Visual Arts
Start With Art gives Pittsburgh newborns a baby step toward culture
Most adults could tell you where they acquired their first piece of art: a local shop, a tiny gallery in a seaside town in Italy, the IKEA clearance bin. Not many people began their collections as…
Lenka Clayton, An Artist in Residence in Motherhood
Since 1860, in the afterglow of the Industrial Revolution and on the eve of the Civil War, the number of working mothers has risen 800 percent. For as long as women in contemporary Western society…
Hunter Franks: Reflections on the 2014 Creative Interventions Tour
“My parents said if you have a boy he will wrestle; that is what he will do,” Lisa remarked, referring to her son Martaz. I had just met Martaz and Lisa a week before, as they participated in my…
Reach Studio reaches artists homeless and in transition, treating them as artists first
Art therapy is a well-established practice that uses the creative process to help improve a person’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being. RedLine Denver, an "urban laboratory" that fosters…
Jonathan Harwell-Dye helps the Macon Arts Alliance get a seat at the table
Jonathan Harwell-Dye's career in the arts didn't start out in the most obvious way. The Director of Communications for the Macon Arts Alliance began as a science illustration major at the University…
iMPeRFeCT Gallery celebrates artists with commitment and the collision of high and low art
The concept of "perfection" in the art world is almost impossible to attain, yet that doesn't stop artists from trying or critics from criticizing. It was the rejection of this nebulous idea of…
Pilar Agüero-Esparza is an artist, teacher, and mother who explores themes of labor and domesticity
It is natural for artists to continuously return back to recurring themes in their work throughout their career, and Pilar Agüero-Esparza is no exception. Agüero-Esparza is a visual artist based in…
HICCUP creates positive disruption to bring visibility to Hialeah
The souvenir is as much a time-honored vacation tradition as is taking photos standing awkwardly next to world-renowned historic landmarks and tuning out the kids in the backseat as they continually…
Olayami Dabls is the owner of the MBAD African Bead Museum, a major repository for African artifacts
Olayami Dabls hardly needs to give visitors directions to his MBAD African Bead Museum, although its Grand River and Tireman location is tucked away off I-96, a short drive from the city's…
N'Namdi Center for Contemporary Art is dedicated to enlightenment through the arts
Art doesn't follow development, says George N'Namdi. Development follows art. And he should know. In addition to running his N'Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, George N'Namdi has been steadily…
Mother and daughter Dell and Sharon Pryor are among Detroit's earliest art and cultural ambassadors
Tulani Rose and the Del Pryor Gallery occupy the large, orangish brick corner of Willis Street and Cass Avenue, an original anchor of now hip Willis Street, in Midtown. With few…
The Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh creates a world of immersive, interactive installation art
The Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh is a museum dedicated to installation art. But to put it that succinctly doesn't nearly do it justice. More fittingly, the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh is a…
How can public art be used to give new life to aging infrastructure and build connections?
These stories are brought to you by a partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the NEA’s Our Town program. Like so many American cities, Greensboro, North Carolina is in the midst of…
M12 Collective brings experiential art to the American High Plains
M12 is an artists' collective based in Byers, Colorado, a rural town in the American High Plains. The work of the collective inhabits rural places, and explores the aesthetics of those rural cultures…
Asian Arts Initiative shepherds community engagement and integration in Philly's Chinatown North
Gayle Isa started working at the Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia in 1993. This was in the aftermath of the infamous Rodney King verdict and the riots in Los Angeles that followed. Racial…
Charles Ladson is a painter who rediscovered his home in Macon
Like so many other artists, Charles Ladson had an interest in art and painting at an early age but didn't think it was something he could pursue as a career. Ladson's granddad and mom were both…
Erik Howard brings the corner and the community together in unlikely ways through The Alley Project
To read the abundance of news coverage coming out of Detroit over the last few years heralding the downtrodden city as a hotbed of creativity and innovation, attracting young creatives and start-up…
Welcome to Creative Exchange (again)
"I believe in the magic of storytelling, not only for teller but also the listener," says agrarian artist Nikiko Masumoto, who lives and works in California's Central Valley. "The possibility of…
Eye in the Sky: Evan Anderman captures images of the Colorado plains from above
Most local lens-folk point their cameras west to the Rockies. Evan Anderman likes to cast his gaze east -- and down. "I was born and raised in Denver and spent a lot of time out [on the plains]…
Guerilla Gardening with Jolt, Denver Street Artist Deluxe
This is a story about a graffiti artist. A graffiti artist who, by his own admission, has found various additional outlets for his talent. He's done commercial work, he's been commissioned to create…
Meet Brian Corrigan, Denver's "Oh Heck Yeah" phenom
It was during an unlikely -- and very cool -- marriage of something Pong and Space Invaders-like in downtown Denver last year when Brian Corrigan had himself an "aha!" moment. It was Create Denver…
Adam Lerner is mixing tastes at MCA Denver
Fact: MCA Denver Director Adam Lerner grew up in Queens, New York, in a family of Jewish immigrants who square danced competitively. As the youngest dancer at the AL'e'MO Squares square dance club,…
If you heart local, you will love I Heart Denver
The idea of selling merchandise that celebrates a place is not new -- especially along Denver's 16th Street Mall. But Samuel Schimek has come up with a new and hip model for locally made goods that…
The weird world of Andrew Novick: Blood, pancakes and punk rock
"If I'm not back in a few hours," I said to my husband on an otherwise ordinary Saturday, "let the police know I was having coffee with the man who makes art out of human blood." My fears were put to…
Life Hacks with Mar Williams
Some people wear their hearts on their sleeves, but Marlana Williams -- Mar, for short -- prefers to wear her hacks on her sleeves. Her tattoo sleeves, that is. The most surprising thing about…
John Haywood re-paints the narrative of what it means to be Appalachian and to be an artist
John Haywood grew up in the Appalachian region of southeastern Kentucky with dreams of becoming a rock star. But mountain folk don't become rock stars. Mountain folk don't even go to college.…
Clement Brown, Jr. celebrates Fashion, Arts, Music & Entertainment in an underserved area of Detroit
The west side neighborhood around the intersection of Joy Rd. and Meyers in Detroit can be a tough place, but theFAME Shop, located at 10608 Joy Road, is a brightening presence. FAME…
How public art builds safer, stronger neighborhoods
In April of 2014, Damian Woetzel and the Aspen Institute Arts Program convened a Strategy Group in Detroit. This convening brought together local and national experts: artists and leaders in arts,…
Joan Vorderbruggen is the one-woman powerhouse behind Minneapolis's Made Here
There's really no better word that can be used to accurately describe Joan Vorderbruggen than "dynamic." Vorderbruggen has a dynamic personality that she is able to use to lead dynamic public art…
PAR Projects is building a home for arts education and programming in Cincinnati's Northside
Things don't always work out the way you plan, but they do tend to work out the way they're supposed to. Jonathan Sears is the co-founder of Professional Artistic Research (PAR) Projects, though he…