art assignment youtube

The Art Assignment

Make a book with meat (or other atypical materials).

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.

S6 E32 - 5m 28s

The Definition of Art

S6 E31 - 13m 4s

What is art? How do we define art? In this episode, we explore some of the many ways that artists and writers and thinkers have defined and understood this thing we call art.

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.

Creativity is Overrated

S6 E25 - 9m 55s

You don't need to be creative or inspired to make art, but you may need the advice of artists, and perhaps a prompt!

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.

What Makes a Masterpiece?

S6 E23 - 12m 35s

What do we mean when we call an artwork a MASTERPIECE? Who decides which art becomes one? And what artists make them?

The Case for Video Games

S6 E22 - 12m 45s

Video Games are fun, but are they art? Heck yes. We explore the history and present of video games and what sets them apart as a means of artistic expression.

Having a Coke with Frank O'Hara

S6 E17 - 15m 29s

Frank O'Hara is best known for his poetry, but in this Art Cooking we explore his life as a poet as well as an art curator at MoMA.

Art Therapize Yourself

S6 E21 - 12m 1s

What is Art Therapy? How can you use aspects of it in your next art encounter? We explore these questions at the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art with art therapist Lauren Daugherty.

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The Art Assignment

"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 this show and many more anytime, anywhere on the free PBS App.

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• Art education

PBS Collection Spotlight: The Art Assignment

October 21, 2020

• Michael Kuenlen

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Primary content.

The Art Assignment (Grades 6-12)

Can you think outside the box? Join curator Sarah Green as she interviews some of today's most inspiring artists and offers a historical exploration behind their methods and techniques. This collection is no standard art history course! 

Whether it’s transforming materials to help people look at the changing environment with new eyes, or taking classic artistic trends and adding a modern twist, The Art Assignment shows that true art can come in many shapes and sizes. This collection includes more than 50 videos of assignments for students, discussion guides surrounding art theory and movements, as well as trips to cities around the world showcasing their significant art scenes. 

Assignments are a personal challenge from an artist using specific materials, a driving idea, or technique. Viewers on YouTube even send in their assignments and the hosts review some of the favorites that teachers can use as models for their students. The theory discussions, dubbed “The Case for…” tackle contentious topics in the art world, like the value of Warhol’s pop art to the idea behind minimalism. These videos could act as excellent jumping off points for class discussions or explorations of specific movements, periods, or artists. Additionally, The Art Assignment features seven videos explaining everything from how to critique art as well as how to negotiate the common sticking point about how “my kid could make that.”

As the collection is intended for older audiences, it would not be advisable to use these videos with elementary school students. To that end, the hosts assume that viewers have a foundational understanding of the elements of art, major movements and periods, as well as some of the most famous names in art history. Middle school is the starting point because the assignments can definitely be used in those classrooms, but some of the discussions might be best left to high school and even advanced-level students due to the depth of content and the sensitive nature of some of the topics. These videos are also available on YouTube .

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About the author.

Michael graduated from Appalachian State University with a bachelor's degree in Secondary Social Studies Education and attended a joint graduate program at the College of Charleston and the Citadel to study developing world history

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The Art Assignment

• View history

The Art Assignment is a PBS Digital Studios webseries focused on contemporary art that debuted in February 2014. The Art Assignment is hosted by Sarah Urist Green who was a curator of contemporary art for the Indianapolis Museum of Art from 2007–2013.

• 2 Assignment Episodes
• 3.1.1 Episode 1: Meet in the Middle with Douglas Paulson and Christopher Robbins
• 3.1.2 Episode 2: Stakeout! with Deb Sokolow
• 3.2 The Case For
• 3.3 Art Trip
• 3.4 We Think Art is Interesting
• 3.5 Artline
• 4 You Are An Artist
• 5 Reception
• 6 References

Content [ ]

Green’s goal for this web series is to demystify the art making process and educate people on contemporary art and how it can be “accessible and social, rather than distant or intimidating”. Green travels the United States to meet and talk with various artists about their art; the artists then give an "assignment" to the audience. The series teaches its audience about contemporary art while providing historical context for the art. The audience is asked to participate by completing the "assignments" and continuing the conversation about art in the comments and on social media. The artists included in the series explore art history through the lens of the present with framing by Green. These artists include: Jesse Sugarmann, Alex Soth, Sonja Clark, Hope Ginsburg, Maria Gaspar, Molly Springfield, Michelle Grabner, Kim Beck, Jon Rubin, Jonn Herschend & Will Rogan, Allison Smith, Tameka Norris, Lee Boroson, Nina Katchadourian, Kate Gilmore and Deb Sokolow.

