News

Jan 19, 2019

Man exonerated after 45 years sells his prison art to support himself

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.

Jan 17, 2019

Meow Wolf The Insane Art Collective Taking Over the World

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.”

Jan 14, 2019

Life lessons: what the art market learned from 2018

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

Jan 11, 2019

The University of Chicago Medicine

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.

Jan 11, 2019

Philadelphia Celebrates the NAP 'Art in City Hall'

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

Jan 11, 2019

Huntsville Hospital Health System Joins NAP

The first ever NAP exhibition to be held in the state of Alabama opened at Huntsville Hospital Health System this past November with great success. The show, which featured more than 170 pieces from over 100 artists, completely filled the available wall space of the busy connector hallway between hospitals.  

Jan 11, 2019

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Benefits from Fantastic New Director of Arts

Airport Foundation MSP, which manages the arts and culture program at MSP International Airport, hired Ben Owen as the program’s new director this past summer. Ben hit the ground running with many exhibits and projects already in the works, including their annual National Arts Program exhibit which is in its eighth year. Having more than 10 years of experience in public art management for statewide public art agencies, Ben was an ideal fit for managing both the NAP exhibit and the many other arts and music programs that are ongoing at the Airport. 

Jan 09, 2019

Medieval woman’s hidden art career revealed by blue teeth

Featured on pressdemocrat.com

About 1,000 years ago, a woman in Germany died and was buried in an unmarked grave in a church cemetery. No record of her life survived, and no historian had reason to wonder who she was. But when modern scientists examined her dug-up remains, they discovered something peculiar — brilliant blue flecks in the tartar on her teeth.

And that has cast new light on the role of women and art in medieval Europe.

Jan 02, 2019

Why Art Therapy, Colouring Books & Creating Stuff Reduces Stress

Featured on refinery29

Around 2015 or so, adult colouring books arrived on the Amazon bestseller list, and haven’t left since. The response was polarising: Kate Middleton was reportedly a fan at one point, but Quartz dubbed them America’s “cry for help.” Forbes called them the “dark horse of publishing”that year. Regardless of how you feel about colouring books for those past grade school, studies have proven that they do help some de-stress at the end of the day, highlighting an oft-forgotten means of stress relief: creating art.

Dec 28, 2018

The 15 Biggest Art Historical Discoveries of 2018

Featured on artsy.net

In 2018, we learned more about the art practices of the earliest humans and recovered (or reattributed) artworks by relatively recent humans, like ​Willem de Kooning and Robert Motherwell. Scientists and archaeologists also shed light on ancient cultures through art, from centuries-old Egyptian statues to Indonesian cave paintings. Our understanding of the art of the past—and its relationship to the present—became much more nuanced thanks to the 15 dramatic discoveries outlined below.

Dec 26, 2018

Tim Burton's Art Will Make a Rare U.S. Appearance at Las Vegas's Neon Museum in 2019

Featured on mentalfloss.com

Mark your calendars, Nightmare Before Christmas and Frankenweenie fans: The Neon Museum in downtown Las Vegas will be hosting the first Tim Burton art exhibition in the U.S. in nearly a decade, according to Las Vegas Weekly.

An extensive selection of original artwork by the acclaimed director, producer, and animator will be on display from October 15, 2019 to February 15, 2020. Some of the pieces will be entirely new artworks, while others have been exhibited in the past.

Dec 22, 2018

Museum Visitors Can Play This Wall Art Like an Instrument

An artist, musician, experience designer and app developer meet for coffee. This multi-sensory installation is the result.
Featured on smithsonianmag.com

Dec 21, 2018

Did Pentagon ban on Guantánamo art create a market for it? See who owns prison art.

Featured on mcclatchydc.com

Hollywood actors Ben and Casey Affleck got one each for Christmas last year. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Taylor Branch has four hanging in his home. The actress who played the Gossip Girl grandma wept, then bought one. Some students and teachers have acquired the artwork as well, including a former CIA analyst.

Call it blowback: A year after the Defense Department banned releases of art made by the 40 prisoners still at Guantánamo, detainee artwork that got out before the ban is emerging as a collectible with a bit of cachet.