This Week's Art Stories, Creativity Ideas and Artist Talks

Hey, it’s me, Helen, back from NYC.

Entering this new month, I wanted to start this newsletter with a personal touch. Thank you for being here, for being subscribed. I truly appreciate you reading: you are the reason I show up each week, doing my best to find something that fuels your creativity.

Now, I’m back in Spain, and the grapevines on my terrace have gone into full growing mode (even with tiny flower buds!). Spring has definitely arrived. NYC was awesome, though. I kept watching people in Greenwich Village (yes, I’m a people watcher 🙂 But isn’t that why we love cities?). In just one day, everyone switched from winter coats to spring jackets. Like some unspoken agreement. All at once.

I went to The New Yorker 100 exhibition. I love reading the best writers, but even more, I love seeing how editors edited their words (Truman Capote here f.ex). The frustration in Salinger’s and Nabokov’s letter? So human. A good reminder: we’re all beginners at life, doing our best, guided mostly by out own gut feeling.

I also went to the Gagosian on 980 Madison Avenue to see the Cy Twombly show. The lines, the silence, the energy. Turns out… now they have their last exhibition there. The gallery is closing that location.

Well. Things are always shifting, aren’t they?
It’s a simple thought, but somehow it captures the whole feeling of this spring, and maybe this newsletter too. The quiet changes and the beauty in motion.

We're just here, noticing, letting things unfold. But the most important thing: showing up, each day. Just as the artists in this week’s stories. So, let’s dig in.

Week 14/2025 

TOP 5 ART STORIES THIS WEEK

1. From Student Project to $1.86 Billion Art Empire 

This week I loved reading about what happens when one person believes that creative education deserves to be world-class, and then builds exactly that. What began in 1978 as a bold idea by a woman with no real blueprint but a big dream, has become one of the most influential creative institutions in the world.

The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) now spans multiple campuses, runs two accredited museums, hosts fashion and film festivals, and holds a global presence in everything from interior design to animation. Its total assets a staggering $1.86 billion.

Read and get inspired

2. Arpita Akhanda Wins Big With Paper Weaving and Emotion

Indian artist Arpita Akhanda (b. 1992) just took home one of Asia’s top art prizes. Her secret weapon? A paper weaving that serves as a visual meditation on identity and memory. Her work explores memory, trauma, and identity, and it hits hard. Judges praised her bold mix of materials and meaning.

The artist’s Instagram

3. A Sacred Shrine Finally Goes Home

After more than a hundred years, a sacred whaling shrine has been returned to Canada’s Nuu-chah-nulth people. The shrine holds 88 carved human figures, 16 human skulls, and intricate whale carvings. It was used by the Mowachaht people in purification rituals before whale hunts – ceremonies deeply rooted in community and collective purpose.

It had been sitting in a New York museum, taken without consent. This return is part of a global movement to give back stolen cultural treasures. It's a big step toward justice and respect.

Read more

4. Miró’s Secret: A Portrait of His Mother

Underneath one of Joan Miró’s paintings, experts found a secret image using X-ray scans: a hidden portrait of his mother. He painted over it, but never erased the emotion. This surprise discovery gives a deeply personal peek into the famous artist’s early years.

The story here (in Spanish).

5. Print Fairs Are Back

NYC just hosted two art print fairs – one fancy, one folksy.

• Manhattan’s was high-end, full of rare prints, big names, and even a few NFTs. –

• Brooklyn’s debut fair was all about community, collaboration, and making printmaking more accessible.

Both had totally different vibes, and both show print is officially cool again. (Hyperallergic covers it)

🔥Hot Take: AI Can Copy Ghibli’s Look, But Not Its Soul 

This week, everyone’s social feed turned into a Studio Ghibli film. People used AI tools to turn selfies into dreamy scenes straight out of Spirited Away: glowing forests, floating spirits, oversized cats, the works.

And sure, the results are cute. But something’s missing.

🎨 You Can Mimic the Style, But Not the Spirit
The AI versions get the colors right. The vibe. The soft glow of lanterns. But what they miss is everything Miyazaki actually stands for. His films are slow. Quiet. Hand-drawn frame by frame. They’re filled with pauses and breath, where not much happens, and that’s the point.

AI doesn’t pause, it spits out instant beauty with zero effort. It doesn’t spend five years animating a single scene because that’s what the story needs. It just generates a vibe.

