Featured Articles

The Art League Reopening for Spring Term

February 27, 2021

As wintery February draws to a close and the evening light is starting to look like spring, there is reason to be hopeful that the long pandemic of 2020 might be coming to a close. At The Art League of Alexandria, Virginia, nine months of mostly shuttered doors is giving way to registration for a spring session that just might look normal. Last autumn we featured The Art League and its Ceramics Chair, Blair Meerfeld, in a story about the effects of closures on art communities. We spoke to him recently about the challenges of re-opening.

Lillstreet Art Center Stands Firm During Pandemic Year

February 19, 2021

A city the size of Chicago offers a multitude of venues for the exploration of human creativity, with studios and galleries throughout the metropolitan area and its suburbs, but the city’s artistic nexus can be found at Lillstreet Art Center. For over four decades, the center has provided a home for artists of all varieties. Founded in 1975 by current Director Bruce Robbins and Martin Cohen, Lillstreet has stood as the gateway for the human need to interpret the world through art. As we approach the one-year anniversary of a world pandemic, Director Robbins looks back on a year marked by innovative solutions to unique challenges.

Caitlin Wismer and Wyland Elementary School: A Clay Gathering

February 08, 2021

When art educator Caitlin Wismer started her first year as a long-term substitute teacher at Wyland Elementary School in the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh this past September, the year ahead looked challenging and uncertain. Wyland is part of the Hampton School District, which made the decision to start the new academic year with a hybrid model, in light of the ubiquitous COVID-19 pandemic. Students would be instructed through a mix of in-person and virtual learning.

More