Need to raise ADP funds? Try a fun run!
This last Saturday, the 16th annual Race for the Arts took place in Sacramento, with hundreds of workers running or walking a 5K course after raising pledges for art organizations. 100% of the pledges went to the art organization of their choice, with over 100 organizations listed as beneficiaries, from elementary schools to orchestras to theater companies. In […]
Art for a Cause (Pt. 2): J.M. Turner’s “The Slave Ship” advocates abolition
In this series, we take a look at how certain seminal and lesser-known artworks have become symbols of social action. Check out Part 1 on Picasso’s masterpiece Guernica here. Today, we’ll travel back to 1840: J.M. Turner, one of Britain’s most celebrated Romantic painters, reads The History and the Abolition of the Slave Trade and is inspired to […]
#ArtSelfie: what’s up with museum photography?
We’re retiring Artist Spotlight for a little while, and instead focusing on another important yet often overlooked aspect of the art world: museums and curation. Today, let’s look at the debate over taking photos in art museums. It’s tempting to do it. You’re in front of a classic artwork — one known throughout the world […]
Art for a Cause: Picasso’s Guernica and the terror of war
Our last series, Flesh, Fakers and Fountains, Oh My! Scandals in Art, looked at famous artworks that caused uproar within the art community. In this new series, we will look at how certain seminal and lesser-known artworks have become symbols of social action. We’re starting off this series with perhaps the best known work amongst […]
Please do touch the painting: how blind people see art
I recently visited the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and I saw a blind person making their way to the exhibit with a friend. It confused me. I mean, I’d never really thought about it before, but I started wondering, how do people who have visual impairments experience the visual arts? Which leads to this blog […]
Want an instant five million bucks? Just find some stolen art.
Have you ever imagined what you would do with five million dollars? I’d probably build this pool. Or buy plane tickets to wherever this is. But enough about me. The good news for you is that you no longer need to invent something […]
Behind the Brush: Isabella Stewart Gardner, Patron
Back in the good old days, artists couldn’t just start Kickstarter campaigns or make public social media outcries for monetary support. So how did they survive day to day? The answer was patronage, and for today’s Artist Spotlight, we’ll take a look at the many sides of one of the most famous patrons in American […]
Quiz: What Famous Artist Are You?
It’s time. You’ve been waiting your whole life for this very moment. It’s time to find out which famous artist matches your personality. I know, I know, it may be a little scary to find out. You may be asking, what if I don’t get the artist I want? (Because, let’s be real, not everyone […]
Literally Cool Art Projects for Summer
I don’t know about you, but where I’m writing from (Santa Barbara), it is hot. If I’m not at the beach, I’m sitting inside by the fan and AC, trying to keep cool. I’m sure you’re feeling the same way at this point of the summer. Of course, these aren’t the only ways to beat the […]
Flesh, Fakers, and Fountains, Oh My: Scandals in Art (Pt. 3)
Think art history is mundane? Think again. These scandals rocked the art world and created widespread controversy that still causes contention today. The last installment of a three-part series on major art scandals. Check out Part 1 here, and Part 2 here. Battle Three: Marcel Duchamp v. What is art, anyway, The Battleground: Fountain, by Marcel Duchamp… not the kind of fountain you […]