💬 Miyazaki Called It “An Insult to Life Itself”
When shown AI-generated animation back in 2016, Miyazaki didn’t mince words. He said it was disconnected from human emotion, and that it “pained” him to watch. To him, art is sacred labor. Machines can’t replicate that kind of depth, not because they’re bad, but because they don’t feel.

🧠 So Here’s the Take:
These Ghibli-fied selfies might look magical. But real Ghibli magic isn’t in the visuals, it’s in the values. It’s in the slowness and the care. AI skips all that. Which is fine if you’re playing around, but let’s not confuse it with the real thing.

💡 Steal This Idea 🎯 

Show Up Like Hockney

At 86, David Hockney is still painting, every single day. While smoking. While sipping coffee. While discovering. His life is the studio.

“I think my work is the opposite of boring. What I do is exciting because I’m always discovering.”

Your move:
Don’t wait for the perfect idea or the right tools. Hockney paints with brushes, but also with an iPad. He proves that staying curious, no matter your age or medium, is what keeps your art (and you) alive.

🎨 Tech curiosity at 86: Yes, he’s a master of oil and paper, but he also loves drawing on his iPad. Innovation and tradition – he makes space for both.

🎨 Work ethic as rebellion: He doesn’t romanticize laziness. He romanticizes showing up, because showing up is an act of devotion.

Try this:
Open your sketchbook, app, or canvas. Make one thing today, not because it’s urgent, but because it’s yours.

🎧 Soundtrack for Your Studio 🎧

Erykah Badu Is Coming Back, And the Vibes Are Immaculate
Neo-soul queen Erykah Badu just announced soon releasing her first new album in 15 years. She says it “feels natural” … and honestly, that’s the perfect way to describe her entire sound. Smooth, and deeply intuitive.

If you’re painting, writing, or just staring out the window thinking about life, put on Baduizm or Mama’s Gun and let your thoughts float.

🌀 Vibe: incense burning, brush in hand, soul wide open.

📢 Artists, Unfiltered 

“This Piece Is Ruined” And Other Things We Tell Ourselves in the Middle

Germany-based abstract artist Vera Jochum knows the moment. That familiar crash of confidence mid-painting, when the colors feel wrong and the canvas feels doomed.

Her choice? Gesso and start over, or pause, breathe, and let it sit. Over time, she’s come to see this as part of the process. “Often, it happens just when a layer needs to dry anyway —a perfect moment to step back,” she says. And stepping back, it turns out, is often the breakthrough.

Her message is: Don’t be afraid of the blank canvas. Whether it’s a new technique, an unusual color combo, or an odd material that sparks her, she’s learned to follow curiosity over perfection. What starts as an experiment sometimes becomes the heart of the piece.

“I’ve never truly abandoned a work. The final result may look nothing like the original idea —but I allow that transformation.”

And when doubt creeps in? She reaches for her sketchbook. It’s always nearby. Even at 3AM.

(Read the full convo here on Sofi on Art.)

🍿 Extra Recommendation

🎬 Boy (Winter) by Margaret Salmon
28 mins, shot on 35mm, UK (2022)
Streaming online for free, via Art Lovers Movie Club (April 1–22, 2025, thus a limited time period!) Best watched alone, with headphones, and a cup of something warm. Link.

 A Quiet Goodbye 🌙

🕶️ Gai Gherardi (1946–2025)

“Oh yeah, this life is FABULOUS. And here’s how I’m gonna take a piece of it.”  

Co-founder of L.A. Eyeworks, Gai Gherardi passed away at 78. She revolutionized eyewear by turning eyeglass frames into bold fashion statements. Talking about where her inspiration comes, she says: “We are infinitely curious. Our interests are broad.”

As a background for your next creative work, listen to this overlooked interview, where she is simply adorable.

📚 Dag Solstad (1941–2025)

Norwegian novelist Dag Solstad has died at 83. Known for his sharp, cerebral books on alienation and modern life, he was one of Norway’s most celebrated literary voices. Some of his fans were lamenting the fact that he never won the Nobel Prize in literature, which many believed was highly deserved.

"I wish to tell stories that cannot be retold," he once said.

Can you do artwork that simply cannot be remade?

That’s it for this week. Thank you for reading! Got a take? Hit reply, because we’re all ears. 📩👂

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(Who are Zoot & Algy? They're two quirky animals cast into a weird and wonderful world by an unseen but friendly entity. Tasked to form a "zoocracy" – a country run by animals – there's goodwill and more than a little love in their adventures!) 💛