A Progressive Win for Artists in Florida
Angie Nixon’s track record in culture, MIT loans art to students, the Speed Museum returns Native artifacts, and more.
Angie Nixon's primary victory in Florida is a step forward for affordability, labor rights, and working families. It may also be a win for the arts. The now-official Senate candidate and Democratic Socialist started a bookstore and community art space in her native Jacksonville, dedicated to uplifting Black culture and local artists. Plus, did you know she co-wrote a comic book with her daughter? BRB, moving to Florida (words I never thought I'd write...)
There's more to cheer on today. The Speed Museum is repatriating two dozen artifacts to the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, including sacred objects that belong in rituals and ceremonies — not behind glass. “Family members can now come back and say, ‘wow, my great grandpa made this,’” Fred Mosqueda, an Arapaho Tribe representative who lives in Oklahoma, told Staff Reporter Anna Lee.
In some personal news, I was recently on the Atlas Obscura podcast discussing a topic that's occupied much of my research and heart in recent years: Casa Cueva, Juan O'Gorman's cave dwelling in Mexico City, and the controversy over its disappearance. Listen here.
—Valentina Di Liscia, senior editor
Angie Nixon, Champion of Black Art and Culture, Wins Florida Senate Primary in Upset
Angie Nixon, a Florida congresswoman and Democratic Socialist with a track record of supporting universal health care, denouncing Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and championing Black arts and culture, won the state’s Senate primary race last night in a major upset.
With less than a million dollars funding her largely grassroots campaign, she clinched 56% of the votes to beat out retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel and combat veteran Alex Vindman, a moderate with significant party endorsements and $16 million in backing. The 42-year-old Jacksonville native is now set to face incumbent Republican Senator Ashley Moody in the November general election.
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Funding International Dialogue: The Asian Cultural Council Opens 2027 Global Grant Cycle
ACC invites artists, arts professionals, scholars, and organizations to apply from Oct 1 to Nov 10, 2026.
News
- The Speed Art Museum in Kentucky will return 24 Native American artifacts to tribes in Oklahoma.
- The MIT List Visual Arts Center adds nine new acquisitions to the Student Lending Collection, including works by Jennie C. Jones and Nayland Blake.
From Our Critics
Haroutiun Galentz’s True Colors
A new book traces the function of color as both a mask and a mirror in psychological portraits by the modernist painter, who lost his parents during the Armenian Genocide. | Tamar Boyadjian
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Remembering Bou Meng, Mary Heilmann, and Kumantjayi (Walala) Tjapaltjarri
This week, we honor a figurehead of genocide remembrance, a pioneering abstract artist, and an Aboriginal Australian painter.
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The Contentious History of a Lost Cave House in Mexico City
The destruction of “Casa Cueva,” one of Juan O’Gorman’s last architectural works, pitted two great artists against each other in one of the most divisive episodes in Mexican contemporary art history. | Valentina Di Liscia
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