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Story of the Week

Archaeologists in Turkey have unearthed an 11,000-year-old stone sculpture in Karahantepe, one of the oldest settlements of its kind in the world. The enigmatic artwork is 28 inches tall and depicts a human figure seated atop a leopard. The discovery was announced by Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, who described it as a “composite statue featuring a style unlike any previously encountered.”

​Archaeologists Unearth 11,000-Year-Old Sculpture of a Person Sitting on a Leopard in Turkey​

Art and Design Inspiration

• Jill Maytorena uses wallpaper and upholstery fabric in richly textured portraits of women she knows.​
• A Japanese town created a massive Minecraft-inspired design for its annual rice paddy art project.
• These bird’s-eye view paintings are powerful portraits of landscapes grappling with climate change. Read our interview with artist Leslie Wayne.​
• Bhutanese artist Pem Lham won an international prize for reimagining Himalayan art.​
• Dive into the winning images and films from the Underwater Awards Australasia 2026 competition.​
• And speaking of photo contests, here are the winning images of the 2026 European Photography Awards.​
• Sixty-six masterpieces make for unexpected pairings in an upcoming exhibition in Taiwan.​

This week in history: On September 17, 1926, 18-year-old Frida Kahlo was seriously injured when a streetcar hit the bus she was riding in Mexico City.

Do you find inspiration in stories and artists like these? Become a member of My Modern Met to help create a positive culture by highlighting the best sides of humanity.

The internet is built for beginners. Don’t know how to do something? Just Google it! But what happens when you’re past the beginner stage and are ready to level up? Here are five online art and photography courses that assume you know the baseline skills and are ready to push you further.

• ​Advanced Architectural Illustration: Monochrome Details with Demi Lang
• ​Abstract Realism: Introduction to Mixed Media Painting with Dimitra Milan​
• ​Intermediate Embroidery: Getting Creative With Printed Fabrics with Floor Giebels
• ​Introduction to Pet Photography with Belinda Richards​
• ​Acrylic Painting Masterclass: Explore Color & Abstract Landscape Painting with Luiza Niechoda​​

Odds and Ends

• Brooklyn’s new craft supply library is making creativity accessible for all New Yorkers.​
• Chappell Roan has announced a fundraiser supporting trans youth and LGBTQ+ communities.
• The 2026 World Nomad Games celebrate the sports and heritage of ethnic nomadic peoples.
• Researchers have a theory about why this 2,000-year-old Chinese rock art is still so red.​
• A determined couple wed amid waist-deep water in a flooded church in the Philippines.​
• This teacher rescued a stuck octopus, and the animal seemed to thank her with a simple gesture.​​​

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