Every month, we share opportunities for artists and designers, including open calls, grants, fellowships, and residencies. Make sure you never miss out by joining our monthly Opportunities Newsletter.

Exhibizone Grand Prize – 2026: Grants, Exhibition, Publication, Promotion, SalesFeatured
Ready to showcase your art on a global stage and win cash grants? Submit your strongest artworks to be part of Exhibizone Grand Prize, returning in 2026 for its 13th annual juried edition with cash prizes and global exposure. With no theme restrictions, artists creating in any style or medium can submit work that feels bold, personal, abstract, figurative, or conceptual. Selected artists receive cash prizes, an online exhibition, Artsy feature, catalogue and magazine publication, global promotions, audience engagement, editorial reviews, and worldwide visibility.
Learn more and submit: www.exhibizone.com/egp
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. PST on July 16, 2026.

The Kyoto Retreat Featured
Now in its 2nd year, The Kyoto Retreat offers artists, curators, and writers from around the world the opportunity to spend four weeks in Kyoto for research, exploration, and inspiration. Selected participants receive a roundtrip flight, private accommodation, and $800 USD to supplement meals and local transportation. There is a $95 application fee. The program welcomes applicants at all career stages working in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, film, video, new media, installation, fiction and nonfiction writing, poetry, and interdisciplinary and social practice. Applicants must be 21 and older.
Deadline: July 17, 2026.

Hyundai Motor Group–The 7th VH AWARD Featured
A global award for emerging media artists engaging with the context of Asia, featuring production grants, an online residency with Ars Electronica, and global exhibitions. This 7th edition introduces a new “Honorary Mention” category and awards the Grand Prix winner an additional $30,000 grant. Read more on vhaward.com.
Deadline: July 21, 2026.

.ART Award Featured
Every artist who applies builds a working archive in the process: their bio, their work, the story behind it, gathered in one place on a .ART domain. The total prize value for the .ART Award exceeds $50,000, including a $15,000 Grand Prize, residencies at Château du Fresne in France and Anfitrion in Spain, an editorial feature in Whitewall Magazine, and a premium .ART domain valued at $10,000. Learn more and apply at award.art.
Deadline: November 1, 2026.

Open Calls

Catskill Art Space Call for Submissions (U.S.)
Catskill Art Space is accepting applications from artists working in all mediums, including but not limited to ceramics, digital, fiber, film/video, glass, illustration, installations, painting, performance, photography, and sculpture. All work will be considered for single artist presentations in one of three ground-floor galleries. Exhibiting artists receive a $1,000 honorarium to underwrite art transit and preparation costs. Artists working regionally in the Catskill Mountains are especially encouraged to apply.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. EDT on July 1, 2026.

Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation Sight/Geist Open Call (New York City)
This open call is for emerging film and performance artists. Selected artists will receive a stipend of either $300 for a short film in a group screening, $500 for a solo screening, or $750 for a solo live performance (with an additional $250 for production costs).
Deadline: 11 p.m. EDT on July 5, 2026.

31st Annual Art Ability Call for Entry (International)
Artists with visual, hearing, cognitive, and/or physical disabilities are invited to apply to the Art Ability exhibition at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital in Pennsylvania. The initiative offers a unique and accessible venue for artists with disabilities to display and sell their work, in addition to supporting Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital’s advocacy work. While advancing the artistic and financial success of artists with disabilities, the exhibition is used to motivate and treat patients at the hospital.
Deadline: July 5, 2026.

Get Published in Artistonish Magazine and Featured on Artsy (International)
Submit your artwork for the 72nd issue of Artistonish Contemporary Art Magazine, featuring juried contemporary works from around the world, online and on premium glossy print pages. Each selected artwork receives a full-page image, dedicated QR code, Artsy feature for sales visibility, certificate of achievement, exclusive artwork badges, global promotion, and lasting online presence within the international art community.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. PDT on July 9, 2026.

The 17th Epson International Pano Awards (International)
A $50,000 prize pool awaits entries to the Pano Awards, featuring a new aerial category. Winners are exhibited at the Garden Gallery at the Botanic Gardens of Sydney, and a silent auction will benefit the Rainforest Seed Conservation Project. Non-professional and student photographers can submit to the Amateur Awards for $20 per entry, and all photographers are eligible to submit to the Open Awards for $22 per entry.
Deadline: July 13, 2026.

