The Art Issue: American Utopias
Why artists in the U.S. have never been able to stop imagining a better world.
T Magazine
June 20, 2026

THE ART ISSUE: AMERICAN UTOPIAS

Why artists in the U.S. have never been able to stop imagining a better world.

A painting of a haloed figure wearing a white robe extending his hand towards a boat. In the distance, a domed palace.

Munson Museum, Utica, N.Y./Art Resource, N.Y.

The Art Issue

American Artists Are Still Looking for Utopia

T’s annual Art issue explores how the idea of a good if elusive place has inspired great art, and vice versa.

By M.H. Miller

A black-and-white photograph of members of Parliament-Funkadelic in a transparent dome.

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

The Art Issue

A History of American Utopia in 10 Acts

Exploring some of the significant experiments that have best captured the country’s idealistic spirit.

By Zoë Lescaze

In a fenced front yard, a sale with books, bottles and magazines displayed on the grass. People are trying on clothes and browsing.

Catherine Opie, “Michelle & Melissa, Los Angeles, California,” 1995 © Catherine Opie, courtesy of Lehmann Maupin and Regen Projects

The Art Issue

‘A Beautiful, Horny, Gorgeous, Stylish Time’: An Oral History of Casa de Estrogen

How one apartment building in L.A.’s Koreatown became a haven for queer, feminist art in the 1990s and beyond.

By Cassie Packard

A painting of people migrating across hilly terrain with horses and carriages. Towering above them, a giant woman in white robes.

Christie’s Images/Bridgeman Images

The Art Issue

8 Proposals for a Better Art World

Artists on what a more utopian version of their field might look like.

By Andrew Russeth

Article Image

The Museum of Modern Art/New York, N.Y./U.S.A. Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, N.Y.

The Art Issue

The 1960s Artists Who Took Aim at MoMA

Members of the Art Workers’ Coalition fought for a fairer and more equitable business for themselves. Their battles resonate to this day.

By Max Lakin

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