Green's husband John Green is executive producer of the series.

Assignment Episodes [ ]

There are over 50 videos in the Assignment Episodes playlist, and each one features one or more artists, their styles, and a brief biography of how they developed their particular aesthetic. Their assignments relate to either their style or a valuable topic to them. Each video features a clip called "Who's Done Stuff Like This Before" to examine the art history behind the ideas the contemporary artists present. The audience sees what the artists did as their assignment, from the methodology to the execution and final result. The artists often reflect on their choices and the trial and error process in the project. The final step in each assignment is to document the experience in any form, and upload it to any form of social media with the hashtag #TheArtAssignment, and it could be featured in the show.

Assignments [ ]

Episode 1: meet in the middle with douglas paulson and christopher robbins [ ].

The first official Assignment in which Sarah Urist Green and John Green introduce artists Douglas Paulson and Christopher Robbins. The two artists have collaborated in the past, and the video mentions their previous work and how they met personally. The instructions are to pick a friend, and calculate the exact midpoint between the two participants. After participants decide on a date and time to meet, they don't communicate until then, and document the experience using any medium of their choice.

Episode 2: Stakeout! with Deb Sokolow [ ]

Green talks with the Chicago-based artist Deb Sokolow about her style and how she developed it over time. Her pieces are huge and layered with text, images, and diagrams to tangle and de-tangle stories. This assignment plays with the relationship between the observer and the observed. The instructions are to find an object, place it in a public spot so strangers can interact with it, and pick a location to observe. Similar to the first episode, people record their observations using any medium of their choice.

The Case For [ ]

This video series features various artists and art movements and delves into the impact and value they have in history. The narrator includes how the style of a movement or individual creators began and the following positive and negative reception. This segment covers artists from both past and present stemming from various ethnicities and nationalities. The videos cover a wide range of mediums, and the playlist includes minimalism, abstraction, and performance art and highlights creative minds such as Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko, Kanye West, Yoko Ono, and Ai Weiwei.

Art Trip [ ]

Another playlist called Art Trip delves into the art history and culture in cities around the world. Currently the Art Assignment team has visited London, Tijuana, Los Angeles, Richmond, Washington D.C., the Twin Cities, and Chicago. The videos overview many national and local museums, current exhibits, and local artists.

We Think Art is Interesting [ ]

This playlist is a collection of miscellaneous topics and behind the scenes videos. Some deconstruct a bit of the mystery within the art world such as "What's a Curator?" and "How to Learn About Contemporary Art" while others give tips for art assignments and showcase a variety of artists like "Fierce Women of Art 1".

Artline [ ]

This segment has an "art hotline" with an actual phone so viewers can call in their questions about art. The number is 901-602-ARTY (2789). The questions range from personal advice to opinions on current issues in the art world and much more.

You Are An Artist [ ]

Sarah’s book, You Are An Artist went on sale on April 14, 2020. [1] This book brings together 53 assignments gathered during the course of making The Art Assignment and a number of new ones, expanding on the ideas presented in their videos. She had planned to do a book tour, but this was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [2] Instead, she did a virtual book tour, and all tickets for the tour were refunded. [3] [4] The assignments include sorting books [5] and drawing air. [6]

Reception [ ]

There are 24 assignment response videos which can feature over a hundred creations per video. The Phoenix New Times and Indianapolis Star both covered the show after the first episode aired on February 20, 2014. Despite its birth on the internet, The Art Assignment made it into real life with a physical exhibit in August 2016 that NUVO reviewed. It featured the work of three Indianapolis artists – Brian McCutcheon, Nathaniel Russel, and Lauren Zoll – who have previously given out assignments.

References [ ]

• ↑ https://twitter.com/artassignment/status/1250077245277945856
• ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQDlxJF9tvs
• ↑ https://twitter.com/sarahuristgreen/status/1237062839300431873
• ↑ https://twitter.com/artassignment/status/1253032315590111232
• ↑ https://twitter.com/artassignment/status/1253763691876618240
• ↑ https://twitter.com/artassignment/status/1258378444611543040
• 1 Most-subscribed YouTube channels

Suggestions

Sarah Urist Green of The Art Assignment Inspires the Inner Artist Within Us

In the Summer of 2020, when the world needed art and expression the most, Sarah Urist Green uploaded a new video to her popular YouTube channel The Art Assignment , announcing that she would be “ slowing down ” her content production on the platform. The channel, which featured art history, projects designed by contemporary artists and art-inspired trips and cooking, has since become inactive.

