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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

Friday

Prized Sculptures Survive Katrina, Stolen by Thieves

Thieves recently broke into an art studio in New Orleans, dismantling and stealing several bronze sculptures created by artist John T. Scott. His world-renowned artwork normally commands thousands of dollars per piece, but the sculptures likely were sold as scrap metal for a few hundred dollars.

Prized Sculptures Survive Katrina, Stolen by Thieves

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Thursday

The Long View

Life Is a Collage for Artist Betye Saar

"The Liberation of Aunt Jemima" -- a broom-toting, gun-wielding African-American woman -- established the reputation of artist Betye Saar. That was in 1972. At age 80, she's still combining scraps and souvenirs of the past into provocative works of art.

Life Is a Collage for Artist Betye Saar

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Culture

African Artists Display Continent in Comic Strips

The Studio Museum in Harlem is showing a first-ever U.S. exhibit of comic strips from Africa. Three dozen artists deal with postmodern daily life and the problems facing 20 African countries: war, corruption, poverty, sexism and child slavery.

African Artists Display Continent in Comic Strips

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A President's Legacy

Gerald Ford the First Pop-Culture President

The death of former President Gerald Ford brings back memories of his most-famous moments. The accidental president prone to accidents was often lampooned, nowhere more famously than on Saturday Night Live. He was the first president to truly pervade pop culture.

Gerald Ford the First Pop-Culture President

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National

Residents Unite to Save Concrete Animal Park

Two generations of children in the Los Angeles suburb of San Gabriel have played in a park featuring concrete structures built to look like animals. As the city remodels, some locals are organizing to save Ozzie the Octopus, Stella the Starfish and others.

Residents Unite to Save Concrete Animal Park

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Wednesday

The Long View

Stan Lee on Realism in the World of Comic Heroes

Stan Lee reflects on a lifetime of creating comics, including some imperfect superheroes. Spiderman, one of Lee's best known characters, was human first and super second. Lee tells Renee Montagne how he brought realism to a fantasy world.

Stan Lee on Realism in the World of Comic Heroes

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Tuesday

National

The Accidental Historian of Laporte, Indiana

For more than 25 years, Frank Pease was the primary portrait photographer in LaPorte, Ind., — a town of about 20,000. Now his photos of everyday Midwesterners have been compiled into a book called LaPorte, Indiana.

The Accidental Historian of Laporte, Indiana

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'Comics' Exhibit Gathers a Africa's Cartoonists

"Africa Comics" is a new exhibition featuring the comic art of more than 30 African cartoonists from across the continent and Europe. The show runs through the spring at the Studio Museum in Harlem.

'Comics' Exhibit Gathers a Africa's Cartoonists

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Saturday

The Found Art of Joseph Cornell

Artist Joseph Cornell created works out of framed boxes filled with found objects. His work is on display now at an exhibit called "Navigating the Imagination," hosted by the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

The Found Art of Joseph Cornell

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Wednesday

Italy, Getty Museum at Odds over Disputed Art

The Italian government threatens to break off relations with the Getty museum in Los Angeles in a dispute over a number of Italian antiquities. The Italians are demanding the return of 48 pieces in the museum that they say were taken out of Italy illegally.

Italy, Getty Museum at Odds over Disputed Art

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Simon Schama on the Unsettling 'Power of Art'

We usually look at art in the hushed, reverential surroundings of museums and galleries — and that, argues writer and art historian Simon Schama, can fool us into believing that great works of art are polite. In fact, he says, they are thugs that force us to see the world in new ways.

Simon Schama on the Unsettling 'Power of Art'

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Monday

Friday

Research News

Creativity, Learned or Innate?

From a soulful poem to an ingenious experiment, what sparks the creative process? Is creativity something you're born with, or can it be learned? A look at the nature of creativity with neuroscientist Nancy Andreasen.

Creativity, Learned or Innate?

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