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Art & Design NPR explores the visual arts including design, photography, sculpture, and architecture. Interviews, commentary, and audio. Subscribe to the RSS feed.

Art & Design

Monday

Tatreez is a testament to the resilience and creativity of Palestinian women

Tatreez is a centuries-old traditional Palestinian embroidery art form. It encompasses the variety of colorful stitching found on Palestinian textiles. Linah Mohammad hide caption

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Linah Mohammad

I'm Really Into

Tatreez is a testament to the resilience and creativity of Palestinian women

Tatreez is traditional Palestinian embroidery that uses colorful stitching found on textiles, filled with symbolic motifs that represent the different facets of Palestinian life and culture.

Friday

Wednesday

'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' turns 50 this year. How has it held up?

The Peanuts gang celebrates Thanksgiving, but why is Franklin by himself on one side of the table? Allstar Picture Library Limited/Alamy hide caption

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Allstar Picture Library Limited/Alamy

Pop Culture

'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' turns 50 this year. How has it held up?

CBS first aired the televised holiday special in 1973. The message still shines, but some characters and scenes feel a little dated.

'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' turns 50 this year. How has it held up?

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Saturday

Africa's flourishing art scene is a smash hit at Art X

An attendee views one of rising artist Adulphina Imuede's dreamlike illustrations at ART X. Manny Jefferson for NPR hide caption

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Manny Jefferson for NPR

Goats and Soda

Africa's flourishing art scene is a smash hit at Art X

It's Art Month in Nigeria — and a highlight is the celebration of art that is Art X, a wide-ranging fair that highlights "Black portraiture" as well as other creations from the continent.

Africa's flourishing art scene is a smash hit at Art X

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Tuesday

How to find a bra that fits: An illustrated guide (and printable zine!)
LA Johnson/ NPR

Life Kit

How to find a bra that fits: An illustrated guide (and printable zine!)

Can't wait to take your bra off at the end of every day? A professional bra fitter explains how to find a bra that makes you feel comfortable and cute.

How to find a bra that fits: An illustrated guide (and printable zine!)

Listen · 21:40
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Saturday

Could creativity transform medicine? These artists think so

Design strategist Anna Engstrom created this sketch of a futuristic hospital that appears in Artists Remaking Medicine. She writes that she envisions "a more colorful health care future." Anna Engstrom/Procedure Press hide caption

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Anna Engstrom/Procedure Press

Shots - Health News

Could creativity transform medicine? These artists think so

A new book argues that the arts have a role to play in shaking up the status quo in the American health care system and creating 'desperately needed culture change.'

Monday

Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum hosts a retrospective of Simone Leigh's work

Simone Leigh, Satellite (2022), installation view in front of the Hirshhorn Museum entrance on Independence Avenue. Bronze. Rick Coulby for the Hirshhorn/Simone Leigh, Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery hide caption

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Rick Coulby for the Hirshhorn/Simone Leigh, Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery

Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum hosts a retrospective of Simone Leigh's work

Simone Leigh is the first Black woman to represent the U.S. at the prestigious Venice Biennale. Selections of her work are on view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.

Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum hosts a retrospective of Simone Leigh's work

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Friday

New tools help artists fight AI by directly disrupting the systems

Artist Kelly McKernan in their studio in Nashville, Tenn. 2023. Nick Pettit hide caption

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Nick Pettit

Culture

New tools help artists fight AI by directly disrupting the systems

Visual artists are fighting back against unauthorized uses of AI on their work by using tools that contaminate and confuse the AI systems. One tool, for example, can make AI think a dog is a cat.

New tools help artists fight AI by directly disrupting the systems

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Tuesday

'Louie Louie': The story behind the song everyone knows but no one understands

Left to right: Norm Sundholm, Lynn Easton, Dick Peterson, Mike Mitchell, and Barry Curtis of the touring version of the rock and roll band "The Kingsmen" perform onstage in 1964. Michael Ochs/Archives/Getty Images hide caption

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Michael Ochs/Archives/Getty Images

Music

'Louie Louie': The story behind the song everyone knows but no one understands

The Kingsmen's enduring recording of the song turns 60 this year, and remains a classic, in part because of its dramatic history.

'Louie Louie': The story behind the song everyone knows but no one understands

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Thursday

National Museum of Women in the Arts reopening after $70M renovation

Niki de Saint Phalle's Pregnant Nana (1995) greets visitors to third-floor galleries dedicated to pieces from the collection of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Jennifer Hughes/courtesy of NMWA hide caption

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Jennifer Hughes/courtesy of NMWA

National Museum of Women in the Arts reopening after $70M renovation

The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington reopens on Oct. 21 after a two-year, $70-million renovation as a "megaphone" for equity.

National Museum of Women in the Arts reopening after $70M renovation

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Using AI, cartoonist Amy Kurzweil connects with deceased grandfather in 'Artificial'

Cartoonist Amy Kurzweil's new graphic memoir, Artificial: A Love Story, focuses on how she and her father Ray harnessed the power of artificial intelligence to connect with the grandfather she never knew. Marissa Leshnov for NPR hide caption

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Marissa Leshnov for NPR

Books

Using AI, cartoonist Amy Kurzweil connects with deceased grandfather in 'Artificial'

In her new graphic memoir, Artificial: A Love Story, Kurzweil describes how she and her father, famed futurist Ray Kurzweil, harnessed the power of AI to speak with the grandfather she never knew.

Using AI, cartoonist Amy Kurzweil connects with deceased grandfather in 'Artificial'

Listen · 7:12
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Tuesday

Boo! Halloween is coming. Here's how to decide on a costume
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Life Kit

Boo! Halloween is coming. Here's how to decide on a costume

Haven't figured out your costume yet? Don't sweat. Stylist Sophie Strauss explains how to create a Halloween outfit that's unexpected, fun and won't break the bank.

Boo! Halloween is coming. Here's how to decide on a costume

Listen · 18:24
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Wednesday

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners show the beauty — and precarity — of nature

Portfolio Award Winner: The ancient mariner. Pangatalan Island, Palawan, the Philippines. The tri-spine horseshoe crab has survived for more than 100 million years but now faces habitat destruction and overfishing for food and for its blood, used in the development of vaccines. Laurent Ballesta/Wildlife Photographer of the Year hide caption

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Laurent Ballesta/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Photography

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners show the beauty — and precarity — of nature

The winning photographs star different species from around the world, all highlighting the interplay between animals and humans. The two grand titles went to shots of a horseshoe crab and barn owls.

Walmart heir wants museums to attract more people and donates $40 million to help

The Museo de Arte in Puerto Rico is one of 64 art museums receiving grants as part of a new initiative called "Access for All" funded by Alice Walton's Art Bridges foundation. Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico hide caption

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Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico

Culture

Walmart heir wants museums to attract more people and donates $40 million to help

Alice Walton's foundation Art Bridges will give grants to dozens of museums around the country.

Walmart heir wants museums to attract more people and donates $40 million to help

Listen · 2:48
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