A new initiative by New York’s library systems will grant free access to a range of NYC institutions with a library card, the New York Times reports. “Some people are intimidated by museums,” says Linda Johnson, president of the Brooklyn Public Library, said in a phone interview. “They shouldn’t be shut out of all the wonderful cultural offerings that are available to New York City dwellers.” (more…)

Liberté Nuti has joined Hauser & Wirth as International Senior Director of Impressionist & Modern Art, leaving her former post as International Director of Impressionist & Modern at Christie’s. “We are thrilled to welcome Liberté Nuti as a Senior Director in London,” Iwan Wirth says. “We look forward to this next chapter in Hauser & Wirth’s evolution as the gallery’s secondary market activity comes into sharper focus.” (more…)

A Robert Motherwell painting that disappeared from a New York warehouse in 1978 has been found, the New York Times reports. The painting was found in a garage upstate by the son of a mover who had worked for Motherwell. (more…)

Eric Shiner is leaving his place as senior vice president of contemporary art at Sotheby’s to serve as artistic director of White Cube gallery in New York. “This new role allows me to return to making sure the most relevant voices of our age are heard and celebrated,” he said in a statement. (more…)

The Venice Biennale has announced its opening dates for its 2019 edition, with the title May You Live in Interesting Times, an allusion to periods of uncertainty, crisis, and turmoil.  “At a moment when the digital dissemination of fake news and ‘alternative facts’ is corroding political discourse and the trust on which it depends, it is worth pausing whenever possible to reassess our terms of reference,” says curator Ralph Rugoff. (more…)

The next iteration of Documenta will be held in 2022, with a selection committee for the next edition’s artistic director just announced. “Documenta is an essential forum for contemporary art and, as the legacy of Arnold Bode, a treasure that enhances the image of the city of Kassel,” says Kassel’s mayor, Christian Geselle. “I am very pleased to note that an international finding commission composed of outstanding experts has been chosen to find an artistic director for Documenta 15. And we are right on schedule.” (more…)

The LA Times has a piece on the Pablo Picasso pieces that once hung in a special room at the paper, alongside a range of other works from the newspaper’s collection. “They gave us this gift of thinking highly enough of us to surround us with beautiful things,” says former bureau chief Geraldine Baum. (more…)

Jacolby Satterwhite is joining Mitchell-Innes and Nash, Art News reports. “I was first introduced to the work at the Studio Museum in 2012 and was drawn to the rigorous and subversive nature of his practice, both aesthetically and conceptually,”says Lucy Mitchell-Innes.  (more…)

A fire at Paula Cooper Gallery’s Chelsea space has led to an inspection to make sure works in storage were not damaged by smoke, Art News reports. “The fire marshall is here trying to determine what caused the fire,” Cooper said. “It started this morning and it was contained. No one got hurt, fortunately, and it didn’t spread. It was contained in our storage room.” (more…)

Blinky Palermo’s To the People of New York City (1976) will return to New York City after thirty years, going on view this fall at Dia.  “To the People of New York City has often been described as the most influential work of Palermo’s short but remarkable career—representing a complex investigation into the formal language of Minimalism and the legacy of abstraction, while foreshadowing the paradigms of Conceptual practice. In the context of Dia’s rich collection of work by both Palermo and his peers, this presentation will foster important and in-depth engagement with this artist’s rarely exhibited work,” said Jessica Morgan, Dia’s Nathalie de Gunzburg Director. (more…)

Curator Nikki Columbus is accusing MoMA PS1 of rescinding a job offer once the museum learned she had had a baby, the New York Times reports. “I was told by every woman I spoke with, don’t discuss your pregnancy until you get the job,” Columbus says. “I just went forward thinking that this is not their business, it’s not relevant to the job and to my abilities.” (more…)

Kathy Noble has joined the Performa as curator and manager of curatorial affairs, Art News reports. “Kathy will be somebody who looks at the total picture with me,” Performa founder and chief curator RoseLee Goldberg says. (more…)

Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh building will be rebuilt after a fire last month, the institution announced. “We’re going to rebuild the Mackintosh building,” director Tom Inns says. “There’s been a huge amount of speculation about what should happen with the site and quite rightly so, but from our point of view and that of the city of Glasgow, it is critically important that the building comes back as the Mackintosh building.” (more…)

Sculptor David Smith will now be helmed by the artist’s daughters Rebecca and Candida Smith, who take over from executive director Peter Stevens, who has worked on the late artist’s legacy for 35 years. “We are very grateful to Peter Stevens for his commitment to the work of our father over these many years. Candida and I will continue to build on that legacy with a view toward ushering in new scholarship and new perspectives.”  (more…)

A new art fair called Felix LA will launch next year in conjunction with Frieze Los Angeles, Art News reports, located at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. “I had a strong feeling that a lot of what I enjoyed about the art world was missing,” says founder and collector Dean Valentine. (more…)

New Museum curator Margot Norton and Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles curator Jamillah James will co-organize the 2021 New Museum Triennial, Art News reports.   (more…)

Emmanuel Macron has ordered a review of artist residencies funded by the French state, which some fear could lead to the dismantling of some cultural programs. Macron has appointed Thierry Tuot, the president of the administrative council of the French Academy at Villa Medici in Rome, to lead the review.  (more…)

Fiac has found a new home while the Grand Palais is under renovation, Art Newspaper reports, and will set up shop this year at a temporary venue near the Eiffel Tower. “Now we have clarity. I think galleries will remain on board; they’re excited and want to participate in this new chapter,” says director Jennifer Flay.   (more…)

Theaster Gates gets an interview in the Guardian this week, discussing his soon to open show at Kunstmuseum Basel, and his ongoing commitment to a practice mixing diverse community efforts and art-making.  “My hope is that people would start to see some through-lines between my works of art,” So even though I was a black man in a black neighborhood, talking about black power, what I was trying to demonstrate is that an artist who reads the dynamics of a situation can change the situation.” (more…)

The Met has set another attendance record for this past year, attracting more than 7.35 million guests. “We don’t chase visitor numbers, but they are one sign among many of whether we are doing a good job in serving our mission and the needs of the public,” says Daniel H. Weiss, the Met’s president and chief executive. (more…)

The LA Times spotlights Michael Govan’s push to speed up LACMA’s fundraising drive, as construction continues on the museum’s new expansion. “We’re steadily raising money and signing pledges. I don’t feel there’s any danger that the project isn’t going forward,” Govan says. (more…)

Art Dubai director Myrna Ayad at the fair in August. “My decision to leave was personal; I am excited to pursue my own endeavours,” Ayad says of her departure.  (more…)

Arts Council England is hiring an economist, part of a plan it feels will make it more able to act effectively in financial advocacy for the arts. “We will work to develop skills in that area. One of the things that has historically happened is that you might have [someone who is] good at a particular art form, they are promoted [to a leadership position] but we have not given them that [leadership training] support,” says Arts Council England chief executive Darren Henley. (more…)

Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman’s For Freedoms project has set up shop in New York, planning a major national billboard campaign in the run-up to the midterm elections. “We’re trying to bring these different artists’ voices more into the realm of public discourse,” Thomas says, “which is part of the way that advertising works—it reaches a very wide audience. So we’re trying to think about art and creativity, beyond just the confines of the art world, but out into contexts around the country on the side of the road.” (more…)