Clotilda Memorial Alabama Historical Commission (International)
The Alabama Historical Commission is seeking proposals to honor the last known African captives trafficked to the United States through the transatlantic slave trade: the Clotilda survivors. The memorial will convey dimensions of the survivors’ lives and legacies—celebrating their resilient and determined spirits amidst violent dislocation, enslavement, and discrimination. Projects will be developed through a collaborative process that will engage the community founded by the Clotilda survivors and other formerly enslaved people: historic Africatown and the expansive diaspora. The total budget is $2,000,000.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. CST on August 9, 2026.

Hunt Museum Open Submission Exhibition (International)
The Hunt Open Submission Exhibition is an initiative celebrating contemporary Irish and international art at the Hunt Museum in Limerick. There is a €15 entry fee for the first image, plus an additional €15 per artwork for up to three submissions total.
Deadline: September 7, 2026.

Hiding in Plain Site: International Public Art Short Film Festival (International)
HPS invites filmmakers, artists, and creative practitioners to submit short works between two and 20 minutes for consideration in this screening program, which will premiere on October 25 in Minneapolis. HPS seeks to bring together film, video art, experimental media, XR (extended reality), and other works that expand how public art is experienced and represented.
Deadline: September 10, 2026.

Apply to Teach at Mendocino Art Center (U.S.)
The Mendocino Art Center (MAC), located in the coastal Northern California community of Mendocino, offers workshops taught by both visiting and local artists in a wide variety of mediums and topics. Some instructors choose to be compensated, and some choose to teach pro bono to help MAC offer more affordable workshops.
Deadline: Rolling.

Grants

Stanley Greene Foundation Emerging Photographers Grant (International)
The Emerging Photographer Grant provides $10,000 awards to visual storytellers early in their careers to support the development of impactful visual narratives. The program emphasizes photographers from underserved and diverse communities, expanding access to resources and opportunities to bring their stories to life.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. EDT on July 1, 2026.

Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists (International)
Queer|Art awards $10,000 annually to provide critical support to Black trans women whose work has often been under-recognized in the visual art field. To further recognize finalists for their artistic achievements, Queer|Art will also provide a $1,250 award to four distinguished finalists. Winning artists and finalists will receive additional professional development resources and further guidance to bolster their creative development in the field.
Deadline: July 2, 2026.

XENO Prize for Artists’ Books (U.S.)
In pursuit of its mission to present, preserve, interpret, educate, and advocate on behalf of avant-garde art, especially forms that may be vulnerable due to institutional neglect, cultural bias, their ephemeral nature, or politically unpopular content, Franklin Furnace offers the annual XENO Prizes for Artists’ Books. One artist will receive $5,000 to publish one book on the topic of book banning and/or burning in an edition of at least 100 copies.
Deadline: July 4, 2026.

Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants (U.S.)
The Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants program provides one-time grants of up to $5,000 for recent unexpected medical, dental, and mental health emergencies to artists in financial need who are creating work in the visual arts, digital/electronic arts, video/film, and choreography.
Deadline: 5 p.m. EDT on July 14, 2026.

Big Fields Fund Grants for Eastern Iowa Artists (Iowa)
The Big Field Fund awards grants to artists and collectives to support publicly-engaged experimental, collaborative, and connective visual arts projects in eastern Iowa. Project grants award $8,000 to support the public realization of artist-led projects, while research and development grants offer $3,000 to support artists in the early stages of an ambitious project.
Deadline: August 1, 2026.

2026 Chrysalis Award for Emerging Ceramic Artists (U.S.)
The Chrysalis Award was created by the James Renwick Alliance for Craft to support and inspire emerging craft artists in the United States. Eligible applicants are in the early stages of their professional artistic careers—regardless of age—and have completed their training within the past five years. This year’s award will recognize an emerging artist working in ceramics, who will receive a $5,000 unrestricted award, a one-year JRACraft membership, and the opportunity to present their work at a JRACraft event.
Deadline: August 23, 2026.

Liu Shiming Artist Grants (U.S.)
Designed to support the work of visual artists during the first decade of their careers, the Liu Shiming Artist Grants support the creation or completion of new projects that explore the interplay between traditional cultural or historical influences and contemporary artistic practice. Up to five artists will be selected to receive a $5,000 grant.
Deadline: August 31, 2026.

The Adolf and Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant (International)
This program provides one-time financial assistance to qualified painters, printmakers, and sculptors whose needs resulted from an unforeseen catastrophic incident and who lack the resources to meet that situation. Awardees typically receive $5,000 and up to $15,000.
Deadline: Rolling.

Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (International)
The foundation welcomes applications from painters, sculptors, and artists working on paper, including printmakers. Grants are intended for one year and range up to $50,000. The artist’s circumstances determine the size of the grant, and professional exhibition history will be considered.
Deadline: Rolling.

Residencies, Fellowships, & More

Wassaic Project 2027 Artist Residencies (International)
Wassaic Project invites applications for both summer and winter residencies on-site in Wassaic, New York. Residencies are offered on a sliding scale from $0 to $900. Most of the cost is covered by the generous support of donors and grants, but Wassaic Project recommends a contribution of $900 per session to those who are able to contribute. There is a $25 application fee (a waiver may be available).
Deadline: July 1, 2026.

KinoSaito Residency Program (International)
The KinoSaito Residency Program is a studio and residency program in Verplanck, New York, designed to provide artists with the space and time necessary to focus concentrated attention on any part of their practice they feel is ripe for development. The program will host two artists for a one-time, four-week session from November 8 to December 6, 2026. KinoSaito provides a $1,500 stipend to the accepted artists to use at their discretion for living costs and supplies during their residency. There is a $30 application fee.
Deadline: July 5, 2026.

Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts & Agriculture Residencies (International)
Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts and Agriculture offers two- and four-week residencies from March to mid-November. Two to four residents share a large, historic home on the ranch property, and each is assigned their own private studio. Since 2018, the program has been supporting artists, scientists, writers, and researchers from a variety of fields and with a range of experience levels, and practitioners in a wide range of disciplines are invited to apply. The 2027 theme is “process and material.”
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. PDT on July 6, 2026.

Pioneer Works Visual Arts Residencies (International)
The Visual Arts Studio Residency program provides artists with glass-enclosed public-facing studios, bimonthly studio visits, access to Pioneer Works’ resources, and public engagement opportunities. Participants receive a one-time, fixed $5,000 financial award.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. EDT on July 13, 2026.

Loghaven Artist Residencies (U.S.)
Loghaven Artist Residency’s mission is to serve artists by providing them with a transformative residency experience and continued post-residency support. The residency is located on ninety acres of woodland in Knoxville, Tennessee, where artists live in five historic log cabins that have been both rehabilitated and modernized to create an ideal setting for reflection and work, and they have access to new, purpose-built studio space. All Loghaven Fellows are awarded stipends to support the creation of new work during the residency. There is a $25 application fee.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. EDT on July 15, 2026.

Ucross Foundation Fellowship for Native American Artists (U.S.)
Ucross supports the work of contemporary Native American visual artists, writers, and performers through a four-week residency, which includes uninterrupted time, private studio space, living accommodations, and meals prepared by our professional chef. The Ucross Fellowship for Native American Artists also includes an award of $2,000 and the opportunity to present work publicly, such as a featured exhibition in the Ucross Art Gallery, a reading, or a performance.
Deadline: July 15, 2026.

Ucross Foundation Residencies (International)
Ucross strives to provide a respectful, comfortable, and productive environment, freeing artists from the pressures and distractions of daily life. Each year, we provide residencies to approximately 115 individuals. Residencies range from two weeks to six weeks in length and include a $1,500 stipend. Ucross provides each artist with living accommodations, meals, work space, and uninterrupted time so that the artists can focus on their creative process.
Deadline: July 15, 2026.

Grand Marais Artist Colony Printmaking Residencies (International)
Grand Marais Art Colony invites applications for two printmaking residencies that run concurrently from September 28 to October 10. A Printmaking Community Resident will provide printmaking art activities to area youth through school partnerships and drop-in events, and a Printmaking Teaching Resident will provide printmaking opportunities to the broader community through classes and a drop-in activity. Each residency includes a $2,500 stipend and free lodging if the artist is from outside the area. There is a $5 submission fee for each opportunity.
Deadline: July 21, 2026.

The Residency at Casa Gracìa (International)
Founded and developed by Rashid Johnson and Sheree Hovsepian, the Residency at Casa Gràcia is an opportunity for artists and writers to dedicate focused time to their own practice in an inspired setting in the historic city of Mahon. Three visual artists are invited for stays of up to three months and two writers for stays of up to six months. In addition to providing living accommodations, studio space, all utilities, and a weekly cleaning service, some residents will qualify for a modest stipend. The program reserves a residency for artists currently based in Menorca, the Balearic Islands, or mainland Spain.
Deadline: July 31, 2026.

