What better way to design and test your creative vision for the future than in an interactive lab filled with cutting-edge technology? That’s where the Interactive Media Lab (IML) at Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) comes in. The lab features an extended reality (XR) studio, the latest virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology, and an arcade where students can develop and test their own video games.

And it’s not just available to students—it’ll be open to the public, too! Slated to open in spring 2025, the lab will invite Clevelanders of all ages to learn, experiment, and play with many of the same technologies available to CIA students, making it the first facility of its kind in Ohio.

What’s the Interactive Media Lab all about?

CIA designed this state-of-the-art laboratory to empower its students to innovate and create in ways few other art and design colleges can offer. The two-story, 14,300-square-foot building will share space with Northeast Ohio companies and institutions that are blazing new trails in healthcare, software development, community-based arts, and entrepreneurship. CIA students will get the chance to participate in artist- and designer-driven development with companies like Hyland Software and Jumpstart Inc. so they can see their creations progress from concept to launch.

With powerful tech, a strong community network, and some of the brightest minds in art and design, the IML’s possibilities are endless. 

Get a glimpse inside the IML 

Take a virtual stroll with us as we tour the lab (though you should really just go see it for yourself!).

Extend reality in the XR studio

One of only a few extended reality studios in Ohio, the IML’s XR studio offers groundbreaking tools for producing breathtaking visuals. The space has a 36-foot LED wall and a 26-foot inlaid LED floor that integrate seamlessly to bring even the biggest ideas to life.

Get your game on in the arcade

This room boasts PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC gaming—plus arcade cabinets for playing commercial and independent games, a racing simulator, and VR solo play rooms. It’s gaming heaven!

Unleash your creativity in the multi-format screening room

Outfitted for VR, 3D and 2D visual experiences, immersive audio experiences, video editing, sound mastering, and more, this space is designed for flexibility. It’s got a little of everything—and you can do a lot in here!

Digitize the real world in the image + data capture studio

This is the future that Star Trek envisioned! The image + data capture studio is equipped with laser scanners, lighting equipment, platforms, and turntables that allow you to create digital models of real-world objects and people. Yep, that means you can turn yourself into a hologram.

Get innovative in the rapid prototyping lab 

Transform your most abstract ideas into reality faster than you can say, “Damn, that was fast!” This room is a creative playground complete with 3D printers and laser cutters to help you turn mere concepts into something tangible—quickly.

For more information about the Interactive Media Lab, click here.

Witness Picasso’s genius in new and thought-provoking ways at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s latest exhibit.

A new exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) offers visitors the opportunity to see Picasso and his work in an entirely new light. Picasso and Paper features nearly 300 works showcasing Picasso’s lifelong experimentation with paper, opening with cut-outs he made at the age of nine and proceeding chronologically to span his almost eight-decade career. From expressive prints and drawings to large-scale collages, this collection demonstrates Picasso’s capacity for innovation and reinvention using an endlessly versatile material like paper.

Organized by the CMA and the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in partnership with the Musée national Picasso-Paris, the exhibition shows some of Picasso’s celebrated paintings and bronze sculptures alongside his paper creations—including La Vie (1903) from the Blue Period, featured with preparatory drawings and other works on paper that explore similar themes, and the bronze sculpture, Head of a Woman (Fernande) (1909), surrounded by a collection of related drawings.

“To create the innovative works for which he is remembered today, Picasso returned again and again to paper, ultimately producing thousands of prints and drawings,” said Britany Salsbury, CMA curator of prints and drawings, in a press release. “We’re excited to be able to feature these works alongside experimental paper cut-outs, Cubist collages, and even torn and burned shapes created for his closest friends. Together, the artworks in Picasso and Paper offer an opportunity to see the artist at his most radical. They also allow us to better understand the collaborative relationships—with printers, publishers, dealers, models, and partners—that contributed to his canonical reputation.”

Fascinated with different types of paper, Picasso incorporated unusual materials like newspapers and mass-produced wallpapers into his paper artworks. One of the many highlights of this exhibition, Women at Their Toilette, is a large-scale collage (over 9×14 ft.) comprised of a wide variety of cut-and-pasted papers, exhibited for the first time in the U.S. Other highlights include rarely seen Cubist collages, Picasso’s private sketchbooks, and constructed paper guitars from the artist’s Cubist and Surrealist periods.

