As artificial intelligence reshapes industries and automation absorbs repetitive work, creativity has become one of the few skills machines still struggle to replicate authentically. Colleges across the United States are responding by expanding art programs, investing in interdisciplinary creative spaces, and encouraging students to combine artistic talent with entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation. Rhode Island School […]
Born in China and now based in New York City, Shuyao Huang approaches painting less as a pursuit of outcomes and more as a daily necessity. What began as an ambition to study fashion design shifted after arriving in New York, where teachers encouraged her toward fine art. At Pratt Institute, Huang developed both a
Mason Dowling approaches painting like a risk. Not in theory, but in practice, where each move has the potential to undo everything that came before it. There is no fixed image he is working toward, no clean endpoint. The work is built through a series of decisions that could just as easily collapse the painting
There’s a moment in talking to Noel W. Anderson where everything shifts from art as object to art as something closer to confession. Not performance, not presentation, but release. For him, making work isn’t about building toward a career milestone or chasing validation. It’s about leaving something behind so it doesn’t follow you. Something you
Adrien Manso describes making art as an impulse you follow without overthinking, the same way you would eat when you are hungry or swim when you want to swim. This intuitive rhythm defines his entire practice, moving fluidly between drawing, painting, design, and craft without hierarchy. Born and raised in the southwest of France, Manso’s
There’s a belief in Madjeen Isaac’s work that the world, as it exists, is not fixed. That it can be reimagined, reassembled, and cared for differently. Her paintings don’t just depict environments; they propose them. Born, raised, and based in Brooklyn, Isaac builds immersive, layered scenes that draw from her Haitian American identity, her upbringing
Amy Bravo’s work unfolds as a raw, layered exploration of emotion, memory, and identity. An ever-evolving practice rooted in intuition, material history, and lived experience. Raised between Queens and New Jersey, Bravo draws deeply from her upbringing, where domestic spaces, family objects, and cultural inheritance shaped her earliest understanding of creativity. Her work today still
Björn Heyn does not describe his studio as a workplace. He calls it a playground. For him, that distinction matters. Being an artist, he explains, means holding on to a particular state of mind that can easily disappear in adulthood. Bills arrive, emails pile up, the mailbox fills with responsibilities that feel far removed from
In 2026, curators aren’t just responding to aesthetic trends – they’re shaping how art is seen, understood, and connected to the wider cultural moment. From community engagement to deeper thematic frameworks, what curators prioritize reveals not only what gets shown in galleries and museums, but what gets remembered. Below, we unpack what curators are prioritizing
Ranny Macdonald describes painting as a threshold experience, a place where something begins to take over. “I get a sort of rush from it,” he says, “to be on that threshold… it feels like something else is kind of taking over, you know what needs to be done and you’re listening.” In those moments, the