CASA PIP Residency for Filmmakers (International)
This residency program in Portugal is founded and run by filmmakers. CASA PIP encourages residents to slow down and play, providing filmmakers with the time, peace, space, and general “rulelessness” to move meaningfully forward on with their work, whether it’s a whole project or just the budding idea for one. The residency is free to attend. There’s a €35 application fee.
Deadline: July 31, 2026.

BigCi Environmental Awards 2026 (International)
Australian and international artists working in visual art, installation, multimedia, performance, literature, music, photography, filmmaking, and curating are invited to submit entries for the BigCi Environmental Awards 2026. Two winning artists will each receive a free four-week residency at BigCi, where they will have the opportunity to explore the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Wollemi, Blue Mountains, and Gardens of Stone National Parks in Australia. The winners also receive an AUD$5,000 award. There is an AUD$40 application fee.
Deadline: August 2, 2026.

Quarantine (International)
Dubbed “purgatory for artists,” Quarantine is a week-long intensive art program on an 18th-century quarantine island off the coast of Menorca, Spain. The program is open to beginners and professionals alike and offers three 45-minute private mentorships throughout the week, with activities lasting 12+ hours per day. Phones are banned.
Deadline: Rolling.

Residencia Corazón (International)
Residencia Corazón is an independent, artist-run residency in La
Plata, Argentina—a home for artists since 2006. The program welcomes visual
artists, writers, curators, and creative researchers from around the
world for one- to three-month residencies. Each stay is fully personalized, and fees range from $800 to $1,500 per month.
Deadline: Rolling.

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The pioneering perceptual artist James Turrell marked a career milestone this month with the opening of his 100th Skyscape, a site-specific architectural installation with a simple construction: a domed structure with an oculus pointed toward the sky.

Now permanently on view at ARoS in Aarhus, Denmark, “As Seen Below” is the latest iteration of the iconic series, which has been installed in 26 countries. Spanning more than 50 feet high and 130 feet wide, the enormous dome most often opens up to an unfiltered sky, although various “color shifts” seal the oculus and instead cast brilliant color around the space.

Read more about the project previously on Colossal, and reserve your tickets on the museum’s website.

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Hyundai Motor Group announces the open call for the 7^th VH AWARD, a global award program and platform amplifying creators whose work engages with the context of Asia. The VH AWARD invites individuals and collectives of Asian descent, based in Asia, or members of the Asian diaspora, to submit screen-based audiovisual art, including video art, motion graphics, animation, games, films, or newly explored areas.  

Enhanced Opportunities for Artistic Growth

This edition offers increased production grants for all finalists. Furthermore, a new Honorary Mention category will recognize a broader range of voices, offering global exposure and selective access to the online residency. 

In June 2027, an international jury will select one Grand Prix recipient to receive an additional $30,000. 

An Online Residency Newly Developed with Ars Electronica

In expanded partnership with Ars Electronica, the VH AWARD’s online residency provides 5 finalists opportunities to work closely with an international network of curators, technologists, artists, and experts. Over six months, the program accompanies the finalists as they develop new artistic works.

The residency combines individual curatorial and technical mentoring, peer exchange, and expert feedback. Artists selected for the new Honorary Mention category will also be invited to join selected components of the program.

Highlighted by exclusive masterclasses with Hito Steyerl and Daito Manabe, the residency fosters direct dialogue on contemporary media art practices. This comprehensive support enables the finalists to realize exhibition-ready pieces.

Global Exhibition Platforms

In partnership with leading institutions, finalists’ commissioned works will be presented to international audiences. Starting in 2027, these projects will be showcased across prominent global platforms, including HEK (Basel), the Ars Electronica Festival (Linz), Vision Hall (Yongin), and Singapore Art Week 2028. 

How to Apply

Applications open from May 26 to July 21, 2026. Submit all required materials online through the official VH AWARD website.

To learn more, visit vhaward.com.

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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is back with another stunner: a new 223-megapixel composite featuring about 16.5 million stars that have been evolving over several million years. Captured by Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) across 65 hours, the enormous image features Messier 82, also known as the Cigar galaxy, which is located 12 million light-years away.

“M82 is a mess, but it’s a beautiful mess,” said NASA fellow Adam Smercina. “We don’t fully understand what’s going on, especially concerning its evolutionary history. What could have triggered such an elevated rate of star formation? How long has this galaxy been driving plumes of material away from its center?”