“Paper offered Picasso an intimate space in which he could not only respond to events in his personal life and in the world around him, but also carry out formal experimentation,” said Salsbury in a press release. “Picasso and Paper traces some of the most significant shifts in modern art through his practice and features rarely seen artworks from the most internationally significant holdings of his work.”

Event details:
When: Dec. 8, 2024-Mar. 23, 2025
Where: Cleveland Museum of Art, The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Exhibition Hall and Gallery

Member Preview Days

CMA members can view Picasso and Paper FIRST and for FREE on Member Preview Days: *Friday, December 5, from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

*Saturday, December 6, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

*Sunday, December 7, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Ticket Pricing

Adults, $22; seniors and groups, $15; member guests, students, and children ages 6-17, $11; children ages 5 and under and CMA members, free.

The CMA recommends reserving tickets through its online platform by visiting the exhibition webpage. Tickets can also be reserved by phone at (216) 421-7350 or on-site at one of the ticket desks.

What better way to learn about the lives of some of the world’s greatest visual artists than with graphic novels? Pick up the perfect gift for the art lover in your life with these beautifully illustrated graphic novels about Vincent van Gogh, Andy Warhol, and David Hockney. Perfect for young adult readers and up, these books offer a unique introduction to some of the biggest names in contemporary art.

Get a glimpse into the vibrant life of Van Gogh

From his unusual youth to his tragic suicide, this book takes you on a visual journey through the tumultuous life of Vincent van Gogh. Each page is bursting with color, emotion, and movement as you explore Van Gogh’s biography from the perspective of the woman who made him famous after his death: his sister-in-law, Jo van Gogh-Bonger.

Learn about Van Gogh’s early failures, his discovery of a new painting style, and the personal struggles that helped make him both a great artist and a complex man. This visually stunning graphic novel tells the story of Vincent van Gogh like you’ve never seen before.

Peer inside the meticulous mind of Warhol

Who would have thought that an awkward, comic-book-obsessed boy from Pittsburgh would grow up to become an artistic giant who conquered the creative world of New York City at his peak? Well, young Andy Warhol probably did—he loved drawing from the start and wanted to make a lucrative career out of art. This graphic biography takes you through Warhol’s early life, his uphill struggle to become an artist, his meteoric rise to fame, his endless artistic experimentation, and his untimely death.

Filled with detailed illustrations that offer perspective on Warhol’s enigmatic character in a way that only a visual medium can, this book makes the perfect present for the pop art and culture lover in your life.

Dive into a colorful homage to Hockney’s life and career

David Hockney believes in living a life full of color—and nothing embodies this belief more than his impressive body of vivid and thought-provoking artworks that span decades of creation. Discover the life (so far) of one of the world’s most inspired colorists, David Hockney, in this immersive graphic novel that was drawn entirely on an iPad—a nod to Hockney’s own iPad drawings.

Brimming with vibrant colors and captivating storytelling, this book explores Hockney’s early life growing up in Bradford, how he rose to global success, and what he’s been up to in recent years (hint: he’s still making art and loving life!). You won’t want to miss this charming biography about one of modern art’s most prolific artists.

Snag a discount just for being an ABN reader! 

That’s right: you can save 15% on each of these titles with promo code BIOART (valid through Dec. 31, 2024) when you check out at Quarto.com.

Perched atop a grassy hill overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge on San Francisco’s northwest side, the Legion of Honor is housed in a stately beaux-arts building that beautifully complements the 4,000 years of ancient and European art you’ll find inside. This year, the beloved San Francisco institution is celebrating its centennial—and it’s treating us to a very special exhibition: Mary Cassatt at Work.

Who was Mary Cassatt?

 Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) was a Modernist pioneer and member of the French Impressionist movement who’s often dismissed as a sentimental painter of mothers and children. Her paintings, pastels, and prints often depicted upper-middle-class life, showing women at the opera, talking with friends, or having tea. But Cassatt’s art also portrayed “women’s work”—including needlepoint, child-rearing, and domestic tasks—deeming it worthy of serious artistic consideration while her peers were painting landscapes and pastoral scenes from everyday life.

