Art & Design

This Aztec map was drawn in 1539 and shows the estate of Oztoticpac, in Texcoco.

Books
Arts

'Map' Is An Exquisite Record Of The Miles — And The Millennia

9:10pm December 14, 2015

by Ari Shapiro

Map: Exploring the World is a new collection of maps, selected by an international panel of cartographers, academics and collectors, spanning everything from the Aztecs to modern digital imaging.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Pictures Worth 1,084,170 Words: The 'Harry Potter' Series, Illustrated

5:26pm December 12, 2015

by NPR Staff

The prospect of illustrating all seven volumes filled artist Jim Kay with "terrible panic" — but he left his comfort zone and did it anyway. Here's how he brought the boy wizard's adventures to life.

Books
Arts

In 'Drawing Blood,' A Life Of Art And Action

7:34pm December 09, 2015

by NPR Staff

Artist Molly Crabapple's lavishly illustrated memoir chronicles her youth in New York and her work illustrating the Occupy Wall Street movement, protests in Greece and everyday life in Syria.

Queue Listen Now

Pindar Van Arman in his studio with paintings created by his bitPaintr portrait-painting robot.

Arts

You Can Give A Robot A Paintbrush, But Does It Create Art?

9:09am December 06, 2015

by Allie Caren

Pindar Van Arman is a painter — and a software designer. His latest project? A portrait-painting robot. Its paintings "dance on the edge" between creations by humans and machines, he says.

The photographer brings a surreal touch to the epidemic that struck West Africa in photos titled "Le Temps Ebola." The suits worn by the people portraying health professionals evoke carnival masks and animal masks. The question the photographer ponders: "

Ghost Towns, Surreal Ebola Docs, Hip Hats: It's Africa's Big Photo Show

11:42am December 05, 2015

by Vicky Hallett

This year, the Biennale of Photography is all about "Telling Time" — and it comes at a telling time for the host country of Mali.

The White House is decked out with 62 Christmas trees and more than 70,000 ornaments this year. The decorations on the East Landing include garlands made of airmail envelops, mailboxes and iPad stations that allow visitors to send messages to military ser

Christmas At The White House, Where You'll Want To Hang That Snowflake Just Right

10:24am December 05, 2015

by Tamara Keith

Every year, hundreds of people apply for a chance to volunteer to decorate the White House for the holidays. All 70,000 ornaments and 8,000 snowflakes of it.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

Photojournalist Pays It Forward After Earning Thousands In Copyright Fees

6:13pm December 02, 2015

NPR's Kelly McEvers talks to photojournalist Yunghi Kim who has taken copyright fees from her photographs and created small grants for other photographers.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

Boston Museum Exhibit Celebrates Legacy Of Black Mountain College

7:22pm December 01, 2015

by Andrea Shea

Black Mountain College was only open for 24 years, but it helped foment the work of several artists, musicians, dancers and filmmakers, including John Cage, Merce Cunningham and Cy Twombly. Now it's the subject of the first major museum retrospective at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art.

Queue Listen Now

Japanese Illustrator Shigeru Mizuki Dies At 93

7:05pm December 01, 2015

One of Japan's most beloved illustrators has died. Shigeru Mizuki always loved to draw, but it wasn't until he was in his 40s that he began to publish his most important work.

Queue Listen Now

Project Runway host Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn at the Project Runway Spring 2013 fashion show in New York City. Today, Gunn is comfortable before an audience — but it wasn't always that way.

Arts

From Trembling Teacher To Seasoned Mentor: How Tim Gunn Made It Work

6:16pm November 28, 2015

by NPR Staff

Gunn, the mentor to young designers on Project Runway, has been a teacher and educator for decades. But he spent his childhood "absolutely hating, hating, hating, hating school," he says.

Queue Listen Now