Initial speculation includes a galaxy merger causing rapid star formation 10 times faster than that of the Milky Way and lasting a few hundred million years, which researchers describe as “a short-lived event in astronomical terms.” Although we can see many of these stellar objects as blue granules, there are likely many more invisible to us.

Hubble had previously looked at the galaxy, but the technology was unable to capture the same detail as Webb. As shown in a side-by-side comparison, Hubble captures many of the dust grains and ionized hydrogen gas depicted in red, orange, and yellow, while Webb highlights the staggering density of stars.

“Galaxies are such intricate ecosystems that if you truly want to understand them, you have to pull datasets from different missions together,” said Kristen McQuinn, of the Space Telescope Science Institute. “One mission cannot fully answer all of the questions we have about M82. Combining the data collected by different telescopes, like Webb and Hubble, is powerful. When you marry the datasets, you expand what you can probe, and the questions that you can pose are even more complex.”

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Sure, we all want love, but what lengths would you go to find it? Swedish animator Anna Mantzaris once again captures the gamut of human emotion in a stop-motion film that plunges headfirst into the pitiful and cringy. As its title suggests, “PLEASE” is about wanting and attempting to find love through increasingly unhinged acts of desperation and neediness. Mantzaris’ signature felt characters light fires for marriage proposals, sob in the chip aisle, and hug puppies while waiting for the train.

The writer and director tells Creative Boom that she got the idea for the short film during the early days of the pandemic, when most people were trapped at home. “We became more obsessed with our self-image because we saw ourselves on screens in Zoom calls all day. We spent a lot of time looking at ourselves while feeling disconnected from other people,” she says. “I wanted the characters to try to break out of this bubble, to reach out, to show their longing, but in a not-so-perfect way.”

“PLEASE” is the latest addition to Mantzaris’ growing collection of dark comedies, although this film also counts Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård, who just this year was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Sentimental Value, among its cast. Presented through a series of vignettes, the felted puppets weave in and out of the animation, and we witness their most heated and pathetic moments.

“I’m interested in the difference between what we show the world and what we actually feel,” she adds. “Presenting the ‘ugly’ feelings through the puppets makes us feel seen. They get to do it for us, so we feel we’re not alone.”

The short film is currently making the rounds on the festival circuit, although a wider release is in the works, too. Watch the trailer on YouTube, and find additional clips—including the dating profile of a particularly discouraged 21-year-old—on Instagram.

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Known for his painstakingly intricate mixed-media sculptures, Canadian artist Chris Millar continues to test the bounds of scale and detail. Two recent works epitomize his ongoing explorations: “A Prize Every Time” and “Loom Beneath the Loam,” the latter of which contains eight tiny paintings, two relief sculptures, and numerous sculptural elements attached to a brass frame. Cartoonish pendants, vignettes with faces, branch-like tendrils and more lend the piece an enigmatic contraption-like quality, as if the pull of a hidden lever will send the entire thing into motion.

In a departure from his multimedia pieces, “A Prize Every Time” is a meticulously rendered acrylic painting containing some 90 portraits of notable figures from Alberta who populate a map of the province, where the artist originally hails from. It has the look of a tourism map merged with a look-and-find book.

“To an American audience, a lot of the Alberta-centric easter eggs will go over their heads, but even if they don’t know about Alberta’s history or geography, it’s a pretty fun painting to look at!” Millar says. You may recognize a few famous individuals, such as Michael J. Fox and Joni Mitchell, both of whom were born there.

See more on Millar’s Instagram.

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Across an expansive lawn at Minneapolis’ Boom Island Park earlier this month, Franco-Swiss artist Saype painted a monumental public artwork directly onto the grass. Part of his Beyond Walls series, which has so far seen 22 iterations around the world, the piece marked the first time the project appeared in the U.S.

Minneapolis found itself in the global spotlight earlier this year when ICE descended on the city and spurred several weeks of turmoil, protests, and violence. Especially tragic were the killings of Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti during interactions with agents. The city is no stranger to the ripple effects of police brutality, especially in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020 and the subsequent surge in Black Lives Matter protests around the world.

What Minneapolis also has in spades is a deeply felt sense of community. It’s the sort of place where neighbors help to shovel each other’s sidewalks and find innovative ways to support one another. A recent study by State of the Nation ranked Minnesota number one in the U.S. for quality of life.

