Good morning. As educator and ceramicist Earline Greene traveled around the American South, piecing together the stories of the first Black-owned pottery in Texas, a complex picture of these often forgotten makers began to form.
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January 31, 2025

Good morning. As educator and ceramicist Earline Greene traveled around the American South, piecing together the stories of the first Black-owned pottery in Texas, a complex picture of these often forgotten makers began to form. She takes us along on this journey in her essay today — the third piece in our series on underrepresented craft histories, researched and written by the 2024 Craft Archive Fellows and organized in collaboration with the Center for Craft.

In the news, the French president’s promise of a new gallery at the Louvre just for the Mona Lisa, whose admirers crowd her suffocatingly day after day at the Paris museum, has inspired us to imagine the new headquarters for the lady with the most mysterious smile. I’m partial to the Kusama inspiration — an infinity room of one’s own?

Also today, show to see in February in Upstate New York, a newly inaugurated mural at the 68th Street–Hunter College subway station in the city, Required Reading, A View From the Easel, and more below.

— Valentina Di Liscia, News Editor

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Imagining the Mona Lisa’s New Room

A Louvre expansion that would put La Gioconda in her very own gallery has us envisioning the most mysterious sitter in iconic rooms of art history. | Rhea Nayar

SPONSORED

Pratt Manhattan Gallery Celebrates 10 Years of the Black Dress Project

Black Dress II: Homage continues to explore the contributions of underrepresented Black designers and fashion professionals.

Learn more

LATEST IN ART

Prem Sahib Captures the Unruly Aesthetics of Desire

Sahib brings his minimalist aesthetic to the maximalism of fetish bars and nightclubs, dark spaces in which unruly bodies and complex social codes coalesce. | Anna Souter

Piecing Together the Story of Texas’s First Black-Owned Pottery 

There is more to the history of H. Wilson and Co. Pottery and related sites than folklore holds. | Earline Green

SPONSORED

Onassis AiR Invites Applications for Residencies and Fellowships in Athens

Participants for 2025–26 receive a monthly artist’s fee of €1,300, a research budget, housing, round-trip travel, and other resources to support their work.

Learn more

HAPPENING IN NEW YORK

New NYC Subway Murals Challenge the Authority of Maps

At 68th Street–Hunter College station, a new trio of mosaics by professor Lisa Corinne Davis is a dizzying exploration of the art of cartography. | Isa Farfan

10 Shows to See in Upstate New York This February

The exhibition-as-memoir of Linda Griggs, a group show as history lesson, Odili Donald Odita’s vibrant abstractions, and more. | Taliesin Thomas

MORE FROM HYPERALLERGIC

A View From the Easel

“I love that I can be here with my family, we can create together, and what we create can exist side by side.” | Lakshmi Rivera Amin

Required Reading

This week: Celia Paul’s transportive brush, yoga-washing, the mythology of American orphanhood, one grandma’s Lunar New Year photoshoot, the science of laughter, and more. | Lakshmi Rivera Amin

TRANSITIONS

Martin Kimani was appointed president and chief executive officer of the Africa Center.

Marina Tabassum Architects will design the 2025 Serpentine Pavilion.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

Aminah Al Huqail, Florence Almeda, and Waseem Alzer are among the recipients of the What Can We Do grant program from the Asian American Arts Alliance. See the full list here.

David Alekhuogie, Black House Radio / Michael Donte, and Greg Breda are among the artists included in the 2025 Made in LA biennial. Read more on Hyperallergic.

Anjali Srinivasan, Anna Martine Whitehead, and Caroline Kent are among the United States Artists fellows. See the full list here.

FEATURED OPPORTUNITY

apexart – 2025–26 International Open Call

Soliciting 500-word proposals for group exhibitions presented online and anywhere in the world in 2025–26. Four winners receive up to $11,000 in budget. Curators, artists, and creative others with a compelling exhibition idea are encouraged to consider.
Application Period: February 1–March 1, 2025 | apexart.org

See more in this month’s list of opportunities for artists, writers, and art workers!

MEMBER COMMENT

Alex Clark on “Returning the Gaze of Ancient Egyptian Funerary Portraits

Hey, crazy idea, but we should really bring back funerary portraits. Seeing the deceased captured in a creative tribute would be far more personal and interesting than a little photobook of fuzzy snapshots of your loved one, or great friend. Just a thought inspired by your great article!

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