when I\u2019m greeted with a smile. It\u2019s a way to show the public that your space is open to all visitors, not just those with deep pockets, and it really does make a difference. \u2014VDThomas J Price’s \u201cGrounded in the Stars\u201d: For reiterating<\/a> that Black women do not need to fit any particular gaze, have a laundry list of awards and achievements, or be otherwise\u00a0to be celebrated and positively represented. \u2014Rhea Nayyar, staff writerFrenchette at The Whitney: In a world where museum food options are most often overpriced restaurants and mediocre cafes, The Whitney\u2019s small outpost of Tribeca\u2019s sublime Frenchette Bakery is worth celebrating. I\u2019d visit the museum just to get the Tarte \u00e0 la Rhubarbe and Tarte au Citron. \u2014Natalie Haddad, reviews editorNew York City: Call me a romantic, but this city never ceases to amaze and inspire me. It\u2019s not the easiest place to live, but the rewards are worth the struggles. \u2014HB \"\"Kudos to the Brooklyn Museum for the abundance of benches in the reinstalled American Art wing (photo Hakim Bishara\/Hyperallergic)Artist-run galleries: They wipe the floors, touch up the walls, and hang all the works by themselves, usually without making a single penny out of it. These spaces embody the truest essence of the term \u201cart community.\u201d \u2014HBThe Earth Room: Walter De Maria\u2019s New York Earth Room<\/a>, maintained by the Dia Foundation since 1980, is almost mystical. Though visitors can\u2019t enter the room itself, in a large Soho loft space, the experience of silently seeing and smelling the soil that fills it to window level is at once meditative, soothing, and grounding. \u2014NHGlare-free exhibition lighting: For an art journalist, there\u2019s virtually no disappointment quite as painful as visiting a marvelous show with terrible lighting. Thank you to every exhibition designer who allowed us to enjoy artworks under protective glass and photograph them without that pesky glare! \u2014LANice gallery bathrooms:\u00a0We\u2019ve all been there: You\u2019re out gallery hopping in Chelsea or Tribeca, and you\u2019ve got to go (and I don\u2019t mean leave). So much \u2014 too much \u2014 has been made of Maurizio Cattelan\u2019s gold toilet<\/a>, so give a shout-out to the actually hard-working toilets of the world. Props to the Flag Art Foundation \u2014\u00a0that\u2019s a nice bathroom, and you can\u2019t beat those views \u2014\u00a0and to museums that offer all-gender options<\/a>. \u2014Lisa Yin Zhang, associate editorOpen studios: They are the ultimate act of creative generosity, a chance to peek behind the curtain into the necessarily messy and complex process of making art. Thank you to all of the artists who welcomed us into your space \u2014 including Jon Bunge (Gowanus Open Studios) and the Cuban Art Space collective (Dumbo Open Studios). \u2014LA\"\"A nice glare-free Monet at the Brooklyn Museum (photo Valentina Di Liscia\/Hyperallergic)Moomins: The year of our Lord 2025 must be remembered as, among other things, that of the Moomin-aissance. The beloved characters created by Swedish-Finnish author Tove Jansson, a queer badass of illustration and literature, recently turned 80, to much fanfare, including a show<\/a> at the Brooklyn Public Library and exhibitions across Scandinavia. These adorable storybook companions model friendship, conflict resolution, curiosity, and growth from their communal home, whose door always remains open. \u2014LAGalleries and institutions that highlight trans artists: Even as the Trump administration continues its attack on trans people, some art institutions in recent months have stepped up their trans and nonbinary representation, highlighting such artists as Nayland Blake at Matthew Marks, P. Staff at David Zwirner, and the late Chloe Dzubilo at Participant Inc., along with the Institute for Studies on Latin American Art\u2019s excellent exhibition Due\u00f1as de la Noche: Trans Lives and Dreams in 1980s Caracas. \u2014NHMoMA’s gallery dedicated to Ruth Asawa\u2019s arts education work: Controversial from an art publication, I know, but we in the art world focus too much on objects. That\u2019s why I loved that MoMA \u2014 in a show of absolutely gorgeous objects \u2014 dedicated a whole room to Asawa\u2019s endeavors in art education in San Francisco, including her statement of purpose and letters to other volunteer parents. An artist\u2019s legacy lives on in more than her works. \u2014LYZ\"\"Detail of “My Community in Baker’s Clay” (2025), a work by New York City students inspired by the teachings of Ruth Asawa, at MoMA (photo Lisa Yin Zhang\/Hyperallergic)Free local museums: My recent visits to Manhattan\u2019s Drawing Center and Pennsylvania\u2019s Westmoreland Museum of American Art stayed with me long after they ended. With art museum prices as prohibitive as ever (I\u2019m looking at you, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art $42 KAWS show<\/a>), let\u2019s be sure to give small museums with free entry their flowers. \u2014LAPay-What-You-Wish admission (and transparency): On that note, if you\u2019re a museum or cultural institution that offers donation-based admission, thank you. If you make that super clear by including it in big bold letters on a sign near the ticket desk, instead of hoping visitors will be none the wiser, double thank you. \u2014VD Gallery dogs: There\u2019s truly nothing better than ducking into a gallery and being greeted by the clicking and clacking of the canine manager reporting for duty. Like icing on a cake for me, gallery dogs are a wonderful tactile outlet for when I can\u2019t touch the exhibits, but best of all, they really do bring life to even the stuffiest of art fairs. \u2014 RN\"\"Ethel, the head honcho at DIMIN Gallery (photo Rhea Nayyar\/Hyperallergic)\u201cNo-Strings-Attached\u201d Grants: According to recent research<\/a>, artists can barely afford to pay for a studio or healthcare. When they finally get some extra cash from one of the few (and incredibly competitive) grantmaking programs, they shouldn\u2019t be expected to turn in a final project at the end as if it were an MFA thesis. Shoutout to Anonymous Was a Woman, the Trellis Art Fund, the Joan Mitchell Foundation, and all the other organizations providing unrestricted funding! \u2014VDArtist Noah Fischer\u2019s Relational Aesthetics costume: Your participatory purple squares<\/a> at Hyperallergic’s Halloween party taught me everything I need to know about the movement. \u2014Isa Farfan, staff writerAirport art: Fighting for your overweight bag at the United Airlines kiosk is exponentially improved when Karyn Olivier’s “Approach<\/a>” (2022) hangs behind you at Newark Liberty International Airport’s Terminal A. Bonus points go to the digital artworks at the terminal\u2019s security checkpoints for drowning out Kristi Noem\u2019s Department of Homeland Security videos. \u2014IF<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Features Here\u2019s to celebrating what brings us joy, great and small. 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