To receive Morning Links in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our Breakfast with ARTnews newsletter.
Good Morning!
- The Mamdani administration is expected to abandon city plans to replace Manhattan’s Elizabeth Street Garden with housing.
- NYC Culture Club has moved into New York’s Port Authority Bus Terminal.
- The Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music in New Jersey is worth a visit.
The Headlines
GREEN THUMB. After nearly a decade of legal battles, Manhattan’s Elizabeth Street Garden may finally be saved. The Art Newspaper reports that Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration is expected to abandon plans to replace the beloved SoHo sculpture garden with 123 affordable housing units, instead proposing 180 affordable units at nearby 22 Suffolk Street. The one-acre garden, created from an abandoned lot in the 1990s, is now a much-loved public space filled with plants, sculptures and cultural events. Supported by figures including Patti Smith, Martin Scorsese, and Robert De Niro, it attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. A court hearing on the dispute is scheduled for August 13.
ART EXPRESS. In an unlikely move, the NYC Culture Club, founded by brothers Clayton and Parker Calvert, has moved into New York’s Port Authority Bus Terminal. The Observer writes that at the Midtown transport hub, the organization’s new space will mount free exhibitions for commuters, tourists, and school groups. The nonprofit, which has welcomed more than 240,000 visitors since launching in 2021, gives artists exhibition and residency opportunities without taking commissions. Its current show, “Membrane,” includes 12 artists exploring ideas of exchange and possibility.
The Digest
One of just 100 original Banksy-designed album covers is going under the hammer at Wessex Auction Rooms in the UK, with a rare 2001 Röyksopp vinyl expected to fetch up to £4,000 ($5,400). [BBC]
Romanian artist Teodora Axente has unveiled her drappellone, the silk banner for Siena’s historic Palio horse race. [The Art Newspaper]
Sabyasachi Mukherjee has unveiled a jewelry collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, drawing inspiration from both Byzantine art and the museum’s collections to create a contemporary celebration of India’s design heritage. [First Post]
Artist Kathryn Callaghan has taken the reins at the Yard Gallery in Holywood, Northern Ireland, promising to turn the long-established space into a vibrant hub for artists and collectors. [Insider Media]
The Kicker
‘BADASS’ MUSEUM. Monmouth University’s new Bruce Springsteen museum in Long Branch, New Jersey, is worth a visit according to Wallpaper Magazine. The Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, as it’s called, celebrates the rock star’s legacy while exploring the wider history of American music. Designed by CookFox, it features weathered steel, heavy timber, and a boardwalk-inspired entrance, which apparently reflect Springsteen’s working-class roots and Asbury Park beginnings. Its galleries house more than 30,000 items, including instruments, clothing, awards and personal memorabilia, alongside exhibitions on American music. Springsteen was initially hesitant about what a museum devoted to himself would entail, but ultimately supported the broader vision. When architect Rick Cook presented the design, Springsteen’s verdict was characteristically concise: “Badass.”
