Visual Arts
ArtVenture connects the dots between visitors and public art in downtown Cincinnati
This story is supported by a National Endowment for the Arts Our Town Knowledge Building grant supporting a partnership between Springboard for the Arts and the International Downtown Association.…
Lessons from RARE: Engaging Artists in Real Estate Development
As real estate developers increasingly look for responsive models, many are seeing the value of incorporating art into buildings and spaces. In one current case study, the Richfield Artist Resident…
Michael O'Bryan helps people to find sanctuary in art
Sanctuary is a place of refuge or safety. In urban neighborhoods all throughout America, sanctuary is a luxury almost beyond attainment. But Michael O'Bryan is working to bring that sense of…
Newark's Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District embraces the transformative power of music
Lincoln Park is an 11-acre, four-block neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey. In the late 1990s, the area became a focus of conversation on redevelopment efforts, with a series of charrettes – planning…
Upcycle Parts Shop engages the community though creative reuse
Nicole McGee has been a self-described "reuse artist" for several years, but her practice wasn't always her profession. Her background is in the nonprofit sector, doing work in PR and marketing,…
The Akron Art Museum will make art an everyday experience with their art library lending program
We all know how libraries work: you find a book (or maybe an academic journal, magazine, DVD, even a music CD) that you would like to check out with your library card, issued for free usually with…
ArtSpring's arts-based workshops for underserved communities promote self-esteem and understanding
Leslie Neal has been involved in the Miami dance community since 1981. In 1992, she held a tenured faculty position at Florida University as an Associate Professor of Dance with a focus on community…
Urban Matter Inc. creates interactive installations that combine technology, design, and community
This story is supported by a National Endowment for the Arts Our Town Knowledge Building grant supporting a partnership between Springboard for the Arts and the International Downtown Association.…
Carrie Morris Arts Production uses experimental puppetry to narrate people's stories
Carrie Morris Arts Production uses performing objects and experimental theatre to tell stories. In other words, puppetry. But this isn’t the soft, plushy children's puppetry of Sesame Street – think…
San Jose's MACLA engages a multicultural community
In early 2016, San Jose’s Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA) opened the exhibition “Custom Lives: Rasquache Renaissance.” The show exhibited colorful, cartoon-like sculptures of…
The Lumonics Light Brigade
Sculptor Dorothy Tanner, 93, admits she's something of a rebel, a revolutionary. A petite woman, Tanner declares in a soft, slightly husky voice, "There's a certain 'straightness' that I can't help…
BOOM Concepts is a creative hub that reflects the faces of the community on Pittsburgh's Penn Ave.
D.S. Kinsel, co-founder of Pittsburgh's BOOM Concepts, is a painter, installation artist, event maker, and art curator. He says he is always trying to make sure that his art is relevant to and a…
Ivar Zeile has seen the future of public art, and it's on 25' x 60' screens
Before launching Denver Digerati and becoming a national leader in digital placemaking, Ivar Zeile founded the contemporary arts gallery Plus Gallery in Denver in 2001. He had previously worked in…
Colette Fu makes pop-up photo books that examine the self through photos of others
Colette Fu was a pretty typical teenager growing up in New Jersey: insecure about her looks and her identity, as so many teenagers are, Fu would peroxide her hair to alter her appearance. She was…
Radiant Hall creates co-working spaces for artists in need of studio space
Sculptural painter Ryan Lammie grew up in Pittsburgh and went to school at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, living there from 2007-2012. During that time he saw the Borough's rapid development, and…
1xRUN is the future of art
In November 2015, 1xRUN (one-time-run) celebrated its fifth anniversary of delivering limited-edition time-released prints through its e-commerce store. 1xRUN is the world's leading publisher of fine…
Witt Siasoco uses art to create home
If you take Twin Cities artist Witt Siasoco's extensive body of work as a whole, a common theme emerges: home. Not home as a physical place, or even a symbolic one – "Home is where the heart is," and…
LaCa Projects celebrates Latin American contemporary arts while challenging misconceptions
LaCa Projects, which stands for "Latin American Contemporary Art," was founded nearly three years ago by an Argentinean businessman, Walter Dolhare, who was born and raised in Argentina but moved to…
ArtsWave Cincinnati is the oldest and largest united arts fund in the country
Funding sources for many arts organizations tends to be a hodgepodge of foundation, government, corporate, and patron support, which makes ArtsWave Cincinnati remarkably unique – it is the Greater…
Bryce McCloud wants all of Nashville to be neighbors
There is a tab for "Art Projects" on the Isle of Printing website where all of their various public art endeavors are listed. One is called the "Mr. Rogers' Sharing is Caring Project." The project…
A Cartoon Garden: Kenny Be's Denver Neighborhood Seed Company
The cartoonist most associated with Denver, Kenny Be has planted 60 of the city's neighborhoods as seed packets for a fictional brand. He's a fixture at the annual Denver County Fair, held this year…
City of Asylum/Pittsburgh offers writers in exile sanctuary alongside expansive creative placemaking
"Asylum" – A place offering protection and safety; a shelter. “Silence is death. If you are silent you are dead, And if you speak you are dead, So speak and die.” –…
YEPAW encourages youth to pursue lifestyles of excellence through the arts
Youth Excellence Performing Arts Workshop (YEPAW) got its first start when founder and artistic director Leslie Barnes had a conversation with a friend who claimed that the youth…
Arab American National Museum is the first and only museum of its kind
The metro Detroit area is an area rich with cultural institutions that celebrate the heritage, history, legacy, and continued contributions of artistic, cultural, and intellectual…
Denver Urban Gardens: Growing a garden, growing a community
Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) has been serving the five-county area of Metro Denver for 30 years and manages about 150 community gardens. "Our mission is to create community one…
Reading between the Thin Blue Lines with poetry
This is the fourth in a series of artist profiles featuring the work of artists around social justice, policing, and activism. Click on the links to read previous stories…
Arts for Learning teaches valuable life skills through paid arts internships
Miami's Arts for Learning (A4L), a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing teaching and learning through the arts, launched nearly 15 years ago with a vision of connecting…
Empire Seven Studios breaks down the barriers to putting art on walls
Empire Seven Studios in San Jose started because Juan Carlos Araujo wanted his own art studio. He envisioned the space at 525 N. 7th Street as his own personal art space, but…
DIY Printing stays true to its name & ethos while supporting the local arts community in Cincinnati
Artists as a species tend to exhibit a certain kind of do-it-yourself-ness. Generally dissatisfied with the world as it is presented to them, they follow their own paths and figure…
Finding Voice: How Art Empowers Civic Engagement in Refugee & Immigrant Youth
This is the first story about work coming from the PLACE (People, Land, Arts, Culture and Engagement) Initiative of the Tucson Pima Arts Council. Read Executive Director Roberto Bedoya’s introduction…