A New Year in New York
From Faith Ringgold’s story quilts to Mayor Mamdani, 2026 in New York starts off interesting.
Welcome to the new year! Whether you spent the holidays here, or somewhere a little less bitterly cold, we hope they filled your heart with warmth. A lot has changed since the last time I popped up in your inbox — a little Christmas snow (or close enough) for the first time in a very long time. And we swore in a new mayor in the bowels of an abandoned subway station. (If you didn't get an invite to that ceremony, here's a tip: Stay on the downtown 6 after the last stop, and you'll loop around that gorgeous station.)
The start of a new year is always a bit surreal and difficult for me to grasp — I won't even mention how many times I've accidentally written "2025" in these first five days alone. It means the opening up from the tight circle of family and friends to the strange and sometimes jarring realities of the world. This feeling is even more pronounced in New York, which always seems to intersect with world events in some way — like President Trump's move to kidnap a sitting president of a sovereign nation and drop him into a prison in Brooklyn in clear violation of international law. It's difficult to wrap your head around it.
But the world also passes through New York in more thoughtful, interesting, and moving ways — through art, for instance. It's a massive week for gallery openings — Bruce Conner, Dona Nelson, and James Castle are just some of the artists whose work you can see. The days have started to get longer again. It's a new year. We've got a new mayor. There's lots to look forward to in 2026.
Faith Ringgold's Story Quilts Get to the Heart of Being Human
Jasmine Weber writes on revisiting the work of the late quilter Faith Ringgold in an excellent show at Jack Shainman Gallery: "Her story quilts and prints drew me in, featuring poems and stories that resurfaced the nostalgic sensation of appreciating history and learning through art."
Glass Art Clearly Shines at the National Museum of the American Indian
Experience the beauty and innovation of Indigenous glass art at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in New York. Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass features over 100 works by 29 Native artists, exploring culture, craft, and storytelling. On view now through May 29, 2026.
From Our Critics
John Yau
Bill Rice at Donald Ryan Gallery
"The paintings are paradoxes of bleakness and sensuality, gloom and intrepid spirits. They are testimonies to survival."
Lavinia Liang
Catalog for David Wojnarowicz: Arthur Rimbaud in New York at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art
"Wojnarowicz’s use of Rimbaud as a symbol was broad and uncompromising in its sweep — a protest 'not just against the corporation or the state, but against the state of the world.'"
Reach New Creative Heights at SVA Continuing Education
The School of Visual Arts in NYC offers more than 200 in-person and online courses, along with 10+ artist residency programs.
What Else Is Happening?
- The artist-run bar Beverly's is screening Heated Rivalry, everyone's famous gay hockey romance. (Thus Jan 8) [instagram.com]
- Ten years ago, the virtual reality documentary Clouds Over Sidra placed viewers in a Syrian refugee camp, doubling UNICEF donations. A panel at the Museum of the Moving Image considers a decade of the immersive technology. (Thurs Jan 8) [movingimage.org]
- The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space is hosting a panel about the history of local neighborhood bookstores from the '90s. (Thurs Jan 8) [instagram.com]
- Small Editions design studio and book publisher is holding a move-out sale (and promises free book-making goodies as well). (Fri Jan 9–Sat Jan 10) [instagram.com]
- Create colorful deep-sea characters and dive into the exhibition Oliver Jeffers: Life at Sea at the Brooklyn Museum. (Sat Jan 10) [brooklynmuseum.org]
- A mural Keith Haring made for the FDR Drive in 1984 is on view right now at Martos Gallery (through Jan 15) [martosgallery.com]
- Robert Zehnder and MC Sparks will walk through their exhibitions at Mrs. Gallery in Maspeth. (Sat Jan 10) [mrsgallery.com]
- A ton of galleries are opening exhibitions this week — Bruce Conner at Paula Cooper this Thursday, January 8, and James Castle at Rodder and Simone Fattal at Kaufmann Repetto this Friday the 9th, being just a few.