“I found an incredible humanity in Minneapolis—in the welcome of its people, their stories, their kindness. I’m deeply grateful for that,” Saype says. “And this is the power of art: to bring people together. I hope this work will make people dream—here and far beyond.”

Saype’s 310-by-75-foot ground mural stretches across the entire width of the park. It sits adjacent to the Mississippi River, which the Indigenous Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) people treat as sacred and call Misi-ziibi, or “Giant River.” The painting, created with a biodegradable medium the artist has developed over time, is designed to gradually fade as the elements and occasional mowing run their course.

During the first weekend in June, hundreds of residents turned out to see the work in progress and link together in a human chain to demonstrate solidarity, resilience, and togetherness. An official print edition of the completed work is available for purchase on Saype’s site, and proceeds support additional murals. See more on the artist’s Instagram.

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Alternating between felted wool, crochet, and embroidery, Holly Guertin summons moments of peace and reflection through nature. Lifelike lambs serenely nod off or stand in front of ornate backgrounds, while vignettes of foliage and flourishes incorporate colorful fiber. In her practice, the artist seeks connections between patterns and adornments and flora and fauna. “The brilliant color work in a hummingbird’s feathers, the spots on a pufferfish, even the stripes in a blade of grass are all ordinary moments of spectacular ornament,” she says.

Some of these pieces will be on view in the artist’s solo exhibition Hand in Hand at Waterworks Visual Arts Center in Salisbury, North Carolina, which runs from July 6 to October 10. See more on the artist’s Instagram.

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Albert Einstein once said that “the most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.” For Dr. Elliot McGucken, the sublime enigmas of nature form the basis of his explorations of landscape and light.

McGucken traverses North America’s most beautiful and striking terrain, including Death Valley where he captured a wildflower superbloom earlier this year. He revels in all kinds of natural phenomena, from the vicissitudes of the Rocky Mountains to brown bears fishing in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve to the ghostly, flood-carved walls of Antelope Canyon. He also happens to be a physicist whose research focuses on an artificial retina prosthesis that can help restore sight to those who are blind.

Although photography and physics may seem at first blush to be a world apart, they intersect in many ways, especially through the use of advanced lenses that manipulate light to create images. In this way, McGucken channels a limitless fascination with perception and seeing in which scientific inquiry drives his photography as much as the aesthetic and technical qualities of the medium. He’s also really into Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and quantum mechanics, and that’s where an ongoing series called Spacetime Light Cone Sculptures dx4/dt=ic comes in.

McGucken delves specifically into the study of the fourth dimension, drawing on Einstein’s 1922 book The Meaning of Relativity, in which the renowned scientist illustrated a “light cone” that represented “the deep, physical relationship between space, time, and the velocity of light,” McGucken says. This almost hourglass-like shape, with two cones that meet at their tips, forms the basis of Spacetime Light Cone Sculptures dx4/dt=ic.

McGucken describes the works as “sculptures upon nature’s exalted easel,” utilizing contemporary technology to illuminate theories of existence and the cosmos. He sends a drone into the air over dramatic and remote Southwest landscapes to capture long exposures of conical spirals of light. Over the years, he’s visited the Trona Pinnacles in the California Desert Conservation Area and the Mobius Arch rock formation in the Alabama Hills, among other places.

See more on the artist’s Instagram and purchase prints on his website. You might also enjoy Rueben Wu’s glowing light paintings.

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To open a new film from Art21, artist Lenka Clayton encapsulates her way of thinking and making: “Looking at things that are supposed to behave a certain way and purposefully misunderstanding how they should be used, it’s really important to me,” she says.

The Cornwall-born artist works across media, creating both meditative animations via typewriter and immersive installations of gathered artifacts. Collecting is central to Clayton’s practice both materially and conceptually, and she often works from her own experiences, particularly those around becoming a parent and her life in Pittsburgh (she even started an open-source residency program for artist mothers).

In the short documentary, we see Clayton’s culinary installation of colorful tongs hung in a grid on her studio wall alongside a project completed when her son was a baby. Each time she retrieved a spool of thread, button, acorn, bottle cap, or myriad other object from her child’s mouth, she documented the tiny finding and created an enormous, photographic grid that speaks to the care required to protect young life.

“There is only connection in life,” she says, “and my work is just looking at those connections, so that we can create a shared experience.”

This segment is part of Art21’s Human Nature episode, alongside Colombian artist Delcy Morelos, and both are available for viewing on Art21’s website. Find more from Clayton on Instagram.

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