Despite this pause in YouTube output, Green continues to profoundly impact the art community.

Even after putting a freeze on her video uploading, the amiable art historian has gained thousands of new subscribers and views on her YouTube channel. This may be in part due to the success of Green’s highly rated book, “ You Are an Artist ,” which follows the same theme as The Art Assignment channel and acts as a continuation of her previous work.

On top of writing and promoting her book, Green has kept busy by creating art of her own and sharing it on her The Art Assignment Instagram page . Although the internet personality’s lack of video content may seemingly bode ill for The Art Assignment brand, the ever-pertinent nature of Green’s already posted content along with her brand’s continued social media presence go to show that the art historian’s contributions to the world of art education are far from over.

In Sarah Green’s most popular YouTube video , with over 2 million views, she sits in a chair directly facing her viewers as she clearly, concisely and informatively explains a stunt performed by the street artist Banksy in which the activist shredded his own art after auction. Green speaks dynamically about the incident while keeping her vocabulary accessible to the average listener. The video, titled “Behind the Banksy Stunt,” is educational yet casual.

This is what makes Green so special and keeps viewers circling back to old videos. The Art Assignment is a refreshing reprieve from educational art content that is often pretentiously packaged and hard to understand. Instead, Green, who formerly worked as a museum curator, teaches art for the masses.

In another Art Assignment upload , Green discusses the life and art of Andy Warhol “through the food he depicted as well as the food he actually ate.” Getting hands-on and a bit messy with a blender, the funny and relatable art educator creates and consumes a Warhol favorite: frozen hot chocolate. Through this use of food, Green finds the perfect medium to keep her audience engaged while maintaining her lighthearted approach to art history.

In addition to kindling art enthusiasts’ interest in history and notable art figures, Green also pairs with contemporary artists to assign her viewers an art project so that they can produce their own creative masterpieces.

On the art historian’s YouTube channel these art assignments have ranged from taking a photo of a reflection to creating an imaginary friend . The projects featured on The Art Assignment channel do not require advanced tools or knowledge. They simply request an open mind and a dash of imagination. Plus, it doesn’t matter that some of the projects are a few years old. They still spark the same sense of innovation that they did when they were first posted.

From the beginning of The Art Assignment, young children, teens and adults flocked to these art projects, posting their own attempts on social media to share with their peers. The assignments soon became so loved that Green made the decision to craft an entire book dedicated to the movement. Thus, in 2020, “You Are An Artist” was born.

A compilation of 50 do-it-yourself art endeavors, “You Are an Artist” is not broken apart by long, tedious chapters. Instead, the book gives a couple pages of background on some of today’s most thought-provoking artists before jumping into a “Your Turn” section, where Green transcribes artists’ assignments for their readers.

For one project, Green collected instructions from textile artist Fritz Haeg on how to make a rug out of old clothes. The technique provided is fairly simple and can be done at home. Not to mention, Green includes tips, cheats and variations — as she does with all assignments listed in her book — to make Haeg’s project all the more doable for art beginners.

Supplying interactive content is one of Green’s greatest strengths as an art educator, proving that she is not only a knowledgeable expert but also a fantastic teacher. As a member of the Green family’s content-creating universe, Green’s adept teaching style comes as no surprise.

The art historian is married to best-selling author John Green and is the sister-in-law of internet-famous scientist Hank Green . As such, Green is often cited as a source of inspiration and information in many of the Greens’ book and video undertakings — another way the art writer has continued to stay involved in art education outside of her YouTube channel.

In addition to making and aiding in the production of educational content, Green also enjoys making her own art. Most recently, the artist has crafted a series of 62 collage poems , 61 of which have been posted on The Art Assignment Instagram page. The sometimes wistful, other times hilarious poems were originally made “as perks for donors to the 2021 @projectforawesome .” Now, with just one post left before she completes sharing this latest project, Green is “perilously close to the end of [the] series,” leaving fans wondering what’s next for the internet’s favorite art educator.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSz-v_osnGc/

Undoubtedly, Green will continue to create art-related content for any and all people interested in indulging their craving for creativity. Maybe the art historian will even come out with another YouTube video or two now that her poetry project is coming to a close. Whatever her next endeavor may be, it is sure to inspire both artistic invention and understanding. The art world highly anticipates Green’s next move.

