Art & Design NPR explores the visual arts including design, photography, sculpture, and architecture. Interviews, commentary, and audio. Subscribe to the RSS feed.

Art & Design

Pascale Sablan was once told she'd never become an architect because she's Black and a woman. Now she works for one of the world's most prestigious firms and she wants more people who look like her to join the field. Aundre Larrow/Pascale Sablan hide caption

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Aundre Larrow/Pascale Sablan

America's Cup Building — or the "Veles e Vents" building — in Valencia, Spain, was completed in 11 months to host the America's Cup sailing competition in 2007. Christian Richters/The Pritzker Architecture Prize hide caption

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Christian Richters/The Pritzker Architecture Prize

More timeless than trendy, Sir David Chipperfield wins the 2023 Pritzker Prize

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The F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on December 05, 2021 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Mark Thompson/Getty Images hide caption

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Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Saudi Arabia's art scene is exploding, but who benefits?

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Babacar Niang, known as Matador, raps at a recording studio at Africulturban's center in Pikine, Senegal. Ricci Shryock for NPR hide caption

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Ricci Shryock for NPR

Senegal's artists are fighting the system with a mic and spray paint

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Scott Adams, creator of the comic strip Dilbert, poses for a portrait with the Dilbert character in his studio in Dublin, Calif., Oct. 26, 2006. Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP hide caption

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Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

The "balloon dog" sculpture, pictured, shortly after it shattered. Cédric Boero hide caption

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Cédric Boero

He watched the Koons 'balloon dog' fall and shatter ... and wants to buy the remains

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Joan Brown's Joan + Donald, 1982, Oil enamel on canvas, 72 1/4 x 60 in. (183.5 x 152.4 cm), collection of Adam Lindemann Venus Over Manhattan, New York hide caption

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Venus Over Manhattan, New York

Mr. Whiskers is ready for his close-up: When an artist's pet is also their muse

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Tyler James Hoare was a beloved artist who made his mark on San Francisco. Bob Colin hide caption

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Bob Colin

With fake paperwork and a roguish attitude, he made the San Francisco Bay his gallery

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André Leon Talley arrives at the 2011 Met Gala. Hundreds of items of clothing, artwork, accessories, furniture belonging to the late fashion journalist fetched more than $3.5 million at auction this week. Evan Agostini/AP hide caption

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Evan Agostini/AP

Two of artist Dean Gillespie's miniatures in the traveling visual arts exhibition Marking Time, which examines mass incarceration. Xavier Hadley/Courtesy of Marking Time hide caption

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Xavier Hadley/Courtesy of Marking Time

'Imagining Freedom' will give $125 million to art projects focused on incarceration

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Name Against the Same is part of Stephanie Mercedes' A Sky of Shattered Glass Reflected by the Sun exhibition at Culture House in Washington, D.C. Stephanie Mercedes hide caption

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Stephanie Mercedes

Melting guns and bullet casings, this artist turns weapons into bells

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The multidisciplinary artist Samora Pinderhughes, whose Healing Project has won a $1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation. Ray Neutron/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Ray Neutron/Courtesy of the artist

An artist's 'Healing Project,' focused on incarceration and violence, wins $1 million

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Activists hold a banner reading "Take down the Sackler name" in front of the Pyramid of the Louvre museum in Paris on July 1, 2019. Stephane De Sakutin/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Stephane De Sakutin/AFP via Getty Images

'All the Beauty and the Bloodshed' chronicles Nan Goldin's career of art and activism

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