Just recently Timothy Rub, museum director and chief executive of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, named Gail Harrity as the president of the museum. There has been no president since 1996, when Robert Montgomery Scott left. Ms. Harrity has been the chief operating officer of the museum since 1997. With this appointment she faces new challenges, that she looks forwards to meeting. One such challenge is the underground expansion of the museum that will cost more than $500 million. She recognizes that this will need to be a group effort in fund raising in these economically trying times, but sounds hopeful. Join discussion...

On April 25, 2009 a new art gallery opened at the Mid- City Arts. It was dedicated entirely to street arts, a.k.a. graffiti. The artist was 36 year old Daniel Ramos, alias Chaka. For the opening, 700 fans showed up. The show runs until May 24. However, the reason I chose this article was due to the amount of controversy that surrounds it. The article is posted so that comments are allowed. The few comments posted people show the outrage of some people that such a show would be allowed. Join discussion...

The economy is tough and funding for many things has gone down. Due to these reasons Brandies University has decided to close down the Rose Art Museum located in the university. The University is expecting a deficit of $10 million dollars over the next few years. Some reasons other than the economy is the recent Madoff Scandal. Some of the University’s most generous donor’s have lost millions. Now the University is trying to sell most of it’s art collection, including many pieces of Andy Warhol and Willem de Kooning. Sadly, the Rose Art Museum was a center for American art from the 1960s and 1970s. Join discussion...

These days Asian art is showing up more and more in Western museums and galleries. The sheer number of Asian art in the latest Scope Miami shows this. The art ranges from colorful sculptures to paintings of women. Most of the art is different and unique. (Go check out the link to see some of the work) Join discussion...

For two years negotiations have been going on. The subject? Several pieces of art in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Now the museum has agreed to return 14 pieces of art from their collect to Italy. Most of these pieces are ceramics, except for one Italian copper cross. The Italian Culture Minister states that these pieces are important to Italian culture and will be returned in the next 3 months. The Italian government has been negotiating with other U.S. museums also. The Cleveland Museum’s art director states that this agreement is not threatening our museums and that it is the museums duty to obtain pieces legally and ethically. Join discussion...

Sotheby's is a well known and one of the world's largest auctioneers. One of the main things it auctions is artwork, such as Monet and Hirst. Sadly, due to the failing economy in the US the sale of art has also gone down. Sotheby's has suffered a $15 million loss. It has now announced it will decrease the use of auction garuntees (in which they garuntee sellers that the piece will be sold at at least a certain price). This action house, though it's earning have fallen short of the expected, still gains money and is looking forward to autions in New York. Join discussion...

After closing in 2005, the Saatchi Gallery is reopening in Duke of York Headquarters , Chelsea, London. The 70,000 square feet museum is owned by Charles Saatchi. His gallery is known as the spot for finding new talents in the art world. The latest exhibit will be showing a selection of pieces from twenty-four top artist from China. It is called The Revolution Continues: New Art From China. It’s pieces send strong to subtle messages about the world at the moment, such as Sun Yuan and Peng Yu’s “Old Person’s Home” in which world leaders are depicted as old and fumbling around in motorized wheelchairs. The exhibit will run until January 18, 2009. Join discussion...

Xavier Drong is holding a show in Le Bol (The Bowl), a part of le Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans. It will span from May 24 to June 16, 2008. It is his first show in Orléans, France. His work included photographs, paintings, and sculptures. It has brilliant colors. It is both urban and futuristic. The pieces will make one feel emotions that seem to contradict each other. They are physical and visual at the same time. Drong has created a mural more than 9 feet tall and 14 feet long especially for this show. Join discussion...

"Cuba! A Voyage through This Island's Art and History, from 1868 to Today" is an art exhibit in Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. This exhibit is showing more than four hundred pieces of painting, photographs, and multimedia works. They span from, well, as the title of the exhibit says, 1868 to today. The works are placed in chronological order. The works show the culture of Cuba and the artist have tried to create a national identity. It also shows how Cuba as a notion has developed. It is attracting much American attention because of this. It will run until June 8, 2008. Join discussion...

People have used art to express their ideas about what’s been going on in the world and in politics. This article focuses on the project a diverse group of artists are took on to raise awareness about the situation in Palestine. Some of the artist involved in this exhibition were Bansky, Blu, and Sam3. They held an exhibition in Bethlehem that included Western and Palestinian art. All the money made was given to charities in the area. This group also used the Separation Wall in the West bank as a canvas. They created a giant poster to paste onto the wall. The poster showed a picture of a giant dollar bill with a rip in it. Inside the rip were images of pre-Naqba Palestine, a time when Palestine thrived and flourished. The article states that this wall could become a canvas for many future artists. Join discussion...