The Institute for Studies on Latin American Art (ISLAA) has announced a record cohort of 24 fellows for the 2026-27 academic year, including 16 Latin American scholars and eight US-based PhD researchers. Areas to be explored range from the curatorial practices of the Bienal de La Habana to Chilean artist experiments with early AI.
Meanwhile, Michael J. Anderson has been appointed as the new director of the Portland Art Museum, following Brian Ferriso's departure for the Dallas Museum of Art. Anna Katz will take up a newly endowed position at SFMOMA as senior curator and head of Painting and Sculpture after her tenure in Los Angeles.
The closure of Variable West, a West Coast art magazine, marks another blow to digital media, with founder Amelia Rina citing challenges related to networking and fundraising. The news comes amid other changes across the art world, including new gallery representations and appointments at cultural institutions.
Amid these developments, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is reportedly close to resolving a decade-long dispute over the Elizabeth Street Garden in Lower Manhattan, potentially salvaging its status as an urban green space rather than converting it into affordable housing.