Under the guise of acceptably feminine imagery, Cassatt snuck in subtle experimentation with both the subject matter of her art and the processes she employed to create it. She purposefully called attention to the methods of her artmaking and the iterative approach she took to reach the final product, which the exhibition at Legion of Honor highlights beautifully.

About the exhibition

Mary Cassatt at Work is the first major U.S. presentation of Cassatt’s work in more than 25 years, organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in collaboration with the Fine Art Museums of San Francisco.

The exhibition delves into Cassatt’s materials and processes over 50 years of artmaking, showing 93 objects on loan plus a group of distinguished works from the Fine Arts Museums’ collection. You don’t want to miss this one!

Get a taste of what’s to come

The exhibition is split into five galleries, each tailored to a central theme of Mary Cassatt’s artwork and artistic process. Take a stroll through the museum with us as we give you a glimpse into each gallery.

Impressionism: Picturing Women

Cassatt’s desire to become a professional artist was met with a lot of resistance from both her family and her social class at large. Nonetheless, she remained intent on developing her artistic career.

Cassatt found her community with the Impressionists—artists like Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Auguste Renoir, and Camille Pissarro—who broke away from traditional French art institutions and pioneered new approaches to portray scenes from modern life, often rendered with bold strokes of bright, unblended color.

As an affluent woman navigating rigid Parisian society, Cassatt focused her artistic attention on depicting the social lives, intellectual interests, and handiwork of the women she called her peers. Cassatt showed her work with the Impressionists for the first time in 1879, making an impactful debut with her paintings and pastel drawings of upper-middle-class women.

Children and Childcare

Even though Cassatt never had children of her own, she took great interest in portraying the inner lives of children and the relationships they had with their caretakers. Because Cassatt poignantly depicted the physical and psychological work involved in childcare for the first meaningful time in Western art history, she quickly garnered an international reputation—and established a budding market—for her images of women and children.

Printing in Color

After attending a Japanese art exhibition in Paris in 1890, Cassatt became enamored with the bright colors, dynamic patterns, and everyday scenes of Japanese woodblock prints. She was determined to reverse engineer these elements in a Western-style intaglio print. The next winter, she created a series of color prints now known as the “Set of Ten,” which drew from Japanese precedents to depict Parisian women’s private lives, from quiet bus rides to nighttime bath rituals.

Cassatt worked closely with the master printer Modeste Leroy to invent a new method of printing in color, resulting in some of the most inventive and technically adventurous works in the history of modern printmaking.

Finished/Unfinished

Cassatt loved to lay her process bare in her color prints, paintings, and pastel drawings. This gallery highlights the artist’s endless experimentation and her desire to document the artistic process in addition to the final product.

The “Modern Madonna”

During the last 15 years of her life, Cassatt became increasingly focused on creating artwork about women and children. This mother-and-child imagery helped Cassatt start a conversation around Old Master precedents—specifically, the religious images of the Madonna and Christ Child depicted by Italian Renaissance masters.

But Cassatt’s ability to create endlessly varied compositions from this theme also connects her late work to fellow Impressionists Claude Monet and Paul Cézanne, who treated the same subjects (water lilies and apples, respectively) again and again.

Event details:

Where: Legion of Honor (100 34th Ave., San Francisco, CA 94121)

When: Oct. 5, 2024-Jan. 26, 2025

Hours: 9:30 am-5:15 pm, Tuesday through Sunday; Closed on Mondays

Tickets: $20 for adults, $17 for seniors (65+), $11 for students (w/ valid ID), Free for youth (17 and under) and Legion of Honor members

Pro tip: Skip the line and book your tickets online.

As photographer Ansel Adams said, “You don’t improve nature. You reveal your impression of nature or nature’s impact on you.” Landscape, nature, and fine-art photographer Linda Washburn Roberts does just that. She says her artistic vision is to capture her unique view of places or things she sees around her. ABN got the chance to ask Roberts a few questions about her background, who inspires her, and her plans for 2025.

