The Art Assignment

Culture Series / 6 Seasons

The Art Assignment is a weekly PBS Digital Studios production hosted by curator Sarah Green. We take you around the U.S. to meet working artists and solicit assignments from them that we can all complete.

Watch Latest: S6 E32

5m 25s

Make a Book with Meat (or other atypical materials)

S6 E32 / 5m 25s

Artist and designer Ben Denzer shares an assignment to make an ATYPICAL BOOK. He’s made books from meat, toilet paper, ketchup packets, and lottery tickets, among much else. Your challenge: 1) Make a book that is atypical in terms of its form or material + 2) Share it on Instagram or Twitter with #youareanartist.

Art That Was Never Finished

S6 E29 / 9m 32s

Artists have abandoned artworks for many reasons throughout history. Guest host John Green shares some of his favorite unfinished artworks and explains why they resonate with him so deeply. Featuring work by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Edgar Degas, Alice Neel, Kerry James Marshall, and very many presidential portraits.

Make a Cut-Out with Cécile McLorin Salvant

S6 E28 / 6m 50s

Cécile McLorin Salvant is a visual artist and Grammy Award-winning jazz singer, and she shares with us an art assignment on creating your own Theme and Variation Cut-Out.

Art Made in Adversity

S6 E27 / 6m 14s

Artist and educator Allison Smith shares her thoughts and library of books about art made in adverse circumstances. Featured are Vladimir Arkhipov's project Home-Made, archiving Russian artifacts made during Perestroika, and Trench Art, or art and objects made during armed conflict, highlighting works from Trench Art: An Illustrated History by Jane A Kimball.

Art That Brings Me Comfort

S6 E26 / 11m 38s

What art that brings you comfort right now? What art do you want to be thinking about? In this episode, we make a book of art by Alec Soth, Miyoko Ito, Giorgio Morandi, Vija Celmins, Sam Gilliam, Sheila Hicks, and Wayne Thiebaud.

What This Painting Tells Us About Frida Kahlo

S6 E24 / 9m 26s

The artist Frida Kahlo is a larger-than-life icon, known for the masterful self-portraits she made during her turbulent life (1907 - 1954). We take a close look at her painting The Two Fridas (Las Dos Fridas), and consider what it tells us (and doesn't) about her as a person and her wider body of work.

Why Is This Woman in the Jungle?

S6 E19 / 11m 59s

Artist Henri Rousseau painted The Dream in 1910, and its imagery of a woman lounging on a sofa in the middle of a jungle was as surreal then as it is today. What is it about this artwork that captivated audiences then and now?

The $150,000 Banana

S6 E18 / 11m 51s

Artist Maurizio Cattelan duct taped a banana to a wall, titled it "Comedian", and sold 5 editions of the artwork for as much as $150,000 each. Why did it capture our attention, curiosity, and memes? What does it mean?

Is Instagram Changing Art?

S6 E17 / 11m 16s

Many of us who make and appreciate art spend loads of time on Instagram. How is it changing the way we interpret and interact with art? And is it actually changing the art that gets made? Let's find out.

Why Do Corporations Buy Art?

S6 E16 / 10m 23s

Corporate lobbies and board rooms are often graced with impressive art, but why? What's the rationale behind this expense, and what impact does it have on the rest of the art world? We look at the history of corporate collecting, starting with Chase Manhattan Bank in 1959, trace its meteoric rise since, and work through the reasoning behind it.

The Case for Impressionism

S6 E14 / 12m 41s

Impressionism is one of the best known and loved movements in Art History, but why? We present a case for why Impressionism is interesting and worth your attention and admiration, beyond the famous names behind it of Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Mary Cassatt, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissaro, Gustave Caillebotte, Paul Cézanne, et al.

How to Sound like you Understand Art

S6 E13 / 12m 30s

Do you question your ability to talk about art in a coherent way? Here are tips for how to sound like you understand art, even if you've never taken a class or set foot in a museum.

What Did Monet Eat in a Day?

S6 E12 / 21m 34s

This episode of Art Cooking explores the life, art, and eating habits of the great Impressionist artist Claude Monet. We prepare a menu based on the journals Monet kept during his years in Giverny, France, enjoying the freshest produce from the vegetable garden he kept along side the extensive flower and water gardens you recognize from his paintings.

Supported by