Between Worlds gathers this week’s highlights across the art community, from major museum news and artist accolades to critical essays and opportunities for creators.
An editor reflects on a week of small epiphanies and sharp juxtapositions. Early mornings with a child’s big questions give way to a Hyperallergic members event at the International Studio & Curatorial Program in Brooklyn, where fortune cookies dispense aphorisms about giving and remembering.
In a Bushwick hangout, a conversation about early Islamic history contrasts with present-day reckonings as the Milwaukee Art Museum returns two jars to descendants of Dave the Potter, a Black American artist who was enslaved in the 19th century. On a subway ride to the New York Film Festival for a screening of the Edward Said documentary Between Worlds, the promise of coexistence collides with everyday frictions.
Tears come during the film. On the street, a discarded Carl Jung book, a passerby in a bunny suit, and a sparrow at a trash bin punctuate the day.
A window display on Berry Street, glinting with an H-branded shoe, refracts memories of Jerusalem, Haifa, Nazareth, and New York, and the face of a child named René.
Arthur Jafa, King of Pop
At the New Museum, Arthur Jafa’s practice underscores an instinctive command of internet culture, remix, and virality, pushing assemblage and collage into new territory, writes Stephanie Wambugu.
News
- Visual artists Christine Sun Kim, Rodney McMillian, Vincent Valdez, and Chip Thomas are among the 20 recipients of this year’s MacArthur Fellowship, according to the foundation.
- Unionized staff at the Whitney Museum of American Art plan to strike beginning Monday, October 5, coinciding with preview week for a retrospective of late Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, the union announced.
- Activists in Minnesota unveiled a 24-foot “Stolen Neighbors” quilt honoring individuals detained or disappeared by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, organizers said.
- Artist Kehinde Wiley has asked to repurchase his 2015 painting “Young Artists After Siamesas 1960” after the State Department removed it from the United States Embassy in the Dominican Republic last month, according to correspondence shared by his studio.
- The Fall of Freedom initiative marks its second year with hundreds of art and activism events scheduled across the United States this weekend, organizers noted.
- Two satirical courtroom drawings by Alice Neel, reflecting a widely followed McCarthy-era trial, are heading to auction, the auction house confirmed.
- Art Movements: Cyra Levenson will lead Yaddo Artist Residency. Ann Temkins is stepping down at MoMA. Rose B. Simpson received the Santa Fe Mayor’s award. A Roy Lichtenstein and Alex Da Corte collaboration is forthcoming, among other updates.
From Our Critics
Reviews and essays examine new and notable exhibitions, with sustained attention to artists interrogating memory, media, and the politics of display. Highlights include deep dives into experimental practices and cross-disciplinary projects shaping the fall season.
Features
A seasonal “tarotscope” considers the fall through archetypes and intuition, connecting creative process to cycles of risk, reflection, and renewal. Long-form features explore how artists are reworking archives, language, and performance to meet the present moment.
Opinion
An essay surfaces the legacy of an overlooked Black architect, tracing the social conditions that obscured his contributions and the scholarship now restoring his place in the canon. The piece argues for broader institutional accountability in how histories are recorded and exhibited.
Additional perspectives probe the responsibilities of museums and cultural workers as they navigate contested narratives, audience expectations, and funding landscapes.
Opportunities This Month
A monthly list compiles residencies, fellowships, grants, and open calls for artists, writers, and art workers. Current opportunities include programs from ArtFields, The Image Centre, Millay Arts, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, among others. Deadlines vary, and applicants should review eligibility and submission guidelines in detail.
For readers following labor developments and exhibition coverage across the city, related coverage of New York art week provides additional context.