• "You Are An Artist"
• art education
• Sarah Urist Green
• The Art Assignment

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The art project aiming to keep Australia’s Indigenous people out of jail

Aboriginal people make up a third of all people in Australian prisons, but The Torch is working to change that.

Melbourne, Australia – More Indigenous people are behind bars in Australia than ever before, making them the world’s most imprisoned people.

Despite making up 3.8 percent of the national population, Indigenous Australians make up 33 percent of the prison population and are 17 times more likely to be jailed than non-Indigenous people.

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In Australia’s southeastern state of Victoria, a group of artists is working to break the cycle.

The Torch is a community-led organisation that works with Indigenous inmates to teach artistic skills and reconnect prisoners with their cultural heritage. Inmates also generate income selling their work in galleries and to private collectors nationwide, with the money being saved in a trust, ready for their release.

The results have been startling – inmates engaged with the programme have a return-to-prison (recidivism) rate of 17 percent for First Nations prisoners compared with the national average of more than 70 percent, according to The Torch.

“Before I went to prison, I was in domestic violence and I was on the verge of being homeless,” Stacey Edwards, a former inmate, told Al Jazeera. “My Torch fund helped me put a deposit on a house and now I’ve got a routine and a structure. I’m OK with who I am and my place in the world.”

What experts call the “hyper-incarceration” of Indigenous people in Australia is a legacy of colonisation and its racism, as well as successive governments’ focus on law and order. In particular, the trauma of the Stolen Generations – the forced removal of Indigenous children from their families – continues to reverberate.

In the state of Victoria, where the Torch programme operates, about half of all Indigenous people have been directly affected by the assimilation policies, which only ended in the 1970’s.

Edwards, of the Taungurung and Boonwurrung nations, is one of them, telling Al Jazeera that the legacy of trauma underscored her descent into drug use and eventually, jail.

Stacey, now 43, grew up in a poorer neighbourhood. She told Al Jazeera her grandfather had been forcibly taken away and placed in white-run institutions, a separation that scarred her mother’s life.

“My mum’s ability to parent was impacted, she had her own addiction problems too,” she said. As a child, Stacey also felt the intergenerational trauma.

“I didn’t have the emotional tools to self-regulate and get myself together,” she said. “I think that’s all pain, all the challenges and struggles and the hurt and pain being passed down over generations.”

Colonial legacy

Indigenous women – many of them mothers – are the fastest growing group of prisoners in Australia, largely due to domestic violence and experiences of homelessness.

But the economic benefit of the Torch – which ensures inmates have a source of funds on their release – helps break that cycle.

Indigenous Australians come from more than 500 nations in what is now known as Australia, which was colonised by the British in 1788.

Genocidal practices, historical discrimination and ongoing racism have fuelled inequality across all social indicators, including homelessness, unemployment and poverty, which are also factors that underscore imprisonment.

Kent Morris, of the Barkindji nation, was one of the founding organisers of the Torch in 2011. He told Al Jazeera that the economic model was crucial to the programme’s success and that one of the big questions, when it began, was how artists could earn income from their work while stuck inside prison.

“How can the skills and talents of a mob in prison who are creating art and exploring culture – how can that translate into some economic support, so they’re not facing the same circumstances that leads them back to prison? This is what the programme was built around,” he said.

In Australia, inmates can earn some income while participating in prison programmes and training, but since the Torch model allows them to sell their work in galleries outside of the prison walls, it is unique.

In 2023, more than 1 million Australian dollars ($665,785) was returned to 494 participants through the sale and licensing of their artwork, with the earnings either saved or used to assist inmates’ families, such as ensuring their children go to school.

Roey, a former prisoner and from the Warumungu and Yawuru Nations, told Al Jazeera that the Torch programme meant he could continue to support his children despite being jailed.

“To be able to support my kids whilst being in prison was probably one of my biggest achievements,” he said. “Supporting my kids and being able to practise my culture in that process and feeling good about myself.”

‘Perfect storm’

Along with the economic benefit, the Torch programme also reconnects artists with their Indigenous culture, language and heritage, a link that was often broken due to colonisation.

