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The City of Raleigh rejoined the NAP roster this year with one small change; the subtraction of Wake County participants as the Wake County United Arts Council no longer wanted to take part. However, after fourteen years with the program, coordinator Stacy Bloom Rexrode was determined to continue to provide the opportunity for Raleigh employees and their family members to share their talents. And share their talents they did! The artwork submitted for their fifteenth annual exhibit once again filled the Block Gallery walls displaying the wonderful creative talents of the city.

Coordinator Katie Biddle currently executes not one but two annual National Arts Program Exhibits at Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Virginia. This year was their third annual Patient Showcase at Carilion Clinic and Katie said they “received countless positive comments about the quality of work from their panel of judges as well as many visitors, patients, and employees who passed through the lobby atrium of Roanoke Memorial Hospital. She personally observed people as they entered the lobby, often in a hurry, and saw how encountering the art shifted their experience.

Osceola Arts has been hosting a National Arts Program Exhibit for Fourteen years now and has always reached a large audience. Hanging over 200 pieces of art in their beautiful galleries was quite a feat this year but Marilyn Cortes-Lovato and the staff of Osceola Arts are seasoned professionals and they did it brilliantly! The artists invited include active and retired employees and volunteers of Osceola County School District or Osceola Arts and their family members as well as current students of Osceola Arts.

Featured on qz.com

We’ve known for a while that honey bees are smart cookies. They have excellent navigation skills, they communicate symbolically through dance, and they’re the only insects that have been shown to learn abstract concepts.

Honey bees might also add the title of art connoisseur to their box of tricks. In part one of The Great Australian Bee Challenge, we see honey bees learning to tell the difference between European and Australian Indigenous art in just one afternoon.

Featured on artsy.net

If the concept of contemporary art baffles you, you’re in good company—elite, in fact.

The mark is “the most convincing candidate for an authentic Leonardo fingerprint” among the Queen’s 550 works by the great artist

Featured on theartnewspaper.com

The art critics of The New York Times tell you what rocked their worlds this year: notable art events, works in museums and galleries, emerging artists and how they found beauty in unexpected places

Featured on nytimes.com

When the going gets rough, there’s always art. It can soothe and teach you, and arm you with new tools and perspectives with which to face the world. This year had some great winners and obvious losers.

Winner: Art History, Refigured

Featured on artfido.com

Diane Ozdamar has been taking pictures of pet rats for years hoping to break the negative image that is often associated with these animals.

John Brandler, who paid a six-figure sum for Season's Greetings, is in talks with local officials

Featured on theartnewspaper.com

Richard Phillips, the longest-serving U.S. inmate to win exoneration, is currently displaying around 50 pieces of his work in a Detroit gallery to make ends meet.

Featured on nbcnews.com

 Richard Phillips said he didn't mope much during the 45 years he wrongfully spent in prison. He painted watercolors in his cell: warm landscapes, portraits of famous people like Mother Teresa, vases of flowers, a bassist playing jazz.

"I didn't actually think I'd ever be free again. This art is what I did to stay sane," the 73-year-old said.

Featured on rollingstone.com

A roomful of strangers are milling around the kitchen of an austere Victorian home when the first portal opens. It’s in the refrigerator. A family walks up to it and is swallowed whole by its comforting glow. As the door begins to creak shut, a young woman in a polka-dot skirt skips up to catch it. “Are you coming to The Gathering?” she smiles. “Come on — follow me.”

Georgina Adam speaks with three leading art world figures on the key events of last year and what 2019 may hold

Featured on theartnewspaper.com

Featured on washingtonpost.com

The NAP exhibit at the University of Chicago Medicine in Illinois will be on display through February 4th and showcases 169 artworks from their talented employee community. The show is in it’s thirteenth year and continues to be a success thanks to the tremendous efforts of coordinators Monica Hork and Janet Seitzer.

The staff of the National Arts Program were in attendance to help the City of Philadelphia celebrate their Nineteenth Annual show this year.