The Rotunda at The Bass in Collins Park will offer free admission year-round.
The Bass Museum of Art will open The Rotunda at The Bass, a new satellite gallery in Collins Park, on March 28. Offering free year-round admission, the space embodies the museum’s effort to expand public access to contemporary art in Miami Beach. The 1,960-square-foot circular building, originally designed in 1962 by architect Herbert A. Mathes as part of the Miami Beach Public Library, features a sand-cast concrete mural titled The Story of Man by sculptor Albert Vrana and has been restored through a $5.79 million renovation led by the City of Miami Beach, which also added an 895-square-foot entryway, accessibility upgrades, new systems, and improvements to surrounding park infrastructure.
A sense of scale imbued the Parisian design fair Matter and Shape 2026.
Matter and Shape 2026, held March 6–9 in the Jardin des Tuileries, marked the fair’s third edition and centered on the theme of “scale,” exploring both the size of objects and the scale of production across collectible and industrial design. Exhibitors ranged from major brands to independent makers, including Georg Jensen presenting 11 reissued works by mid-century Scandinavian women designers, Herzog & de Meuron showing a walnut-and-ash version of their “Hong Kong” stool, and Sophie Taillet displaying her spinning-top mirrors, while returning participants like Montreal glass studio Verre d’Onge showcased spontaneously formed bottles. New features for 2026 included a dedicated scent section, while the fair’s architecture—designed by JA Projects led by Jayden Ali—introduced moiré-inspired elements referencing the history of the Tuileries.
Tomás Saraceno and Indigenous communities are building an art complex in Argentina’s salt flats.
Argentine artist Tomás Saraceno is collaborating with 11 Indigenous communities from the Red Atacama network to create a monumental land-art project titled “El Santuario del Agua” (The Sanctuary of Water) in the Salinas Grandes salt flats—a region that sits atop one of the world’s largest lithium reserves. The outdoor installation, located 11,300 feet above sea level in the provinces of Jujuy and Salta, will consist of five semicircular salt structures ranging from 7 to 99 feet in diameter and up to 50 feet high. They draw inspiration from traditional apachetas, stone offerings to the Andean earth deity Pachamama. Conceived as both artwork and environmental statement, the project draws attention to the water-intensive process of lithium extraction, which can require more than two million liters of groundwater to produce one ton of lithium carbonate.
The Obama Presidential Center campus will open on Juneteenth weekend.
The Obama Presidential Center will open to the public over Juneteenth weekend, June 19–21, granting visitors access to the 19-acre campus in Chicago’s Jackson Park, including its playground, museum building, public art installations, landscaped park areas, and a new Chicago Public Library branch. Festivities will begin with a dedication ceremony at John Lewis Plaza, followed by the public opening and additional community celebrations, talks, ribbon cuttings, and programming across the campus. Designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and breaking ground in 2021 after years of planning, the campus also features artworks by figures such as Theaster Gates and Julie Mehretu, integrated into the center’s prominent granite-clad museum tower.
Sculptor Alma Allen—who will represent the U.S. in Venice—has joined Galerie Perrotin.
Sculptor Alma Allen has joined the roster of the international gallery Perrotin—gaining representation ahead of his presentation for the U.S. Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale. Allen, a Salt Lake City–born artist based in Tepoztlán, Mexico, is known for his biomorphic sculptures carved from materials such as stone, wood, bronze, and marble. He previously worked with Kasmin, which closed in 2024.
Today’s attractive distractions:
James Gwertzman’s Burning Man temple design references a rare desert flower.
The architects of Acte Deux unify two “maids’ apartments” in Paris.
A wall of glass opens this Berkshire cabin to the world.
Musings on the rise of the destination art fair.