Sean Miller, of the Gamileroi nation, told Al Jazeera that the Torch helped him find a sense of identity.

“I really wanted to learn more about my culture,” he said. “It’s something that’s built into you; you strive to find out where you come from, what your people are about, what our culture, and our language is. Because of colonisation that was taken from us. To be able to have the opportunity to learn all that, I’m so proud of that.”

Miller has exhibited his works nationally and is one of seven former inmates now working on the Torch programme. In 2018, he returned to prison to deliver the programme to other inmates.

“It gave the brothers and sisters inside prison a little bit more comfort to know that I was an ex-prisoner,” he told Al Jazeera. “They can relate to me and they can also see that they too can be successful with their art as well.”

Despite the success of the Torch, the programme only operates in the state of Victoria and has not yet been rolled out elsewhere. It is not funded by the federal government in Canberra and relies largely on philanthropy and state government grants.

Experts say recent government decisions at the federal and state levels – such as the Queensland Labor government suspending human rights protections to lock up Indigenous children in adult jails – are exacerbating the incarceration crisis.

“The key causes of the mass and unprecedented imprisonment of First Nations people is state policy and practice,” Thalia Anthony, a criminologist with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), told Al Jazeera. “The statistics do not show higher levels of crime. Expanded police powers and tougher bail, sentencing and parole laws that have contributed to the growth. When you combine these policy drivers with the systemic racism in the penal system, it is a perfect storm for the hyper-incarceration of First Peoples.”

In 1991, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody tabled a report in parliament that showed unequivocally that the high rate of Indigenous deaths in prison correlated with the high numbers of Indigenous prisoners.

The report made 339 recommendations with a key focus on reducing the incarceration of Indigenous peoples. However, many of the recommendations were never implemented and the number of Indigenous prisoners has risen exponentially in the years since. Recent data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that between 1994 and 2021, the number of Indigenous people in jail increased by 10,241, from 2,798 to 13,039 inmates.

Over that period, more than 550 Indigenous people have died in prison. In 2022-2023, 21 Indigenous inmates died in custody, the highest since records began .

Policy change needed

Josh Kerr – a former Torch participant – was one of them. He died in Victoria’s Port Phillip Prison.

A coronial inquest heard that the 32-year-old, of the Yorta Yorta and Gunnaikurnai nations, reportedly called out “I’m dying” and remained unresponsive for 17 minutes before medical assistance was provided, despite being seen on CCTV by prison staff.

Kerr’s artwork produced as part of the Torch programme was shown at the entrance to the court.

“At the recent inquest into Joshua Kerr’s death in custody, we honoured Joshua by including his Torch portfolio into the coronial brief and displaying his artwork outside the courtroom,” Ali Besiroglu, the principal lawyer for the case, told Al Jazeera. “Joshua’s mother, Aunty Donnis Kerr, believed this was crucial to showcase his profound talent, deep cultural connection, and to humanise his memory beyond the forensic documents which commonly consume the coronial brief.”

In response to questions submitted by Al Jazeera, Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney acknowledged the severity and pervasiveness of the problem.

“More than 30 years on from the Royal Commission, deaths in custody continue to have a devastating impact on First Nations families and communities,” Burney said in an email. “We know that the key to addressing this national shame is reducing the rate at which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people enter the criminal justice system.”

In this month’s budget, the Australian government announced justice reinvestment strategies, which aim to address the underlying cause of criminal behaviour before it occurs, along with prison-to-employment programmes.

“These projects are designed to address the factors that increase First Nations people’s risk of contact with the criminal justice system,” Burney said. “Importantly, these justice reinvestment projects are community-led in each individual community.”

While it is Australia’s state governments that largely control legislation over the justice and prison systems, UTS criminologist Anthony says policymakers across the country need to change the way they look at law and order issues, and see prison as the last resort.

“Any option other than prison would be better than prison,” she said. “Prison is traumatising. It cuts people off from family, homes, jobs and support. The Torch is a great example of building peoples’ skills in prison and providing support upon release.”

Kent Morris agrees and hopes that the Australian government will instead provide leadership and funding to roll out programmes like The Torch on a national scale.

“So much of our community are behind bars. And we know how much potential our community has,” he told Al Jazeera. “We need to free them from the criminal legal system.”

Editor’s note: Details regarding crimes and lengths of sentences have been omitted at the request of interviewees. Such details can affect parole, job prospects and relationships.