ABN: Tell us a little bit about your background.

Roberts: I was born and raised in a very rural area of Southeast Missouri, in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. My childhood inspired my love of going out into nature (from backroads to national parks) and finding special images to create. After living in the Midwest and on both coasts, Montana has been my home for the past 40 years. Although I have taken photographs most of my life, I came to be a photographer and artist relatively late in life. My husband gifted me my first 35mm SLR in the 70’s and the company photographer at the engineering firm I worked for at the time took me under his wing and taught me how to make a photograph. That, combined with a couple of college photography classes, put me on the path to being a photographer.

Between receiving that first SLR and showing my work as a fine-art photographer, I worked in various office positions, started a family, and owned and operated an orthotics and prosthetics business in Helena, Montana with my husband. During our time in that business, I became a Certified Orthotist and a Certified Mastectomy Fitter. This was extremely rewarding to me and greatly impacted how I saw the world. In 2008, my husband retired, and I jokingly say that “I ran away from home and went to photography school.” In addition to reinforcing my photography skills, Rocky Mountain School of Photography (RMSP) also pulled me into the world of digital photography. After RMSP, I returned to Helena, reopened my Mastectomy Fitter business, and joined the Mountain Sage Gallery as a fine-art photographer.

ABN: What’s your work philosophy? 

Roberts: I love the cycle of nature and find beauty in humans’ desire to discover our own spirituality in the world that surrounds us. This connection between people and nature has been a consistent influence on my work. Whatever I’m photographing, I look for details in my subject matter—literally or figuratively—to find the story they tell. When a viewer looks at my work and sees that story or a piece of their own truth, I feel that I’ve succeeded as a photographer and artist.

I continually challenge myself by learning new techniques and experimenting with different ways to bring the emotion of a piece forward. I think of my finished work as more than just an image—it’s a mood, a feeling, a breath. When creating, I love finding the place where an image can come to life—where it can truly breathe.

ABN: Who are some artists that inspire you? 

Roberts: So many artists are inspirational to me—and not just photographic artists. But I like to say that Ansel Adams is my hero. His work has always been an inspiration to me for creating traditional black and white images. Another artist who inspires me is Roxanne Overton, a photographer who specializes in Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) photography, which is an area that I’ve been exploring.

ABN: What’s your best advice?

Roberts: Pay attention to what is around you and always be willing to learn.

ABN: Where can we find you when you’re not working?

Roberts: In a sense, I’m always “working.” But, when I’m not out photographing, you might find me at my gallery in Helena, exploring different ways to present art, studying encaustic art, or even making pottery at the clay studio. Or cooking!

ABN: What’s something that has enhanced you as an artist?

Roberts: I have recently been pursuing a different photographic technique called ICM, which utilizes a long exposure and intentional movement of the camera. It’s a great way to pull light and lines to get wonderful abstract images with one exposure. I like to call it “bending light.” I think any time you explore different aspects of your art, or different genres of art, it enhances your primary art medium.

ABN: What are your plans for 2025?

Roberts: In addition to exploring Montana, I have a couple of projects for 2025. One is to create a photo essay that documents the creation of a rawhide riata. I met an elderly gentleman who has done this rawhide work for many years. It’s fascinating and I’m working with him to document that. The other documentary project I’m working on is to photograph Missouri’s springs and grist mills—many of which are in the area that I’m from and have familial significance. Somewhere in these projects, art pieces will also be created.

Contemporary painter and sculptor Sophie Brouillet says she can’t remember a time when she wasn’t drawing and creating just for fun. Born in Montreal, Canada, she’s had a passion for art since childhood, selling her first piece at just five years old and winning contests by the age of seven. ABN got the chance to ask Brouillet a few questions about her background, her inspirations, and her future plans.

ABN: Tell us a little bit about your background.

Brouillet: First I studied art, and then fashion design. While I was studying, I launched a clothing business, where I handcrafted garments during the week, then filled up my car and sold them directly to customers on weekends. This hands-on experience taught me the importance of detail and personal expression. However, after working for a couple of fashion companies, I realized my true passion lay elsewhere, prompting me to walk away from that and never look back.

