US Pavilion pick named
- The New York Times reports Jenni Parido was appointed last fall as commissioner of the United States Pavilion. (nytimes.com) - The 2026 Venice Biennale opens next month, and pavilions are being described as the art world's "Olympics." (nytimes.com) - The article situates the appointment within intensified national‑pavilion politics at this year's Biennale. (nytimes.com)
Jenni Parido was appointed commissioner of the United States Pavilion for the 2026 Venice Biennale, putting a new nonprofit leader in charge of the country’s official exhibition. (nytimes.com) The U.S. State Department announced on November 24, 2025 that The American Arts Conservancy would represent the United States at the 61st Venice Art Biennale, with Parido as commissioner and Jeffrey Uslip as curator. The exhibition is titled *Alma Allen: Call Me the Breeze*. (state.gov) The Biennale opens to the public on May 9, 2026, after preview days on May 6, 7, and 8, and runs through November 22 in Venice’s Giardini, Arsenale, and other sites. La Biennale di Venezia lists this edition as the 61st International Art Exhibition. (labiennale.org) The commissioner role matters because the U.S. Pavilion is not just another museum show. The State Department says its Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs manages official U.S. participation as a form of cultural diplomacy abroad. (state.gov) The pavilion also carries institutional weight in Venice itself. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection says the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation bought the U.S. Pavilion in 1986, and the museum has worked with U.S. government agencies on Biennale presentations since then. (guggenheim-venice.it) This year’s selection stands out because Parido is the founder of the American Arts Conservancy, a newer organization that became the U.S. representative for 2026. The New York Times reported that she had been appointed the previous fall, before the public announcement naming Alma Allen and the exhibition team. (nytimes.com) The chosen artist is Alma Allen, a sculptor whose Biennale project will include new site-responsive works, including one for the pavilion’s outdoor forecourt. The State Department said the show is meant to highlight Allen’s transformation of raw materials and the idea of “elevation.” (state.gov) The last U.S. art pavilion, in 2024, featured Jeffrey Gibson, whom the National Endowment for the Arts said was the first American Indigenous artist to have a solo exhibition in the American pavilion. That recent history gives the 2026 pick a direct point of comparison as Venice prepares to open next month. (arts.gov)
