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Art

Smithsonian Best Small Towns 2015

The 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2015

From sea to shining sea, our top picks for the most amazing American small towns to see this year

Urchin Spheres, (Echinoidea sp.), Thailand, Philippines, United States, Mexico.

Art Meets Science

10 Gorgeous Mosaics Made From Real Animal Specimens

Artist Christopher Marley’s meticulous arrangements capture the incredible variety within families, genera and species

Only a Handful of People Can Enter the Chauvet Cave Each Year. Our Reporter Was One of Them.

A rare trip inside the home of the world’s most breathtaking cave painting leaves lasting memories

Bob Baker in 2013.

Urban Explorations

The Curtain Hasn’t Closed Quite Yet on America’s Longest-Running Puppet Theater

Though its namesake died last year, the Bob Baker Marionette Theater is still hosting performances for audiences of all ages

Trending Today

These Mud Figures Fight Injustice

“Figures” challenges British austerity policies—and an artist’s physical endurance

Cool Finds

Paintings Have Become Increasingly Blue

Move over, orange: modern art is all about hues of blue

Trending Today

Cash-Strapped Museums are Selling Their Art

Faced with budget cuts and debt, museums turn to “deaccessioning”

Jefferson Church, Walton Avenue at Jefferson, Los Angeles, 2012

The Passion of Christ, As Seen in Murals Around America

Photographer Camilo Jose Vergara looks at depictions of Jesus in murals across America

New Research

This Ancient Egyptian Masterpiece Might Be Fake

“Egypt’s Mona Lisa” is likely a sham

“I loved this sort of reference to a particular period in my upbringing as a kid," says the artist Nick Cave," and having these amazing, sort of outrageous Easter hunts."

There’s More to This Towering Pink Easter Bunny Than Kitsch

Evoking springtime and rebirth, African burial ritual, rhythm, and identity, the “soundsuit” by artist Nick Cave is packed with iconic themes

"Boogie Down" at the White House, Big D & Mingering, 1975

Journey to Mingering Mike’s Magical, Musical World

A new exhibition features the playful LP album covers of a man who built a make-believe musical empire filled with genius and joy

The details of the replica (under construction last year), its area nearly the size of a football field, are based on 700 hours of laser scanning in the actual cave.

Finally, the Beauty of France’s Chauvet Cave Makes its Grand Public Debut

A high-tech recreation of the immortal artworks shines a new light on the dawn of human imagination

Los Angeles, United States

See Street Art Around the World via Google

Thousands of new images help preserve the art form

Cool Finds

There’s an Invader in the International Space Station

An Invader mosaic has found its way to space

Bordetella phage BPP-1.

New Drawings Show the Strange Beauty of Phages, the Bacteria Slayers

Phage viruses rearrange genes, prey on bacteria and maintain microbial diversity. Can we harness them to do our bidding?

Screen grab from DIY TV’s "Professional Fort Builder: Jay Nelson"

Cool Finds

This Treehouse Has It All

Salvaged fence boards, given new life, help Jay Nelson create dwellings that blend with nature

Cool Finds

Vigilantes in Quito Have A Mission to Correct Graffiti Artists’ Spelling and Grammar

Meaning is important, the group says to explain their illicit copyediting duties

Victor Hugo with friends during his exile to Guernsey

Cool Finds

Victor Hugo Also Created Dramatic Pen and Ink Drawings

The sketches, many done with pen and ink, are almost modern and surreal

A Prado visitor touches a 3-D printed replica of a contemporaneous copy of the "Mona Lisa."

Please Touch the Art: 3-D Printing Helps Visually Impaired Appreciate Paintings

The new “Touching the Prado” exhibit in Madrid showcases 3-D replicas of paintings, so blind visitors can feel key works of art

Marian Anderson approved stamp art by Albert Slark, c. 2005. Canadian-born artist Albert Slark created this full-color oil portrait of Marian Anderson from a circa 1934 black-and-white photograph.

Previously Seen on a Tiny Postage Stamp, These Beautiful Portraits of African-Americans Go on View

The artists who made them bring enormous dedication and talent to the artwork that adorns the nation’s mail

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