Waiting for Spring in the Bay Area

MoMA PS1 announces the artists for its Greater New York exhibition, Pride flag removed from Stonewall National Monument, Jennifer Sammet interviews Mary Lovelace O’Nealon for Beer With a Painter, and don't give up on the Bay Area's art scene.

Times are hard, but don't believe the rumors about the death of the Bay Area art scene. Yes, art institutions and galleries are closing. Yes, the techies have taken over, outpricing artists and polluting culture with their AI inventions. But there's an inherent spirit of rebellion to the region that won't be quashed so easily, and an inspired community that fights for it every day. We begin today's edition with a guide to exciting art shows in the Bay Area this spring. I take it as a tribute to all the wonderful artists, curators, and art workers who call it home.

—Hakim Bishara, editor-in-chief


Hilary Harkness, “Answered Prayers” (2024) (© Hilary Harkness; photo courtesy Hilary Harkness and PPOW, New York)

10 Art Shows to See in the Bay Area This Spring

Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s vital scrolls, muralist Cece Carpio’s first solo show, the Matisse painting that launched Fauvism, the future of Japanese ceramic art, and Trina Michelle Robinson’s imagined heirlooms are some of the shows we're excited to see this season.


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The Biennale Certificate in Philosophy and Art

The Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts (IDSVA) invites creatives from all backgrounds to apply for this four-day summer program in Venice.

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News

A view of Christopher Park in Manhattan showing a flagpole stripped of its large rainbow flag on February 10, 2026 (photo Hrag Vartanian/Hyperallergic)

From Our Critics

From Amanda Ross-Ho’s Untitled Damages (ROOM DIVIDER) at Leroy’s, Los Angeles (photo Alex Paik/Hyperallergic)

Amanda Ross-Ho Finds Herself in Her Parents’ Art

The artist’s current show is a moving reflection on the ways our identities are inexorably entangled with our relationships and surroundings. | Alex Paik


Community

Mary Lovelace O’Neal in her studio in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico (photo Karen Jenkins-Johnson, courtesy Jenkins Johnson Gallery New York and San Francisco)

Beer With a Painter: Mary Lovelace O’Neal

“At this marvelous hard-won age, the days of jumping and dancing with the paintings are over. But I don’t feel limited,” the 84-year-old artist, educator, and Civil Rights luminary tells Jennifer Sammet in an interview. O’Neal splits her time between Oakland, California, and Mérida, Mexico, where she was staying when she spoke with Sammet over the phone in December.


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Request for Proposals: Operator for the Harlem African Burial Ground Cultural Education Center

NYCEDC seeks proposals to conceptualize and operate a cultural education center at the historic East Harlem site in New York City.

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Member Comment

Ray Lee on Ed Simon’s “How Liminalism Became the Defining Aesthetic of Our Time”:

Another example of liminalism is the TV show “Severance” with its disorienting hallways and nearly empty workspaces.

From the Archive

Diana Davies, “Dance at Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse” (1971) (all images courtesy New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division)

How Stonewall Broke Through Barriers with Love and Resistance

A New York Public Library exhibition shows how so many people at the time of Stonewall — and after — have been able to live more wholly integrated lives. | Jeanna Kadlec


Featured Opportunity

The Image Centre – Research Fellowships: Photography
In 2026, five fellowships of $2,500–$10,000 (CAD) will support research projects on The Image Centre’s photography collections. Open to students, scholars, and artists.

Deadline: March 15, 2026 | theimagecentre.ca/fellowship

See more in this month’s list of opportunities for artists, writers, and art workers!