I always loved interior design, so I went back to school and earned my degree. I went on to build a successful design firm, and for more than 25 years, I worked with residential and commercial clients, translating my artistic vision into functional, elegant spaces. In 2010, I opened a high-end furniture and accessories boutique that housed my design firm and an integrated art gallery. I envisioned the gallery as a space to support my emerging artist friends and to showcase art in a realistic setting. Ironically, I never exhibited my own pieces there, fearing it would come across as pretentious.

It wasn’t until 2016 that life offered me the freedom to fully embrace my passion for art as a painter and sculptor, allowing me to slowly transition from interior design to art full-time. Since then, I have compensated for lost time by participating in multiple exhibitions across Canada and showcasing my work in galleries in Canada and the United States.

Throughout my design career, art has remained a constant influence. Since 2004, I’ve immersed myself in painting, continuously evolving my technique through workshops and exhibitions. My work reflects a lifelong pursuit of perfectionism balanced by abstract work—a journey of building and deconstructing, exploring emotion, and striving to push beyond the boundaries of realism.

ABN: What’s your work philosophy?

Brouillet: My art is a vibrant expression of my feelings and personality, and I engage my imagination to create each piece. By merging expressionism with abstract techniques, I capture animals, humans, and natural scenes, infusing them with strength, emotion, and movement. This unique approach brings the subjects to life and invites viewers to ponder their own interpretations and engage their imaginations.

Despite the challenges of perfectionism and the demands of creating art with osteoarthritis and ADHD, my determination and passion shine through in my work. I want my paintings to not just be seen, but to be experienced and felt, creating an almost tangible world that invites viewers to immerse themselves fully.

As a perfectionist, I pour immense effort into rendering my subjects to the point where they feel almost lifelike—as if you could reach out and touch them. The eyes, in particular, must express a powerful emotion. Only when I’m fully satisfied with the gaze of my subject do I begin the abstract phase—a process I call the “deconstruction.” This is where I intentionally “break” that perfection and where my background in abstraction comes into play. It’s the hardest part for me, because after investing so much time to get every detail right, taking that leap into abstraction is emotionally gut-wrenching. I’m always terrified I’ll ruin a perfectly good painting.

With each piece, this second phase presents my greatest and most challenging obstacle. It’s not just intimidating; it’s genuinely terrifying. Yet, I dive in with the intention of making the painting speak even more profoundly and resonate with the viewer. When I paint, I spend so much time refining one part, perfecting an element—the eyes, the nose, the horns, the ears—that when I’m done, it’s very difficult to let go. It’s like a breakup from a relationship you’ve fully invested in. I have to practice detachment.

ABN: Who are some of your biggest inspirations?

Brouillet: A couple of my greatest idols are Frida Kahlo and Georgia O’Keeffe, who have been at the top of my list for many years, both for their ground-breaking vision and the emotional depth they bring to their art. More recently, I’ve found immense admiration for Mark Maggiori, a contemporary artist whose realistic depictions of the American West—cowboys and Native Americans—are breathtaking. His ability to capture emotion and life in such vivid, detailed scenes speaks to me profoundly—and his perfectionism resonates with my own artistic journey.

ABN: What’s your best advice?

Brouillet: The best advice I’ve received as an artist was to embrace imperfection as part of the process. As a perfectionist, I often struggle to detach from my work but learning to let go and allow the piece to evolve has been transformative. It’s not about making the painting flawless—it’s about letting the painting tell its story and allowing the raw emotion to come through.

ABN: What are your plans for the near future?

Brouillet: I’ve recently embraced being a full-time artist, participating in workshops, showcasing my work, and engaging with the art community. The future is my main focus. I plan to participate in a few fairs, I’m reworking my website, and I’m working to expand my representation in art galleries.

ABN: Where can we find you when you’re not working?

Brouillet: When I’m not painting or sculpting, I’m still actively engaged in interior design—it’s a passion I find hard to give up. During my downtime, I love to travel. I’m constantly seeking new inspiration and collecting ideas and photographs for my upcoming projects.